December 14, 1899: States of Intoxication Result in Accidental Deaths

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

December 14, 1899: Death followed a “Sunday spree” when Charles Weiss and Harrison Boyer were struck by a Lehigh Valley fast train on Third Street while they were stumbling along the tracks in a “state of intoxication.”

Weiss was killed instantly, having his legs crushed off at the hips. Boyer lived long enough to give their names and addresses. They came from Quakertown. Boyer was 34 years old and unmarried, and Weiss, age 50, left a wife and two children, who, “on account of his drinking habits,” did not live with him.

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