127 years ago in 1897, transcribed as originally published in the Youngstown Vindicator:

An evil genius. It seems to pursue a freight crew on the Pennsylvania Road. Five men injured within as many days — John Oldecker the latest victim.

The Pennsylvania freight crew, of which Conductor John Hoover has charge, has, during the past week, been followed by an causes dIn all, five members of the crew, all of whom are brakemen, have suffered serious injury, and in two cases, the loss of a portion of their anatomy, during that period.

The first to sustain injury was William Jennings, who was squeezed between the platform of the freight depot and a moving train, his injuries being of a serious nature. This accident occurred Wednesday morning. At about 3 o’clock Thursday morning, John J. McGinness sustained injury, while engaged in coupling cars, in the yards at the Ohio Steel Plant, which resulted in the amputation of two fingers. Albert L. McAndrews was the third victim, and was also hurt while coupling cars in the steel plant yards. McAndrews lost one finger as a result of his accident, which occurred Friday night.

At about 2 o’clock Saturday morning, Arthur Henry, of Warren, the fourth member of the crew, was caught between two cars while making a coupling, with the result that he is now at the City Hospital nursing a serious bruise on the right arm. The crew was at work in the yards at the Ohio Steel Plant when Henry was injured. Although his injury is very painful, it is not dangerous, no bones have been broken.

In the same yards at about 9 o’clock Sunday morning, another member of the crew, John Oldecker, a brakeman, while engaged in ‘spotting’ cars on the scale, was caught on the rebound between the bumpers of two cars and suffered a bad laceration of the right arm, but no bones were broken. Oldecker was removed to the City Hospital, making the fifth member of the crew taken to that institution in as many days, as a result of an accident. Oldecker is a married man, 25 years of age, and lives at 205 West Avenue.

Four of the men are at the hospital at the present time, and all are reported doing nicely. McGinness was taken to his home Friday and is also improving.

Compiled from the Youngstown Vindicator by Traci Manning, Mahoning Valley Historical Society curator of education.