Rocky Mountain News
June 1, 1894
Eddie Wickman is Carried Off by the Flood
Eddie Wickman,
the eight year old son of Edward Wickman, a car cleaner,
living at 36 Winne Street, in the bottoms, was drowned in the
Platte last evening at 6:30 o'clock. Ex-Lieutenant of Polce Clay,
who is in charge of the guards at Burlington round house, telegraphed
the coroner. The river was dragged in places for the body, but
it had not been recovered at 10:30 o'clock. The Platte was a
raging stream last night and hundreds of people went down to
watch the waters. Eddie Wickman, in company with Fred
Preinge, Norman Maloy, and Charlie Nelson,
was walking along the bank of the stream between the Colorado
Central and Burlington bridges. Coal slack had been dumped at
this place and the boys were kicking it into the stream. Eddie's
little sister told him to go home, but he refused to do so, saying
he would wait for his father to come.
"See
what I can do.", he said to Fred Preinge, kicking
the coal dust into the river. The dust on which he was standing
suddenly caved in and the boy fell into the river.
Anton Larson
jumped in after the lad but the current was so strong he had
great difficulty in keeping himself from drowning. Another man
named Frank Warren waded into the stream lower down and
caught the boy by the coat collar, but was forced to let go by
the violence of the current. Mrs. Wickman was heart broken
last night in her little home in the bottoms. She has five other
children and Eddie was next to the eldest. At 11 o'clock she
was notified that John Cornelius, a switchman, had discovered
the body near the Burlington bridge.
Transcribed by Leona L. (Wichmann) Gustafson
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The victim's surname was actually spelled
WICHMANN. He was my grandfather's older brother. Edward
died the day after my grandfather's first birthday.
ARAPAHOE
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