Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1870-07-22
Terrific Railroad Collision.
TWO KILLEp-sEvERAL WOUNDED.

TWO kIlLED-SEN EltAL WOUNDED.
A terrific railroad Collision occurred
on the Northern N. H., Railroad, near Ca
naan, on Wednesday at Is minutes past
one o'clock in the afternoon. Charles
Clark of Concord, Engineer of the down
train was instantly killed, and Loren
Badger brakeman was so injured that
he died next day. Several of the rail
road employees on both trains were
wounded some of them severely, but no
passenger is reported seriously injured
1t appears that the up train was late, and
Conductor Shattuck gave Mr.. Barnes,
as is stated, until twenty minutes past
one to reach Canaan. 1t appears that
afterwards Conductor Shattuck revoked
his telegram, sending his message to
Barnes, at West Canaan. The message
was received at West Canaan, and re-
peated back to Mr.. Shattuck at Canaan.
The up train then started along. When
Mr.. Barnes with the down train reached
West Canaan he had seven minutes in
which to get to Canaan, distance of
five miles. His stop at West Canaan
was short and the train moved off quick
ly. After the train had got few rods
from the West Canaan station passen-
gers on board saw a man at the station
waving paper that looked like tele-
gram, and it is reported that one Of the
passengers pulled the signal rope, hoping
to stop the train, just at this point we are
informed that Mr. Conductor Barnes
gave the passenger " setting up" and
told him to mind his own business, and
he (B.,) would attend to his. If this be
true, it will be seen that if this Conduct
or had had little less pomposity, and
obeyed signal intended for him and
seen and attended to by others, very
sad disaster to life and limb and some
$4,000 damage to the railroad would
have been saved. Conductor Shattuck
may also be blamed for having counter
manded his first telegram, and then start
ing his train without knowledge that it
had been received. A heavy responsei-
bility rests somewhere, and we trust it
will be investigated.
THE COMBAT OF THE ENGINES.
Only one person is known to have had
full view of the Northern Railroad ac-
cident at Canaan. That individual was
a laborer at work in the field adjoining
the scene of the calamity. He heard
both trains coming, and foresaw from
their speed what would be their result
Waving his hat he ran with all possible
haste toward the track. When within a
few rods of the road the collision oc-
Cured, and the scene is reported to
have been grand and terrible.
The engines were long ones, and were
of very uniform size and strength. The
instant they met, both of their boilers
exploded with power that made the
Garth tremble preceptibly. As the en-
gines struck they appeared to embrace
each other in terrific, deadly combat,
then rose some twenty feet in the air and
finally fell together one confused mass of
hot steaming and broken ruins. The
moment of the collision the air was FILL
ed with flying fragments of wood and
iron which IN some cases were carried
twenty rods. The even weight and
strength of the two engines caused much
of the force of the cocussion to expend
itself quite uniformly ON the machines
themselves and thus limited the disas-
ter to the train.