Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-08-01
TRAIN TELEsCOPING.
TRYING TO PMS THO Trains on
ONE TRICK.


ming Twenty-Five Miles an Hour Collide
Fearful Shock and Terrible Wreck of En-
eines and Cars--Three Railroad Men and
Two Passengers Injured, But No Loss OF
Life--Responsibility for the Accident 10
be Investigated.
TIE GLOBE OF yesterday morning contaired
brief mentions, both in its local and telegrs ph
columns of collision on the Madison division
OF the Chicago l. Northwestern railway, be-
tween the east and west bound passenger
trains. occurring about 2 o'clock on Tuesday
morning. Full details of the accident, the re-
suit of criminal carelessness, are given below
from the Madison State Journal, a representa-
tive of which paper visited the scene of Il Q
disaster soon after it occurred. The State
Journal says:
News reached this city about breakfast time
that collision had occurred on the Chicago
u Northwestern railway, between Oregon sta
ton and Brooklyn, just over the Green county
border, at 2:O5 A. NJ. causing great destruction
to railroad property. and loss To life and limb.
The depot in this city soon besieged by
reporters anxious TO obtain the true status of
affairs but beyond the assurance that no lives
had been lost, the railroad officials. in pur-
suance of standing orders to that effect, were
reticeut relative to the disaster.
A State Journal representatives in company
with party of citizens. boarded the $50 A. ~.
train south, and in less than an hour
THE SCENE OF THE WRECK
about fourteen miles south of Madison and
two miles north of Brooklyn, was reached, the
train slowed, and the investigators allowed to
get off.
Here chaos reigned supreme. Two engines
lay at the bottom Of twelve feet EN- bankmen
running through q fine stretch of rather low
farming land; they were thoroughly tele scoped,
the one into the other, and presented the ap-
pearance of great mass of boiler iron, brass
works and castings, irretrievably commingled.
Behind the north going engine, or rather what
was the engine, an express and mail car
and two passenger coaches lay on end,
half way down the slope; on both sides of the
| track, and for some distance in every direction,
great masses OF trucks, planks, train property
and expires. matter, with tags affixed we're
scattered in heaps; the express car was burst
open and ambering on top the debris, the
visitors looked down through the yawning
crack, fully five feet wide, where the roof had
parted comp ny with the bulged side; tho
truck of the engine had jumped back into the
car. for nearly half the length of the latter.
knocking everything to splirters; from this
choatlc mass the express messenger. Barrett,
had escaped, with little mere than a scratch,
his safe delivery seemed little more than
miracle. From the gang of section men, the
CAUSE OF THE COLLISION
was learned. The operator at Oregon has been
telegraphed by the train dispatcher at Baraboo
to hold train No. going south-whlch left
! Madison at 1:22A. M.-until train No. 2 going
north-due here at 226A. should pass. The
operator thereupon hung out a red light, end
when Conductor Purinton. of No. 2, stopped
at Oregon, he asked what the light for.
| The operator says that he told Purinton it was
to stop him for orders; but Purinton says the
| operator informed him it was not for him, and
SO he proceeded on his trip. No was % min
| utes late on reaching Oregon, and this was tho
cause of the dispatcher's desiring 10 hold it.
| The point of meeting is at Brooklyn, miles
south, which is generally reached i'll minutes;
here, 5 MINUTES is always allowed for difference in
watches. thus making thirteen minutes the
! time to be made by the south-goins train,
| when running regular. The schedule meeting
time is :48.
| Meanwhile train No. 3, after waiting at
| Brooklyn for few minutes without orders.
came plugging ahead through the darkness,
surprising No. 2 to be at Oregon waiting for
! her. The story is soon told. The two trains,
| each going at the rate of about twenty-five
| miles an hour, met in the open country about
/ two miles north of Brooklyn, near curve.
| The engineers of both trains saw their danger
just in time to reverse their engines. and, with
their firemen, to jump from their cabs and save
| themselves from undoubted destruction.
THE WRECK
was one of the most complete in the annals Of
the road The north-going train was coming
down grade, and the two engines met in their
deadly embrace. and telescoping the one into
the other, and amalgamating into one indis-
tingu1shable of ruin. The shock on both
trains was violent. Two sleepers were on each,
and the passengers were awakened by being
hurled out of their berths against the temper
airy partitions, and receiving numerous bumps
aud bruises. Investigation proGed that though
the engines and tenders of both trains had
been irret rievably wrecked, the cars of the
south-gong train we're uninjured, not even the
platforms being racked. The express cur and
two passenger coaches of the north. bound
as previously related. were overturned and
badly smashed up, the contents being hurled
} around inside, in wild chaos for few minutes.
1t was soon found that
NO ONE WAS KILLED.
Engineer George VII ttieid and Fireman Mo.
Nahon were badly hurt, while jumping from
the cab; the former having one bone in his
ankle and another in his instep broken while
the latter suffered the breakage of two ribs.
Tuey were both removed to Harvard, where
Whitefeld Gves-McMahon residing al
Baraboo. Engineer Charles Luther
5 aad Fireman Bob johnson. of the north
going train, succeeded in Jumping without in
jury. Had these remained at their posts
terrible collision. On train No. two passen
g gers were hurt a lady (name unknown) having
v sprained her ankle, and an unknown Norwe
gian man sustaining slight injuries. Expre'
S messenger Barrett, of that tain, was gashec
t over the right eye, but not seriously; his
= | es cape as indeed that of every person on thi
3 train. was simply marvellous. A. T. Barret
@ was conductor On the north. bonnd train, but
d was not injured. The sleepers did not stir from
e the track.
/ Train men declare that the wreck is one O
d the worst ever witnessed and the escape of al
II hands is greatly wondered at. A more complet
e smash up than the two engines could no
: be imagined.
d THE BLAME
/ for this accident, which only by the most ez
. IRENE good fortune was saved from being
=, dire calamity, lies between conductor J. Pul
e inton and the young operator at Oregon. Tha
the latter received definite orders is certain; h
d claims to have stated their purport to the for
e mer, but Purinton says he did not. 1t is
!, question of veracity. which the company pre-
r poses to investigate 1t is serious matter
d and the guilty one should be punished to th
& full extent of the company regulations.
e The State Journals representative, afte
3 viewing the wreck for about twenty minutes
a and comforting with the reticent railroad Of
IL fcials and the numerous country people wh
n thronged the scene from all sections many
them reporting having heafd the crash q mil
distant-returned on a wild freight, reachin
the city this afternoon.
a Race Between Carrier Pigeons.
II New YORK, July 31.-A dispatch from tt
e Adams Express agent at Sunbury. Pa, stat
:. that carrier pigeons. started in race fror
~ Colum bus Ohio, to New York last week, Ian,
!. y ed at Lancaster, Pa, this morning, l25 mil
- from New York. and on direct route fro
- Columbus to this city. so that the pigeons BIZ
-, ~ flown a distance Of 375 miles towards the