The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-07-11
SOME ONES BLUNDER.
Collision on the New York s. New
England Railway Three Vic
tins Dead.
Seyeras Persons Seriously ana More
Slightly HHrt - The Alleged
Cause---The Engineers
EeroiSHs.

PLAINyTILE, Conn, July 10.--Two trains
on the New York & New England railroad
came in collision on the main track one mile
east Of this place. A locomotive exploded
and four cars were blown from the track. A
number of passengers We're seriously wounded
and three persons an engineer, express mes
senger, and passenger were Instantly killed
The blame for the disaster IS attributed
10 the Piainville telegraph operator,
who, it is alleged, received instructions
from the train-dispatcher which, if
followed, would have made the
accident impossible. The oast-bound
passenger train, due here at sos p m, was
ten minutes late 1t included four passenger
coaches, Al which nearly all the seats were
occupied At SIS O'Clock it drew out of the
depot bound for New Britain, where il. was
already two minutes overdue Engineer
George KnIckerbocker had big head Of
steam, ana started his train down the track
at a rafting rate of speed, with the intention
Of making up as much lost time as possible
There is a short curve in the road at point
a little less than mile east of Plainville.
The country thereabouts is denSely
wooded, rendering it impossible TO sec
any object on the track ahead unit
the curve is fully rounded. With the sig
nails usually given at the curve Engiuce
Knickelbocler's train darted on. The engine
had Just turned the curve when, directly in
front of him. he saw heavy gravel train
bearing down rapidly He whistlad loudly,
but it was too late Within a moment the
two trains were in collision, the engine of the
gravel-train was Off the track, the passenger
cars were piled in a confused heap below the
rails, and over a hundred men, women, and
children were struggling to escape from the
wreck.
The crash of the collision had hardly died
away wien n little Jet of steam shot up from
the big locomotive of the passenger train, and
suddenly an explosion followed with a force
that made the earth tremble, and carried de
struction with it. Great pieces of iron were
hurled through the air in a hundred direc-
tiOns, and the tender and baggage-caTs were
blown a distance of sixty feet Engineer
Knickerbocker had stood at his post after il
was evident that the collision could not he
avoided He had an opportunity to jump
from his cab as his fireman did and escape
but he chose to remain, doing all he could to
N1ttAhCu Aut NiSCI VI bislIil anu Nedhti
the collision The engines when they
dashed together so jammed and twist
ed the machinery that the brave en-
gineer found himself piniened firmly
in front of his furnace and unable to escape
Then came the terrible explosion The en-
gineer's lifeless body was found beside the
road a long distance up the track He haG
been terribly scalded by the great volume OF
escaping steam. His body was badly mutt
lated
In the baggage car, when it was thrown
from the track over the telegraph wires, werC
two persons James Church, Of Willmantic
the express messenger, and Charles Griswold
of New York, passenger While the cal
was in the air their dead bodies fell from al
| open door to the ground. Both men wer,
| badly bruised, and Griswold who was a lac
scarcely II years old, boarding for the sum
| ner near Bristol with his parents had hi:
face deeply gashed He had apparently beer
struck by some fragment thrown out from
the engine by the explosion.
Among the passengers there was an indie
! scribable scene of excitement and confusion
Two passengers were dangerously hurt on
having both legs broken and his head cut
while the other suffered internal injurie
which are expected to result fatally.
| Among those less seriously hurt were Sam
uel Andrews, of Bristol, cut on the face; Al
bert Andrews, of Bristol, leg hurt; Charles S
Thompson and Charles Matthewson, of BriS
| tol, arms cut.
| Engineer Kniekerhocker was one of tn
oldest and most trustworthy men in the New
| England road's employ. The officers of tn
company lay m blame to his account. A dis
patch was sent to I'lanville, directing tn
station agent to hold the passenger train thef
on switch until th,'-aIIiral OF a gravel t;li
running as speciai ffefn New Britain tn
telegraph operatar, GIrnics a WEIGH neg
lectcd the message, AMI the passenger trai
was allowed to run on II is reported thu
| Welch was arrested.
THROUGH A BRIDGE TO DEATH
JACKSON, Miss, .iIilV l0--=An accident haT
rcI;a;l tr a mixed train on the Natehez
jackson road, FIVE miles east of Natchc
Seven cars fell through a bridge fifty fc,
high The conductor, T. o. jennings, W.