Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-06-21


Il, 2 and 3, switches; 4, handle to the sema-
phore.
Every train arriving from the transfer
or from opposite directions is required to
signal its approach and slow up, until con-
WINGED that the switches are in place and
the way clear. A short time previous
to the arrival of the Omaha express at the
university switch, and before it was due at
that point transfer train from the Pills
bury mills sounded its approach, and it's
desire for the switch to be turned that it
might proceed to the Omaha yards. To do
this the latter train passed from the trans
fer track to the west bound track, on switch
No. one, thence to the track from west
to east bound track by switch two, and
finally to the latter track by switch three.
Immediately its signal was heard by the
switchman, the latter turned the se1a-
phore, at the same time setting the danger
signal for trains on the main line. He
states that before setting the semaphore
he always looks for approach
ing trains, and yesterday made no
exception to the rale. There were
no signs of the Chicago express in sight,
whereupon he turned the first and second
switches to admit the transfer train onto
ShO AhdAn AAAO Ooot3 c111O was dOOub w SOb
them again, but before he could reach
switch two, distant about 400 feet, he no.
ticed the smoke of the express approaching
from st. Paul at speed he estimated of
thirty-fve miles an hour. Notwithstanding
the danger signal at switch one was set and
in plain view as ne claims it to have been,
the switchman by every means at his COM
mand sought to attract the attention of
II 49, &c
tain death into which he was plunging, but
without effect. Before he was able
to reach q point halfway dis
tant between switches two and
three the locomotive had reached switch
one, which was wide open. and hurried to
destruction. The train, which was COM
posed of an engine, baggage car, three
coaches and sleeper, followed the loco
motive at a frightful gait. For brief
distance portion of it ran along the ties,
and was finally halted about one hundred
and fifty feet from the third switch, the
engine, baggage car and the first coach
thrown to one side of the track, the re-
mainder of the train comparativly unin-
jured, and the track itself badly torn up
and disarranged. During its fight relates
Cunningham, the foreman, the locomotive
was thrown on its side, but so high was the
speed at which it was running that it
righted again, only to be perma-
nently disabled at 1.-THE point above
indicated. The position of tie train as
described by gentleman present, was as
follows: The engine on its side near
switch three, followed by the baggage car
and first coach similarly situated, with the
second coach off the track and declining at
an angle of, say, forty degrees.
The usual commotion followed among
the passengers, OF which there was happily
but limited number, and train men, and
upon recovering from the excitement in
cident to the experience to which they
had been subjected, efforts were at
once inagurated to ascertain the
extent of the injuries and recover the
bodies of the engineer and baggageman.
The latter was found between tie door of
the baggage car and the ground, still liv-
ing, but the recipient of wounds from
the effects of which he died, before his
body could be relieved of the immense
weight that bore down pitilessly upon it.
The engineer was discovered at the end of
the baggage car nearest the locomotive
with his head crushed to shapeless mass
and dead. Vandervort was picked up