Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1889-11-13

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pet9 NJ ~ u ~ spscial az, a.
Sgnpen3ed III two Nov York Tailws.
k1AG1 one oa whom had his son along
IL Superintendent sad be would b
teadyto leave st. Louia st0 o'clock
md wanted to run regardless OF Il
Othek trains. Tho Division Superin
tendsnt turned 10 Will, saying:
Byron, tho Superintendent, want
- leave 81. Louis ~ . o'clock on hi
special. He wants TO roach here by /,
o'clock, and will have the right Of way.
and ron hardly have time TO make !
schedule. 90 ron can run him dows
this far by wire. Give him . cool
rum
II was no little work to rearranga
the time 81 al trains between the two
points, hut Will o had everything
open q that he could come right
through.
The arrangement was no sooner
made than the Superintendent sent d
second dispatch 10 the effect that he
would not leave until 10 o'clock. Thi,
upset all previous arrangements, and
new time must be made, and new or.
ders given to every train. It required
careful, leyel-headed work, and II was
done.
Al 10 O'Clock the superintendent
again changed his leaving time to II
o'clock, and the exasperating work had
to be again gone over.
The providing Of 70 much work into
such . short space Of time resulted in
another delay. and the special did not
leave st. Louis until several minutes
after II o'clock. The superintendent
private car carried the two millionaires
and that official, while the son Of one
OF the rich men rode on the engine.
The first twenty-five miles Of their
course lay along the river bank. The
special would reach K, where the
suburban accommodation, north bound,
was due to leave at noon, at Just about
the same hour-possibly q few minutes
after IL o'clock. Following the SER
pentine curves Of the track along the
river bank, the special bounded on its
way.
Two miles north of K was the
M River, which was bridged by the
railway. It was a small stream, only
about two hundred feet wide. On the
south bank nearest to K, was a switch
and . small station, at which mn oper-
ator was not regularly stationed. The
little station was known IS W. The
bridge was put at the confluence of the
small stream with the mighty Missis-
sippi. Coming on to the bridge from
the north the tracks rounded aprecipi.
tous bluff with a sharp curve, 80 that to
. sonth-bound train the bridge was gu.
of sight until the locomotive was al
most upon it.
With the intention of making W
q meeting point for the north-bound
suburban and south bound special, by
giving the suburban the siding, Will
called up e, and gave the en-
gineer Of the suburban orders to leave
on time. On that fatal day there was
nc operator at W. OF course the
suburban would stop at W, but it
should have had orders to take the sid
ing and wait there for the special.
Now it was bound to meet the special
before another stop was made, for the
latter had orders to run regardless"
The suburban had hardly more than
started until VIII called up VT to
give it orders TO take the siding for the
special. He had not known that there
was no operator at W that day.
He received no answer to his call.
Time was precious. He called again,
and received no answer.
What's the matter with W-?D he
asked. II can't raise him, and If he
don't come to his key before the sub
urban reaches him, there will be a col
lision with the Superintendent spe-
cial."
There is no operator at W to-
day answered the trainmaster, who
had just entered the ROOM.
my God! then they will meet on
the bridge, and nothing can prevent
it!"
A CHASTITY pallor came over Wills
face. and he sank back in his chair in
a dead faint. The traipmaster took
the key, and Will was carried into til
next room and revived with cold water.
They kept him close in the Superin-
tendent's room, and would tell him
nothing q v that the wreck was not
very bad.
II cost two lives. The son Of the
New York millionaire, who was riding
on the specials engine, was jammed
into the fre-box and literally burned
alive. The fireman Of the special en-
CINE was caught between the engine
and tender and 90 badly crushed that
he died in q few hours.
At IL o'clock that night i met Will
81 he came ont on the street from the
Superintendent office. ] hardly knew
him, and as / took his hand he scarcely
spoke to me. He didn't know yet the
result of the accident.
"How did it end-how many were
killed." he asked me.
SWELL, there are three hurt-one
pretty badly I answered, not wanting
to tell him the truth.
We were standing near the depot.
On the platform around the corner was
. crowd Of excited engineers, tiremen,
and brakemen. One Of them spoke out
loudly. saying:
well, boys, I am not rich, but I
have thirty-fvc cents left to help buy
. rope for that operator"
He did not know that Win was
standing within ten feet Of him. Will
hoard II. II was like . knife-thrust.
He reeled and fell into my arms. lear
ried him across the street into q saloon
and soon revived him. The strain was
too much for him and he tainted away
twice before / could get him home.
His mind wandered. finally got him
to bed and gave him . heavy dose Of
choral. He gave way for . few min
utes beneath the influence Of the drug,
but he would wake and start from his
bed with . look Of terror on his face.
*They can't hang me, . theyf It
wasn't my fault. There was no oper-
ator 81 W. / couldn't help that"
He kept IN in this way until nearly