St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-30
A Wisconsin Central Train
Takes a Twenty-Five
Foot Jump.
Cars Overturned and Splin-
tered. but the Passengers
Escape.
A Broken Leg and a Bruised
Forehead the Only Hurts
Reported.
Four Tpainmen Crushed to
Death in a Missouri
Collision
Spe cial TO the Globe

CpeSIdl 10 lu6 GIODe.
SALTWATER, MIMI, Dec. ga
7:45 this morning the short line Chicago
train of the Wisconsin Central Railroad
company jumped the track by reason of
defective rail at the so-called Dutch
town bridge, in this city, and tum bled
down the embankment, a distance Of
fully twenty-five feet, smashing the
locomotive, tender and two passenger
coaches. The locomotive was in charge
of Engineer Jay Leighton, of st. Paul,
one of the best engineers employed by
the Wisconsin Central company, and
was backing toward the bridge at
speed of not more than fifteen miles an
hour when the rails slid apart and the
tender, followed bv the locomotive and
coaches, jumped the track. crossing the
bridge, distance of sixty feet, on the
ties. As it approached the southeast
end of the bridge, the engine struck the
sides of the bridge with a terrific force.
smashing the cab and breaking Engin-
eer LeightOn's right leg at the ankle.
When the opposite side of the bridge
was reached it darted
Down the Embankment
the coaches overturning, and the trucks
of the tender smashing through the side
of the baggage car and smoker, which
was literally broken into small pieces.
Prompt efforts on the part of several
citizens who had gathered at the train
kept the coaches from burning, as there
was hot fire in each of the stoves. A
peculiar feature of the disaster is that
the locomotive did not tip over as it
rushed down the embankment, but re-
manned in an upright position. A young
man who saw the accident explained to
your reporter that the locomotive was
prevented from tipping by the tender,
which Slid down Immediately to the
right OF the locomotive. The only pas
sengerS on the train were Mr.. and Mrs.
Is. j. Sawyer, of IrOnWoOd, Mich, and
their two children, and all of them mir
aculouSly escaped injury, with the ex
ceptl0n OF Mrs. Sawyer, whose forehead
was slightly bruised. II. f. Durand,
the baggageman, was sitting in the
smoker, and was thrownheavily against
the side of the car as 1t turned over, but
was not seriously injured. A few feet
from him the trucks of the tender
smashed through the side of the car,
and he said, while cOuversing with a
GLOBE representative, that it was no
pleasant sight to see those heavy iron
wheels come crashing through the car.
Conductor w. J. Walters was in the
baggage car, and escaped 81
without a scratch
Mr.. Walters stated that the first IN
timatiOn he had of what had happened;
was when he heard the wheels crossing
the ties, and 4 second or two afterward
the cars were rolling down the embank-
ment, The track was torn up dis
lance of fully thirty feet, and many OF
the ties were found to be rotten. Where
the tender jumped the track the rails
were loose, and were showed fully two
inches to one side. immediately after
Engineer Leighton, who had faithfully
remained at his post. was eXtricated
from the wreck, he was taken
10 the Sawyer house, where he was at
tended by Drs. w. Ii. Game and Phi.
Muller. who pronounce Il bis injury
compound cOmminuted fracture of the
ankle, and found it necessary to ampu-
tate the limb. Charles Korth, the fire.
man, fell from his seat and escaped with
q slight injury of his left foot A wreck
ing crew arrived from White Bear at
noon, and the work of repairing the
track and clearing up the debris was
Immediately commenced, and by even
ing the track was iii a paSSable condi-
ton. The Wisconsin Central trains
running from this city to Duluth juno
ton and ST. Paul run over the ST. Paul
Il Duluth tracks TO the junction, and all
trains were necessarily delayed or aban-
dOned. Another story circulated as to
the probable manner in which Engineer
Leighton was injured is that the tender
crushed through the cab when it slid
down the embankment.