Telegram-herald., 1891-11-18
KILLED IN Thu WRECK
Two Trains Atrsmpt to Pass On .
Single Track
WITH TIE USUAL HoREIBLERESULI
- q =. = !. Esssxhs Crsv gergss Ala
Asssss fAssesksr Train sss nas late
1s As faI speed Ss~r S.iesrI
I've killsa. AastAsx 8sse
Yesterday morning a. 7.4s O'Clock /.

Yesterday morning ~ 7:45 O'Clock .
quarter Of . mile south OF Gilbert, .
ANAL station four nlies south OF Man
ton, occurred one OF the most ssrsous
weeks the q. K. 4 /. road has mad in
years A the Fort Wayne and Trsv-
erse City express, due here ~ li;50 ..
M, was coming around the curve from
Gilbert. it eollided with north bound
freight tram. drawn BY engine No. 4S.
There Il = steep grade and . sharp
curve At this point. and although both
engineers reversed their engines, yet
the distance Was 50 small that the speed
OF the two trains MAS not checked IN
the silghlest. In an instant there was
= crash, and the hissing OF escaping
stezm mingled with the Eroans OF
thrown from their seats by the shock I;
~ soon - they recovered they rushed
out Of the coaches and FASTENED ~ the
assistance OF the unfortunate
men buried under the debris
OF the wrecked engines. Thomas
Pickeil, hrs man OF the passenger
train Was taken from underneath the
engine, crushed to death by tie weignt
OF the iron monster. James smith,
engia aeer Of the passenger tfain. was
taAen out IN . dying condition. His
LETT leg. from his foot To his MP, Was
crushed TO a pulp He WAS taken to q
farm house near by and the leg was
snputated, but there 10 no hope of his
recovery. Brakeman Fremont Howard
Was found dead under the wreck OF the
freight train. Fireman Clubhouse of
the freight has very serious scalp
wound. The mail agent, name not
gwen, and Brakeman Ennis OF the pas
eenger were severely bruised; wnile
Express Messenger Munday and Bag
gageman lie Van were slightly Injured
By the shock OF the collision.
Both engines, No. 20 and No. As, were
completely wrecked. Engine No. %,
oil the passenger tram, WAS q new en-
Glne. and had been IN use less than n
month. light freight cars were totally
demolished but their contents were not
destroyed. The front end OF the mail
Car Was crushed IN, bat beyond that the
passenger tram suffered no particular
damage. None of the passengers were
injured. This Is especially fortunate;
because all the conconltants were at
hand for one OF the most serious
wrecks Michigan ever saw; = passenger
train Just getting under full motion, q
heavy freight train laundering down q
steep grace, and . curve which OBJ
structed the view of both engineers 80
that neither could see the approach OF
the other.
The cause Of the wreck could not be
learned last night. but it 10 claimed
that the responsibility rests with the
crew OF the freight. II 10 thought that
they forgot there WAS = train due from
north OF Cadillac, that train having
been put on Monday morning. The
passenger train bad the right Of way.
George Sherman WAS conductor of
the freight and Dennis Murray was en-
RiEeer. T. III. Miller and James Smith
were respectively conductor and eng
neer Of the passenger.
The wrecking train left for the scene
Of the wreck At 1880 yesterday morning.
SUPERINTENDENT w. b. Stimson and DR..
J. b. Grsworl accompanied It. DIR.
Wardell N. Miller. OF Cadillac, the sur
geon Of the q. K q l. At that point, was
at the scene OF the wreck, and every
thing was being done for the comfort OF
the injured men, that could be done.
Thomas PickeIl. the dead fireman
lived IT Cadillac, and leavesa - wife and
seven small children. PREGNANT How
ard, the dead brakeman, was = resident
ofCadllIsc. He leaves wife and one
child. James smith, the engineer OF
the passenger, iivesst No. 2s6 Twelfth
street. He has . wife aud four cbil-
cren. Mrs. Smith and two of the chil-
dren left for the scene OF the wreck al
III 80 yesterday morning.
j. II. p. HughArt, assistant to the
president OF the q. K d l., said yester-
day:
There has been no investigation yet;
but a. near as we can learn the acci-
dent 10 due to negligence on the part oi
the crew Of the freight. Ii is the most
serious accident We have had in several
years"
The q. r. a I. succeeded in getting
two trans through this morning. one ~
Il 80 and the other st Ills. Inc Mack
lnaw express, which arrived here ~
1870 o. M, came over the {. 4 W. NJ.
road by the way OK Traverse City. On
the other train the passengers were
transferred at the scene OF the wreck
aud brought down oy . train waiting
for that purpose.
Engineer smith Of the passenger
train Was alive 1T last accounts lasi
night, but there u little or no hope OF
hls recovery. His leg MAS amputsts d
between the knee and hip. The shock
W me nervous systsm wss very great.
Dennis Murray, engineer Of ths
freight. WAS arrested last night Al
effort Was made to arrest George eher-
man. conductor Of the freight, but he
could not bs found. He whereabouts
Was unknown when the train left the
scene of tne wreck.
Mr.. w. h. stimson. superintendent oE
the u. II. a /. was seen ~ l:3o O'Clock
this morning by . reporter for the TEL.
rsRAM-Hxp&Lp. He had just returned
from the scene of the wreck and ssid
"we havsn't cleared up the track yes
but Ne built track around the wreck
~ business can 90 on - usual. IL i.
impossible TO estimsts the | -: but il
no one bad been killed the hnsneiaI los,
weaIan't nave made any d fferenee
the compsoy. The crew Of the freKhl
train we're clearly responsible for IN.
nctsdert- They forgot all stout the pas
ssuser trains. They we're late, and the,
d.dn'tspov such train wss IN e stsncs
The srsins met ~ shsrp curve
Neither ere~ hsd time To jump and q
both were on the engines when they
esnse fesesner. The pssssngrr tysir
w4sn't fully andey motion. bat Nh
freight wss running RAPIDLY. IL n :
very nnfortunst- sfssir, and is seem
strange that the whole crew shenlc
have forsottfn the sylstsnee of sbaI