Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-04-30
NINE MEN MEET DEATH.
DISREGARD OF ORDERS CAUSES
THE CALAMITY.

s.r-Esa
An Express and = Mail Train Crash To-
gether, Almost instantly Killing Both
Engineers and All tho Mall Clerks-The
Names.
Edward Brown, engineer, Toledo, Ohio.
Charles Topliff, engineer, Toledo, Ohio.
f. j. Nugent postal clerk, Toledo,
Ohio.
Charles HammiIl, postal clerk, Elyria,
Ohio.
+. f. Clemens, postal clerk, Cleveland,
Ohio.
John J. Bowerfine, postal clerk, Elyr-
Ia, Ohio.
James Mckinley, postal clerk, Con-
neaut, Ohio.
c. III. Mcdowell, postal clerk, Elyria,
Ohio.
- Staley, fireman.
These men were instantly sent to
eternity by the frightful carelessness OF
some one-of whom it is not known.
At Kipton station, q little place on the
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern road,
forty miles west of Cleveland, Ohio, the
fast mail bound east collided with the
Toledo express just as the latter train
was about to pull on the siding to let the
fast mail pass. The latter was running
at full speed, and the force OF the collis-
ion was so great that both engines.
three mail cars and one baggage car
were completely wrecked. None of the
passenger cars left the track, and none
OF the passengers received serious In
juries
1t was the custom for these two trains
TO pass at KiptOn, the Toledo express
taking the side track for the fast mail,
which usually went through Kipton
without slackening its speed. The To-
ledo express was few minutes late, and
had just come to stop at the switch
when the fast mail came in sight. There
Is scarcely any curve at the station, but
on one side of the track was q line OF
freight cars and on the other the station.
These might have obstructed the vision
of the engineer of the fast mail
saw that a COLLISION was inevitable, but
the speed OF the tran was not checked
materially. The engine Of the Toledo
express was knocked squarely across
the track, and that of the fast mail
reared in the air, resting on top Of the
other The fast mail consisted OF three
mail cars and two parlor cars, and the
Toledo express OF five coaches and two
baggage cars. The first and second
ma cars were telescoped and smashed
to k.ndling wood, and the third crashed
into the first two and rolled over on the
station platform, breaking the windows
of the building. The two baggage ears
Of the Toledo express were knocked
from the track, but did not turn over.
The force of the collision was so great
that of the sixty-four revolving-chairs in
the two parlor-cars only four remained
attached to the floors, all the others be-
ing broken and hurled about in confu-
sion. The passengers were thrown TO
the floors and badly shaken.
The passengers of the two trains at
once began the work of rescue, and with
corps of physicians from the town
ministered to the few who were injured.
All but one of the dead were beyond
human assistance as soon as the collision
occurred. The bodies were all horribly
crushed and mutilated, arms and legs
being torn off, and the corpses were al
most beyond recognition.
Charles Topliff, the engineer OF the
fast mail, remained bravely at his post,
and was found dead with his hand on the
throttle. His hands and face were so badly
scalded that the blackened flesh dropped
from the bones when his body was taken
out. The poor postal clerks had not a
chance to escape. They were Gagged like
rats, and the telescoping of the car
crushed the life out of them without a
moments warning.
When the passengers who were on the
fast mail arrived at Cleveland they
brought the first authentic account OF
the wreck, there being no correspondents
or other facilities for getting the news
from KiptOn, which is mere hamlet.
These passengers say that the cars and
locomotives were piled in heap higher
than the station.
1t is difficult to locate the blame for
the accident, as both of the engineers
are dead. 1t is said, however, that the
express was ordered to stop at Oberlin,
but went on to Kipton, which is six
miles farther west, and had not suffi-
cient time TO make the side track.