Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-25
CAUSED BY THE USUAL HOT BOX.
A Number of Passengers Wounded. Several
of Whom Will Die.
SECOND WRECK WITHIN A FEW HOURS


O'Clock, was delayed one mile north
of Hastings. The rear brakeman was
sent back to Hastings, to signal
the st. Louis express, which leaves
the Grand Central at 8 o'clock. Instead OF
standing on the tracks and waving his Ian
tern, according to the rules of the road, he
went into the depot In moment or two
he saw the heavy St. Louis express thunder
it had covered the distance between the
depot and the delayed express, and there
was crash.
The engine literally disappeared inside
the last sleeper of the express. The heavy
wood and iron work of the car was smashed
to bits, and seven passengers were lying
dead and many wounded. Some of the
wounded are likely to die. -Four of the
dead bodies were not recognizable last
night. The list is as follows:
List of the Killed and Wounded.
BALDWIN, Mrs. A. NJ. OF Il Fast Eighty
fifth street, widow Of Homer Baldwin, Sr
KNIGHT, A. n, conductor of the Wagner
car.
PoLLEY, Thomas W.. publisher Is West
Twenty-third street. house II East Thirty
eighth street, New York.
Four unidentified corpses.
The injured are:
BALDWIN, HOMER, slightly.
BALDWIN, Mrs. H. r.
BALDWIN, Miss LILLIAN.
BEST, DR.. STEPHEN E., 2A Lenox
Avenue, New York.
FORD, Miss ID. G.
FORD, Mr. e. NJ
LIVINGSTON, ID. c., Rdgway.
MURPHY, T. L., 81 Chambers street.
WHITE, J. W., porter of the Wagner car.
There were others. less seriously, whose
names were not taken. The Buffalo and
Niagara Falls special was composed of one
combination baggage and smoking car, one
ordinary coach and two Wagner sleeping
cars, the Burnside and the Gibraltar. The
Gibraltar was the last car on the train.
There were 16 passengers in her, besides a
conductor and porter. All the other cars
were filled.
One of the Fastest on the Road.
The train is one of the fastest night trains
on the Central lis first regular stop after
leaving the Grand Centralis Peekskill Ex-
actly what caused the train to stop above
Hastings tonight is not known, but the
railroad officials say it was probably hot
box in one of the sleeping cars. and not the
smashup at Sing Sing, 16 miles up the
track.
The st. Louis Express was composed of
two express cars, two ordinary coaches and
three sleepers. Her running time between
the Grand Central and Hastings is nearly
two minutes faster than the Buffalo and
Niagara Falls special. Her first regular
stop is Poughkeepsie, and she goes
through the towns between here and there
at terrific pace Tonight she was two
minutes later leaving the depot, and made
no more than average speed She was 60
ing particularly fast at Hastings, for there
are no switches or sidings to fear there.
No Warning to the Engineer
The engineer had no warning whatever of
the danger until his engine was within
hundred feet or so from the rear of the
stalled express Then he discovered the
red lights on the tail end of the last car.
He blew mis- whistle, reversed the engine,
and jammed down the brakes all in an
instant, but too late.
No one in the car had time to think before !
it was all over. There were shrieks and |
cries from the wounded and diving. and |
then for a moment there was absolute |
silence save for the painting of the engine |
that stood in the midst of the sleeper, and |
for the grinding of its unclutched wheels on |
the track
1t was several minutes before the passeu- |
gers and train men recovered from the shock, |
and then they were panic-stricken. They |
tramplod on each other in their efforts to |
get to the open air. Some were hurt in this |
wav. II was fully five minutes before any
one had recovered sufficiently to see the |
damage wrought and to think of saving life.
Attempts to Save the Injured.
The trainmen were first about They
had axes from the uniniured cars, and got
lamps and torches and went to work chop
ping AWAY what little woodwork of the
Gibraltar that remainr'l
The injured who " 20 pinned in the
wreck moaned and begged to be released.
A half hours chopping by the trainmen
and some of the uuiniured passengers, who
had also procured axes, cut away the shell
of the telescoped car, and the bodies of two
or three of the dead were brought out.
Now and then an injured man was released
The dead bodies were laid out beside the
track on improvised stretchers Beds were
procured for the injured, and the doctors
attended to them. Beside their cuts and
bruises and broken bones thev had been
scalded by the steam that
escaped from the pipes that heated the
cars.
1t was more than an hour before the last
4
Then a train was made up, with the doctors.
These were put on board and taken to
Yonkers and Tarrytown.
Some Of the Lucky Ones.
There were IS persons in the car Gibral-
ter, including the conductors and perters
Of these the three who escaped were j. Z.
Could, man named jacobson, Of 243 West
Twenty-third street, and man named Cor
mick. The engineer and fireman of the
second train were not hurt.
The other wreck occurred in the tunnel
1nder Sing Sing prison, upon the Central
Hudson Railroad, at $50 O'Clock tonight
rhe soutb-bound Croton local, due at Sing
Sing at GIG, in charge OF Engineer Ellis,
.rashed into freight in charge of Conductor
ayan, that was backing up from Searboro.
rhe engine of the local and dozen cars of
he freight were thrown in ell directions, the
ubbish filling the tunnel and blocking both
racks. The passengers of the local re- ,
,eived a severe shaking up. The engineer
nd iremen jumped. The tracks were
leared 10 at o'clock. The blame is placed
Ipon the engineer of the freight.