The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-06-26

of the Pennsylvania railroad for twenty.
one years and in that time he has never
been suspended for reckless running.
hen he came in sight Of the Steeiton
tower he got the white signal. Near the
Dock-street tower he received the red sig
nal. tie whistled. applied the brakes and
reversed the engine as be saw the other
train Just ahead on the same track. When
tue first section was struck 1t was sixty
tower. He would have been able
TO discover the signal at the tower il
the weather had been better and the rails
dryer. Under moro favorable circIn-
stances he would probably have been able
To stop the train. The engineer did not
hear any caps. He never knew any to miss
exploding. He was two hundrod yards
away when the signal on the Dock
street tower was first seen. Kelly said the
operator at the Steelton tower had evil
IDENTITY thought the block clear and given
him the white signal. He said the operator
at the Dock-strect tower had told him that
he had not reported tho block clear
to the StecltOn operator. His train was
about twenty-five minutes late at Laneas-
ter. and be was running about thirty miles
an hour when the crash occurred. If no
run In mad taken place he would have
reached harrisburg depot five minutes
late. The schedule time allowed between
tho DOck-etreet tower and the Harrisburg
depot 10 two minutes. He always consid-
cred the fiagmnn q safe man. The fiagman
is supposed TO have his caps at least six
hundred yards away from the rear of hts
train. Kelly did not care to say whether
the flaginan should have renamed back or
not. Tho rule Is that an operator Is not to
declare a block clear until a train has
passed his tower one hundred yards.
}. r.. Packer, operator at the DOck-street
tower, OK Explained the block system, and
said no could prove that he did not report
his block clear to the SteeltOn operator by
his train sheet. The track walker was In
The 49, pvrfh lad IN, - d ttrnA ~ ~
cidcnk He held the first section becsnse
the track was not clear. Last night was
his first night at the Dock-stree tower as
nm extra operator. He has been n full.
tiedged operator for the past six months.
Engineer Kelly aud fireman Kelly being
recalled, both testified hat the operator ut
the Dock street tower had displayed a red
light. Charles Is. Rettin, conductor of the
second section. stated that he believed en-
gineer Kelly to be q competent man.
Robert NJ. Brown, the iagman of the first
section, who has been IN the service for
eight years. stated positively that he placed
q torpedo on the track opposite the Paxton
mills. He said he was called. and climbed
over the top of the private car
attached to the first section signaling the
engineer from the car. He said he was
called I'm too soon to get back any further.
The Steelton operator. he thought, was to
blame. Several railroad men were called
70 testify as TO the operation of the fig sys-
tenn. The jury Will visit the sccno of tho
wreck tomorrow and conclude its sitting
Monday morning.
stories or Passengers.
PITTsBURG, June 25.-When the first Sec
ton of the wrecked train arrived here
there were many of the injured passengers
on board. They all pronounced 1t one of
the most terrible wrecks they had over
seen. Many told startling stories. F. w.
Heany, of Chicago, who is q commercial
traveller, had his hand badly crns he'd try
ing to rescue a mau. He said: Il was In
the smoker when the wreck came We
were oil thrown out OF our seats and
stunned for a moment. Right ahead of me
was q man whom believed was q foreign
or. A double seat caught him and the
heavy stove fell on him also. breaking both
legs. In trying 10 Push Oft the stove II
caught my hand. When | got out / saw q
woman taken from the parior car with hor
head crushed horribly. Other dead nnd
injured were on every hand. l had been in
wrecks before. but never saw so much
damage IN so short n time"
John Goulson. of Chicago, had his arm
hurt while jumping through a baggage-car
window. The scene was fr,Shtfuln he
snrieks IN my life as came from the second
car. which was telescoped. 1t was COM
pletely broken up. and not q single person
In IL escaped injury"
j. w. Wright. OF New York, was thrown
over five seats and slightly cut. Il helped
to carry out a numbe of cOrpses from tho:
wreck he said. They were all so fright
fully cut that they must have died instant
w."
j. d. Ruffer, a New York insurance agent.
was badly injured about the head and
breast. He SAID: Il was in the third car
from the end of the first section and was
asleep when the accident occurred. was
awakened by the awful crash and almost
instantly was struck by a heavy imber
which held me down. In some manner,
which / cannO account, for | extricated
myself and crswled ont of a window. The
night was very dark, and the cries of the
injured rent the air In a most sickenlng
manner. The car in which l was caught
fire and I immediately set TO work to OK
tinguish the flame. / succeeded after q
hard light. Gong to the part of the car
where l had been seated ] found that | was
the only one who bad escaped. | took out
four bodies within a few feet of where l
had been sitting and considered myself q
lucky man." Rutfer's clothes were saturated
with blood and he was barely able to walk.