The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-09-23
BRAKEMAN'S BLUNDER.
" Causes the Loss of Eleven
Lives on the Wabash Road.
OPENED A SWITCH BY MISTAKE

AS Result the second Section of a
Crowded Passenger Train Crashed Into
= Freight Standing on tho sidlng-The
Passenger Engine Explodes.
KINGsBuRY, Ind, Sept. 23.-Eleven
bodies resting upon tmprovised slabs and
tables under the roof of the modest Ma.
sonic hall Of the village, and score OF In.
5ured as inmates Of the city hospital at
Peru, seventy mile, distant, tell the story
Of tue latest railroad horror of which this
Village was the scene yesterday. The re
vised list of the dead Is as follows:
j. McKenna, butcher, Hyde Pork, Mass:
Harry French, aged IA, of the London
England) Charity school, London; Charles
Birbee. San Francisco; Alice Reed, East
Boston, Mass. Miss Lille d. Tucker, Bos,
ton, Mass. Warren G. Ryder, Phoenix,
Ariz,; II. G. Zelle, Germany; ]. d. Roundy,
IaMoill, Ia; John Green, engineer OF the
passenger train, Ashley, Ia; j. G. Coulter,
conductor passenger train, Detroit; W. N.
Lyon, baggagemaster passenger train,
Detroit.
An instant of forgetfulness. or absent
mindedness, on the part of a brakeman
who is given the best Of reputation by the
Wabash officers, tells the story of the sec
pnds that preceded the catastrophe. As to
the facts themselves there is no room for
dispute. Freight train No. 4, east bound
from Chicago, was due at this point at
a:20. 1t was under orders to take the sid
ing and await the arrival Of west bound
passenger express No. 3, which according
TO the schedule should have passed the
Kingsbury depot at 4:40. The express,
however, was over an hour late, and, ow-
Ing to the heavy travel growing out Of the
Worlds fair, was divided into two sec
tiOns, the second section running twelve
minutes behind the first.
Both sections were made up at Buffalo,
the passengers including people from that
atty as well as from the various lines cen
tsring in it from Canada and the east.
With the knowledge that under the sched-
ule he had twenty minutes to spare, En-
gineer Whitman, Of the freight train, pro
ceeded up the siding to the main line to
take water, the switch being thrown open
by Herbert Thompson, the track man OF
of the freight After the engine had taken
water the freight was backed 20 the sid
Ing and Thompson closed the switch. Re
garding this latter fact there is no room
for question for at 5.10 the first section OF
the express, thirty minutes late, swept
signal-one 2nd two short blasts-to init
mate to the freight that second section
was following close behind
What were the movements of Brake
man Thompson in the next few moments
remains to be developed Certain it Il
that when twelve minutes later the sec
ond section Of the west bound express
came laundering along Mt speed of forty
miles an hour the switch was open. Like
q lash Of lightning, therefore, the trair
took the siding and crashed into the wait
ing freight standing there A secon {
later and the air was filled with shrieks
Rroans, ,moans md piteous appeals for helI
and assistance. The passenger train con
sisted OF baggage car, three ordinary
coaches and two sleepers and the force o
the collision was such that only the rea
sleeper escaped injury.
The locomotive of the freight car wa
driven half way into the meat car in 1t
rear, the baggage car of the passenge
emin was thrown aside, while the passenge
coaches partially telescoped each other
-7-an. the third Grand Trunk coach, Gu
In two the sleeping car "kansus City,
carrying away the smoking compartment
and sections l and s as clean as though
they had been trimmed with razor
edged AK The two forward coaches wer
completely wrecked and the occupant
buried in the debris.
Awakened by the shock of the collision
che sleepers in the rear palace car poure
out without waiting to don the clothing
they had discarded the night before, an
aided by the trainmen and those of til
passengers who escaped injury set then
selves TO work to rescuing the injured. Il
ha 4 ttft,n In NJ ha fnr
houses Immediately adjacent to the trac
had been awakened, and immediatel
men, women and girls hurried to the seen
and lent what assistance they could.
Most of the dead and injured were in th
two forward day coaches, and these wer
80 completely wrecked that the work {
extrieating the dead and dying was con
pRratively easy one, One after auothc
the lifeless forms were brought out q
heaps Of timber and placed in row on tn
west side OF the track, while the injure
were carried to the meadow on the eas
side and cared for by the villagers, VIII
ministered to their sufferings and allev
ated their pains as far as their facilitit
ai hand would permit.
In the meantime news o the catastroph
bad been wired to La p, e, Westvill
Union Mills, Michigan Ci.y and oth'
points within radius Of score OF mile
and In short time scores of buggie
wagons and vehicles of every descriptio
were at the scene. In these the injurC
were conveyed to the farm houses and re
idences of the neiGhborhood, the doors
which were thrown wide open by the oce
pants, the latter deVoring themselves
The temporary relief Of the sufferers, pen
ing the arrival Of medical assistance.
L.. 81 IL "A u
william Evans, both of whom were da
gerously wounded. belonged to q compar
known as the Barbados Musical troup
from the London Orphan asylum, co
ducted by that noted philanthropist. Tn,
had been booked for II concert at tho hea
quarters of the Epworth league, just ou
slde the Worlds fair grounds, yesterday
Two score men are securing the su
rounding country for Herbert Thompso
the brakeman, to whose neglect the l
sponsibility for the catastrophe Is place
After the freight train had backed to
aiding to await the passing of the expire
his movements were not observed by al
OF the crew. When, however, Engine
Whitman had succeeded in extrlcatii
himself from the debris of the meat CO
into which he had been driven by the for
Of the collision, he found Thompson stan
ing on the tra,k as pale as ghost al
trembling in every fibre.
"What have you done?" demanded I
engineer, whose arm hung helpless
his side, while the blood poured from
cut in his bead. II must have left I
switch open,n was Thompson's reply, n
without anotl.er word he took to his he
and disappeared.
Raided the Anarchists.