Passaic City record., 1893-09-30
Died AT AN OPEN SWITCH.
A FATAL COLLISION CAUSED
BY A BRAKEMAN'S ERROR.

The Second Section of Wabash
Train Dashes Into Freight on
Siding at Kingsbury, Ind. Half a
Score of Passengers Killed and
Many Severely Injured.
Eleven persons were killed and eighteen
injured, four of them fatally, in an end-on
collision on the Niagara Falls Short Line OF
the Wabash Railroad within sight of Kings
bury Station, Ind, few minutes before 6
O'Clock 2. m. The accident was caused by
the carelessness of Herbert Thompson, head
brakeman OF last freignt TRAIN, VINO tnlew
open the switch of siding almost in front
OF the approaching passenger train. Thomp-
son made his escape
The freight train had orders to let the ex
press train pass it at Kingsbury. As the
brakeman threw the switch the second
section of the express train came along at
high rate OF speed. Before the brakeman
had time to throw back the switch the
heavy engine had dashed into the siding
A moment later the trains met with terrific
force. To add to the horrors of the collision
the boiler of the passenger engine blew up,
scattering human bodies and ca wreckage
in all directions Ten minutes after the ac-
cident had occurred the most frightful scenes
were transpiring.
The citizens of Kingsbury carried away
the dead and injured who could be reached.
The Masonic Hall was turned into a mOrgue,
and draws and farmers wagons we're kept
busy for two hours hauling the dead and
wounded to the village, mile distant from
the depot, where medical neip ana nurses
were summoned
There were two sleepers on the train, the
Marion and Kansas City. The former es-
capped injury, but the front half of the
Kansas City was converted into kindlihg
wood by the day coach, which smashed
over it. Two dead bodies were taken
from the sleeper. those of Harry French
and Charles Berbo. The smoking car was
twisted into heap of splinfers, and few of
the passengers escaped death or injury. The
day coach which followed was also wrecked
by being hurled against the sleeper Kansas
City.
t.he passengers in the sleeping cars were
all il their berths when the shock came.
Many of them were thrown from their beds
and severely hurt. The harvest of deaths
was reaped in the smoking car and day
coaches composing the forward part of the
train.
The passengers who werc not hurt worked
heroically in their efforts to take the dead
and wounded from the wreck as quickly
as it could be do4ie. The broken
beams and twisted irons OF the tele-
scoped ears were pulled apart, and
from beneath them the victims of the
catastrophe were lifted. Within q short
time many bodies, mangled and dead, were
lying on the Drowned grass near the wreck,
and score or more of injured had been car
ried to the nearest farm houses, where they
were attended to by surgeons and the coun-
try people.
The engineer of the passenger train, John
Green, met an awful death. He had no time
to Jump and was thrown from his cab for
ward clear over the freight engine a dis
tance of several ,ar lengths.
His conductor. James Coulter, was taken
from beneath the wrecked smoking car. His
spine was broken. He died as soon as he was
taken into the depot. James B. Weakly and
Henry Aaron, with a company of boys from
Doctor Barnardo's orphanage in London,
England, were also aboard the train, bound
for Chicago One of the lads, Harry French.
was killed and several others were badly in
jured One of them, William Adams, was
fatally injured.
The depot looked like hospital after q
battle. Men, women and children with
wounds of all sorts laid on hastily improvised
cots. The platform south of the track was
raised, and there on car cushions were
stretched several of the wounded waiting for
the arrival OF another special train.