Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1894-11-30
TIE eros SING | !. WRECK ]
Witnessesand Facts Indi-l
Il. cate that the AZ. il. Train u
n I. men wv ere Blam eless. 4.
Conductor Kirk patrick and
Engineer Moore Acted
Promptly and Wisely. q

E1lSlue0E$HNAO OEG #ACIeu n
Promptly and Wisely.
The accounts Of the st. Cloud pa
B pers Of the crossing wreck at that
place on Saturday morning bet ween
the Northern Pacific passenger train
No. 2 and a Great Northern special
freight give the N. p. trainmen q
little uEdue criticism. Probably
this 10 because Of local acquaintance
4 with the Great Northern men. and
also because the Great Northern
men were very prompt to tell their
story-as the conditions that sur
rounded the wreck clearly made,
some explanation necessary from.
: the Great Northern people. The NJ
P. train was a regular one, and the
q. N: a,special.;as George Kirkpatrick
was conductor and Eugene Moore
engineer Of the n. r. train, and they
are two Of the most careful and COM
petent trainmen in the employ of the
company, The train was on, time,
and proceeding In the. usual manner.
Itstopped5 at the proper distance
from the crossing, and then pro-
. coed slowly, asa great speed is
never required III going over the
crossing, the st. cloud station
being but, short distance beyond It.
The N. P. train had got partly
across the crossing, when Engineer
Moore saw that the Great Northern
train would probably strike his, 50
he slackened che speed Of his train so
that the Great Northern would hit
the train ahead of the passengercars.
The. train was struck a few feet
ahead of the hind end OF the baggage
car, and thus the passengers were
subjected to as little danger as pos
sible after it was discovered that
the collision was inevitable. Had
the N. P. train continued on it's
course, or increased it's speed In an
effort to get away, the passenger
cars, which were crowded, would
have been struck, and the increased
speed would have caused a much
worse wreck. Anything but the
wisest action on the part OF Moore
would have certainly resulted in a
terrible catastrophe, and the loss OF
many lives. The fact that the
engine and lhreecars of the NJ =.
i train had passed the crossing before
1T was struck shows plainly that 1T
was in the right. As soon as the
wreck occurred Conductor Kirk
patrick entered the smoking car,
which had been tipped over, and
looked after the stove and lamps to
prevent a fire.. and aided the men
who had been hurt by the upsetting OF
thecar. There is no doubt whatever
that the Northern Pacific train men
acted according to their duty, and
we can see no good ground for criti-
cism OF them. Their conduct was
: entirely proper, and we cannot fail
to give both conductor and engineer
credit and praise for their actions In
connection with the unfortunate
collision. The train was on time,
and they had every reason to be-
lieve that others desiring to use the
crossing would he especially careful
at the time that another train was
due. Although the special Great
Northern train came upon them un-
expectedly it found. them on. the
alert, and running their train &C.
cording to strict rules. The Great
Northern train was very hea w one,
and doubtless could not be held
easily by the engine. +. - =
1t is not the place Of a paper to be
very free with criticisms, but q care
full investigation of the conditions
compels the claim that the Northern
Pacific men were not only entirely
blameless, but their actions merit
special approval TIE claim in the
st. Cloud Journal Press that Mr..
Kirkpatrick lost control of himself is
false and unfair. He is as prompt
and competent to meet any emer-
gency as any man in the service, and
! his conduct Saturday morning. con
firms this. = f., -.%
A Recommendation. =
In communication to the city
council at it's last meeting Mayor