The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-11-01
Crash ON The D. |. { W.
Three Men Meet with Horrible Death
in Collision at Foster.
A BRAKEMAN'S FATAL MISTAKE
lie Pulls the Wrong Lever OH Switch
and Directs Coal Engine on the
Track in Front of the
Fast Express.
Special to the Scranton Tribune.

special 10 tne scranton tribune.
Foster. Pa, Oct. 81.
Three employees of the Delaware, Lack |
awanna and Western railroad met with |
Il horrible death In collision at this |
place about l o'clock this morning. The |
midnight passenger from Scranton col |
lided with coal engine about 100 yards |
north Of the station. The engineer of
the ccal engine, and fireman of the pas
senger engine were killed instantly, and
the fireman Of the coal engine was taken
to the Moses Taylor hospital in Scran.
ton. where he died at O'clock. The
dead are:
JAMES LYNOTT, coal engineer, aged
80 years, of Scranton; leaves n wife
and four children.
ELMER SCULL, coal fireman, of Mos
COW.
WILLIAMF. HOSEY, passenger fireman,
aged % years, unmarried; of Conk
lin, y. Y.
None of the passengers was injured.
The Buffalo express is one of the fast
est trains on the Lackawanna road and
left Scranton ON time, drawn by a cost
ly and monster engine known as No
245. When the stretch of track just
south of the station was reached and
while the train was rushing through
the darkness at lightning speed the
black hulk of a coal engine appeared
in dim outline ahead. The engine was
dashing from the south bound track.
No Time for Jumping.
There was no time for reversing of
levers or leaps for life. In less than
three seconds the passenger engine had
plunged into the side of the coaler's
tender with an awful crash and mo-
mentum which sent the former from
the rails and along the embankment for
distance of fifty feet Here it lay on
| its side fifteen feet above the roadbed
with it's wheels churning until the
steam was shut off by the engineer,
who escaped death by miracle
| The coal engine was toppled over
| on the south bound track with its engi-
neer pinioned beneath the wreckage
/ and released from suffering by instant
death. Fireman Scull was conscious
| and able to converse with those who
| bore him from the scene to be taken
| to Scranton few hours later. Opiates
were administered to him by DR.. john
ston, who accompanied the unfOrtunat,
man TO the Moses Taylor hospital,
where he died from shock and internal
| injuries.
The force of the collision threw the
| baggage car from the track. The car
remained upright and aided in bringing
the train to u sudden stop. Startled
passengers swarmed from the sleepers
and day coaches and aided materially
in starting the work eof clearing the
wreckage. which was completed by
Superintendent Bogart and the wreck.
ing crew from Scranton.
Brakcman's Fatal Mistake.
From trainmen and passengers the
cause and particulars of the horrible
accident were learned as follows: COa
engine No. 1l6 was south-bound and
running backwards and pulling the ca
boose. A stop was made to take some
empty cars from the siding to Scranton.
The lever which throws the switch to
the siding is located near switch
from the south-bOund 10 the north
bound track. Brakeman William Du-
val, Scranton, by mistake pulled the
wrong lever, and before the engineer
had discovered the error the tender Of
his engine was on the north-bounC
track. Quicker almost than though,
in the darkness and the fatal crash
came.
Brakeman Duval disappeared In the
excitement and was reported as having
been last seen walking with lighted Ian
tern along the road to Nicholson
Conductor Burt Capwell was II
charge of the passenger tram ana ia
vid Wallace was the conductor of thC
coal engine and cabOoSe.
AT IL o'clock this morning the Goa
engine had been placed upright and th'
track cleared for the passage OF No. l.
which arrived in Scranton at l2.lO on
time. General Manager Hallstead
reached here at o'clock this afternoon
on the Comet from Buffalo,
Credence was given in this city last
night to a rumOr that William Duval
the missing brakeman, was crushed be
meath the passenger engine on the bank
Additional weight was given the rumol
from Passenger Engineer Butler
statement that his engine had struck
: a man who carried a lantern. The en-
gine was raised from its fallen position
at 4 o'clock last night and set upon It's
wheels. No body nor evidence of death
other than mentioned in The Tribune
dispatch from Foster was found.
From all the information obtainablc
from railroad employees in this city II
, is probable that Duval Is in hiding neal
the scene OF the disaster or has wan
dered off into Susquehanna or Wyom
ing counties. Superintendent Wolf. o.
+ the wrecking crew, was seen at his
= home in this city last night. He scout
3 ed the probability of Duvals death.
Peter Kelly, the middle brakeman o.
the coal crew. claims that he found thu
crossover switch locked and set proper
~ for the south bound track immediate
" after the accident. If this is tru,
the only way in which the coal engine
, could pass to the north bound tract
: was by jumping over the point of tn,
switch rail.
Duval has been several years in tn,
= employ of the railroad and among hi
fellow brakemen has been considered
D cautious and competent. They canno
k believe he was the cause of the acci
dent and attribute his flight to temper
airy excitement.