Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-02-01
SEEMS A MIRACLE,
Canadian Pacific Express Goes
Over 40-Foot Embankment
Near lowelltown, at 8 A. NJ, Sat-
urday, and No One Is Killed.
:everaI Iniured-kll Will Recover -Wonder-
ful that Any Escaped Alive.

Lowelltown, Jan. 31-rhe second
serious accident to a Canadian Pacific
passenger train within five days oc-
Cured near here, Saturday morning,
when the fast express, which left
Montreal. Friday night, for Halifax,
ran off the track. Several people were
cut and bruised. but although four cars
went over an embankment 40 feet high,
no one was killed.
The injured are: Fred Blizzard, postal
clerk, cut and bruised, knee dislocated; ;
r. NJ. Magee, postal clerk, cut about
head and foot crushed: ]. Bethume of
Butte, Mont, cut about head, shoulder
dislocated.
The accident happened about 5
o'clock. while nearly everybody on
| board, except the train hands, were
asleep. The train. which was made up
of five cars, had just passed this sta
ton and was climbing steep grade
which extends nearly mile eastward,
| when the engineer suddenly felt a ter
rible grinding behind him, and before
| he could reverse his engine or apply the
| brakes every car had left the irons, the
| locomotive alone remaining on the
| track.
The cars tore up the road bed for a
| considerable distance, splintered the
| sleapers, and four of them crashed over
| the steep embankment down on to the
snow and ice on a rough tract of
| stumpage land.
A telegraph pole was snapped off and
| for time the wires were down. The
| cars that went over were the postal
| baggage, first-class coach and a dining
| car. They We're badly smashed, and
| it was several minutes after the acci-
| dent that the dazed occupants knew
| what happened.
The postal car Jared the worst of any.
Clerk Blizzard was quite badly injured,
and his clothes torn to fragments. The
train hands found it necessary to use
axes to get him and Clerk McGeen out
| of the wreck.
The combination sleeper and smoker
did not leave the roadbed, owing to the
| timely work of Conductor P. L. Le-
feber, who was sitting in the smok-
| ing apartment at the time. He felt
| the forward car leave the roadbed, and
/ as soon as he realized what had hap
pened he rushed out on the front plat
form.
The train was then going at the rate
of - or Is miles an hour, and al
| though the sleeper had left the irons
| and was tearing along through the
snow and sand, he applied the hand
/ brake and brought the car to a stand
still just as it was about to follow the
others. which had broke away from it.
Nearly 40 people were asleep in this
car. Several were thrown from their
| berths by the shock, and were badly
shaken up,but none were injured. They
afterward presented the conductor with
a testimonial. Conductor Lefebre said
it was miraculous that several persons
were not killed.
Assistance was procured from this
station. and the section hands after
several hours work succeeded in put
ting the track in running order. The
sleeper was put on the rails, and after
an additional car had been taken from
the siding here, the passengers and
trainmen left for st. John at noon.
A wrecking train arrived here, in the
afternoon, and has begun the work of
clearing up the wrecked cars. The
cause of the accident is not definitely
known but it is supposed it was due to
the spreading of the rails. The loss to
the company is heavy.