The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-28
PRISON Frs
In Midnig,h
Express.
AWFUL COLLISION
Especial DISPATCH to the spv.)

Especial Dispatch to the Spy)
Springfield, Nov. 27.-With her en-
gines encased in ice, icicles hanging
from her window frames, snow piled
up in cold confusion on car tops, trucks,
steps and window lodges, her officers
and crew exhausted and her passen-
gers worn out with waiting, the IL p.
m. passenger train from Boston pulled
into the Union depot in this city at $50
this evening, after one of the most eX-
citing escapes from a railroad horror
and one of the longest battles with the
elements in the history Of the Boston
and Albany railroad.
1t was a tired very tired set Of
men, women and children who looked
out of the icy frescoes on the window
panes upon the welcome light of the
Springfield depot. For nearly "A hours
they had listened to the beating Of
snow against the sides of cars for the
same length Of time the most of them
had lived upon one cup of coffee, one
ham sandwich and one New England
doughnut for over one-half that time
they had waited, simply waited, on the
track at East Brookfield for an oppor-
tunity to get out Of the wilderness of
snow and wind back to civilization
1t WAS a wearisome wait with nothing
to do but stretch and yawn and sleep
and an occasional Stroll down the ear
aisles and peep out into the Wild woody
waste of whiteness. The passengers
bore it patiently, and it is doubtful if
ever such a condition was faced with
more fortitude than the passengers of
Conductor Adams train had thrust
upon them.
Shut off from all connection with the
outside world, a freight wreck and
miles upon miles of snow blocking their
progress, with only one telegraph line
IN operation and that mOnopolized by
railroad dispatchers, the only telephone
in town nearly a quarter of a mile
away ard IN poor condition for service
at that and the steely little town in
which they found themselves unwel-
come temporary residents literally
! buried beneath a blanket of snow. they
looked the situation squarely in the
face and settled down to make the best
Of it.
/ The Spy man found himself; ranging
| from babies up to actresses and from
actresses up to mayors, for Mayor
Michael Connor of Holyoke happened
to be aboard the starred train. He
was accompanied by Christopher r.
Callahan, also of Holyoke. Another man
Of note aboard the train was Prof Paul
Pitkin of Springfield.
The interior of the train formed a
picturesque scene. Up one corner 4
couple of Polish immigrant women
stolcally awaited developments, waited
in shaWls and their peculiar head dress.
Across the aisle a mother devoted her
time to quoting her family of small
children. A little farther down the
aisle an actress divided her time be-
tween sleeping and caring for TWO pet
guinea pigs, a group Of young men
laughed and joked with The Spy man
| about the weather, and a young wife
paid attention to a pet cat reposing in
hand-basket. Still farther down a
group of elderly gentlemen discussed
alternately the weather, the prospects
of getting through all right, with an
occasional shot at politics. and be-
yond group of actors and actresses
consulted their watches and inwardly
cursed the weather.
In the smoker, forms of disappointed
| travellers seeking solace in the weed,
could be seen through the tobacco
smoke, and out in the sleepers behind
these, discouraged with the outlook,
| turned in disgust to the arms of Nor
| pheus. In all, about rs passengers were
aboard the train, and when it became
evident that it was stalled for many
| hours. a supply of coffee, sandwiches
and doughnuts was procured by Con-
| ductor Adams for the passengers. Very
| little i'll feeling was manifested, al
! though once during the wait, had 1t
/ not been for the timely interference of
some of the older heads aboard. there
would have been a serious fracaS
among the young men.
| The freight wreck, which was direct
| ly responsible for the stalling of the
| train, occurred just about a half mile
above the depot shortly before o'clock
this morning. One freight tran was tel
I escoped by another, both eastward
| bound. The accident was due to the
thick fall of snow. which rendered it
| impossible for the engineer on the rear
| train to see the decklights on the ca
! boose ahead. The caboose was demol-
! ished in the collision, but luckily the
| only occupant of it had left it a short
! time before, and no one was injured.
| The rear engine was rather badly used
up, although not crippled. The caboose
on the head train was ground to pieces
and the car ahead was lifted from it's
trucks and flung across the tracks.
The wreckage fell in such shape that
had it been struck by the passenger
| train which reached East Brookffeld
depot about o'clock. the passengers
and down q 20-foot embankment into
the river and marsh beneath, Engineer
Morrison of the passenger train did not
see the flags displayed for him east of
the depot, owing to the density of the
snowfall. He ran past at full speed,
but hearing the tlagman call, applied
the air brakes, stopping his train two
train lengths below the wreck.
1t was afternoon before wrecker
could be gotten by Conductor Adams.
and it was 4 o'clock before the east
bound main track was cleared. Then
the Boston passenger was backed up
on to a side track to await the clearing
of the other main track and a readjust-
ment of the travel. At Z o'clock this
evening she was released reaching
this city at $50 p. m.
During their long wait, some of the
men passengers went out after food in
the village stores. One poor woman
whose husband remained a long time
away. imagined that he had been lost
in the storm, and, rushing from the
train in tears. tried her best to locate
him. She was overtaken and guided
through the drifts in safety by The
Spy man, while her husband was To-
Gated by another passenger milk
train stalled on another track, supplied
the babies aboard with milk.