Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-01-12
Two Passenger Trains Meet
Head-on With Terrible
Results.
1S KILLED, 20 WOUNDED.
4 Mistake In Orders Caused by Confusion
over an Accident to q Freight Train
One Train Heavily Loaded with
an Excursion Party-Panic
Among Passengers.


y. j., at 12:i7 p. m. to-day, 10 per ons
were killed and over IS were injured. The
dead are:
West Dunelen Is three miles from
Bound Brook ana about 80 miles from
New York city. At the spot where the
disaster occurred there is u sharp curve
in the Lehigh Valley tracks and steep
cutting but the accident was duo in the
first place to some terrible mistake in
train orders, and in the second place to
another accident that occurred at Bound
Brook earlier in the day. The scenes
which accompanied the collision, the suf-
ferings of the injured and the panic that
relgned among the 400 passengers were
well nigh indescribable.
This head-on collision on double track
road was made possible by a freight
wreck which occurred at Bound Brook at
o'clock this morning, when the axle of
g freight car broke and nine cars were
piled on top of each other. This complete
ly blocked the east-bound track, and ali
throus II the morning Lehigh Valley trains
bound for New fork switched from their
own track to the west bound track, going
over these rails from Bound Brook to
New Market, a distance of six miles and
changing at tho latter place back to their
right side of the road. To permit this
mode of traffic all west bound trains were
held at South Plainfield until their own
line was clear OF trains going IN the OPP
posite direction.
Train No. 20, which left Shamokin. Pa.
at a. m was 40 heavy with human
freight that it had to be broken into three
sections The first two sections arrived
at Bound Brook switched over to the other
track, switched back at Newmarket and
reached New York in safety. The third
section of this train was almost an hour
late. Its seven cars were crowded with
% that, f,Ay
Mount Carmel and Shamokin. Mahoney
City. Hazelton. Ashland and Pottsville,
Pa. The party was travelling under the
auspices of the business mems excursion,
an annual affair, which many patronized
for three days visit to New York. Not
few of the excursionists were coming to
witness the McCoy-Sharkey fight. Their
train switched over ut Bound Brook and
proceeded like the preceding sections on
the west bound track.
Meanwhile there had been waiting at
Newmarket local train that plies regu-
larly between New York and Bound
Brook. Its number on the schedule is II,
and it was due in Bound Brook at 1850 a.
IN Owing to the traffic all going on one
track it was almost an hour late. At last
the telegraph operator at South Plainfleld
gave it permission to go. Just before
reaching West Dunellen, Engineer Rick
slowed his train down. because he stops
for passengers if there are any. Martin
Brennan. the signal man threw up his
arms and waved them, as If to say there
were no passengers so the local put on
steam and headed round the curve. going
at about % miles an hour. There were
only four passengers on this train.
In the cab of the excursion train was
James Prendergast, engineer, with his
fireman. George Cheshire They saw the
local as 1t started on the curve With
l. .,.,41a
eparks from the wheels the excursion
train bore down to what seemed certain
destruction. Tho passengers alarmed al
the continued whistle. opened the win
dows but before they had time to find out
what was the matter they were hurled
headlonG. knocked senseess and many
killed outright The two engines, now pi-
lotless for both crews had jumped came
together with an awful crash The excur-
sion train was, probably going at about l;
miles an hour. The local engine a il
tripped in its faster fight, turned IA com
pletc sorersault and came crashing doWr
beside it's demolished obstruction. But it,
career was not ended before it had jam
med the tender of the excursion train al
most from one end to the other OF thC
first car from Shamokin The tender
stopped few seats from the rear door
tho ear, or what vas loft of it, rolled over
carrying with 1t the mbedded tender, tn,
fragments of n dozen bodies and the i'm
prisoned wounded who had been carried
with the jagged iron on it's relentles.
course through the coach.
1t was in the iirst car of the excursion
train that all the deaths and most of the
casualties occ lrrcd. The other car:
though their occupants were badly sha
ken, remained on the track. The baggag,
car in the front of the local train wa!
rather smashed up but with tho cXcep
!. .t,,.r E,,.
of the excursion train none were SO badly
impdred that they could not be hauloC
off
\ few minutes before tho trains rashoC
George Weidman Of Dunellen had tethcf
ed his coal wagon to a post at the cross
ling u few yards from where the engines
met. II saw them coming" he said 9Th,
east bound whistling like mad. and thu
local coming around the corner. ! waNet
my arms, but before he saw me the engi
neer of the local saw what he was VI
against. People were sticking their head
out Of the windows; the engineers an,
firemcn jumped they banged into eaci
other and tho local climbed up over tn
other, as if she vas going right on, the,
she turned clean over and came down OF
her smokestack. 1T was 81 awful crash
Then the other passengers and trainmt
came running up. The people that wer
not dead in the smoking car that had tn
tender damned into II yelled like fury
The women screamed that they We're be
ing scaded. The first one we pulled GU
was II man. He was dead, with some
bodys leg caught tight in his arms Mex
came "A woman with blood al over heI
bue she seemed alive, so j took the plan
ket OFF my horse, that had stood there al
the time. and put II over her
From Dunellen, Bound Brook and othe
places doctors were quickly summoned
They came over the Central railroad o
New Jersey, whose tracks run parable
with the Lehlgh at this point, about 4o
yards distant. Relief and Wrecking train
were quickly on hand. AS the dead wer
pulled out of the demolished car the
were put in the rear cars of the excursion
train ana taken to Bound Brook, wher
a coroners inquest was held tonight. TIL
injured were put in the cars of the loca
train. THenty-One were taken to Plain
field hospital while the less seriously in
jured went on to Jersey City and NeN
York.
Engineer Prondergast. who weighs a.
most SEQ pounds, jumped too late. for h
was caught under his engine and for tire
hours lay pinioned in frightful agony
When at last a huge crane lifted the iro
OF his body he was found so badly in
iured that he is expected to die. The los
of life inflicted upon his train would prob
ably have been nothing like what it wa
had II not been for the fact that a
Mauch Chunk the baggage carr Of the eS
c,,rson train was found TO have he
box and was taken off. thus leaving tn
crowded day coach next to the engine.
this coach had retained the position
held when the train left shamokin. prob
ably only a few lives would have bee
lost.
, | D ,nlx 81 l,a al fo,, n