The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1899-01-12


collision between two passenger trains
of the Lehigh Valley railroad at West
Dunelen, N. j., at 12:47 p. N. yester-
day thirteen persons were killed and
over twenty-five were injured.
#& West Dunelen is three miles from
Bound Brook and about thirty miles
from New York city. At the spot
where the disaster occurred there is a
sharp curve in the track and steep
cutting, but the accident was due 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 that accompanied the collision,
the sufferings Of the injured and the
panic that reigned among the four
hundred passengers were well nigh in
descrlba BILE. - 4. X. *
"A head-on collision on a double track
railroad was made possible only by a
Bound Brook earlier in the day, which
completely blocked the east-bound
track, and all through the morning the
#Leigh Valley trains bound for New
York 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 the latter place back to
their right side Of the road. Train No.
20 was so 5s.>g .s}~ n - j. x y.1is.
Heavy With Human Freight A&
that it had to be broken into three Sec
lions. The first two sections arrived
at Bound Brook, switched over to the
other track, switched back at New
market and reached New York in
safety. The third section was almost
an hour late. Its seven cars were
crowded with 400 excursionists. The
train crossed over at Bound Brook and
proceeded, like the preceding sections,
on the, west-bound track. Meanwhile
there had been waiting at Newmarket
local train that plies regularly be-.
tween New York and Bound Brook.
Owing to the traffic going on one track
1 it was almost an hour late. At last
the train dispatcher at South Plaintield
gave it permission to go. Just before
reaching West Dunelen 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 TWEEN
ty-five miles an hour In the cab of the
excursion train there were James
Prendergast, the engineer, with the
fireman, Joseph Cheshire. They saw
the local as it was on the curve. Il
with shrieking Whistles
and brakes grinding sparks from the
wheels, the excursion train bore down
to what seemed certain destruction.
The two engines, from which both
crews had jumped, came together with
an awful crash. The local, engine, as
IL tripped in its fast fight, turned 9
complete somersault and came down
beside its now demolished obstruction
| But it's career was not ended before II
had damned the tender of the excur'
sion train almost from one end to the
other Of the first car Of the train from
Shamokin. The car, or what was left
Iof it, rolled over, carrying with it the
imbedded tender, the fragments OF
dozen bodies and the imprisoned woun
/ .ded who had been carried with thu
Jagged iron on It's relentless course
Through the COACH It was in the first
| car Of the excursion train that2all the
deaths and most Of the casualties oc
Cured. The other cars, though theil
occupants were badly shaken, stayet
i on the track and were In condition te
1 be Eauled off. The baggage car II
i front Of the local train was rather bad
il ily smashed up.
t5t Five Of the Wounded Die,
New York, Jan. 10. The Herald say
that five Of those wounded in the lie
i high collision at Dunelen died during
4 tile night, making a total Of eighteen.
+. CAUSED FOUR DEATHS.