Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1899-08-04
A BIG ERIE RAILROAD WRECK.
Two Killed and More Than Twenty
Injured Land Slide the
Cause Of the Accident.

Cause Of the Accident.
A disastrous wreck occurred ON the
Erie about one and half miles east
of Lackawaxen last Saturday night
at little after eleven o'clock. On
both sides of the track at that point
are high embankments, and just he
fore a freight train, coming East,
reached the spot, quantity of earth,
gravel and stone, loosened by the
heavy rain then falling, slid down
on the track, and the engine, draw
ing sixty loaded cars, ran into the
obstruction The engine was thrown
from the track and ran diagonally
across on the westbound track al
most to the embarkment on the low
er or river side. The engineer,
Benjamin Shay, was hurled from
his place down the bank nearly to
the river and was badly injured his
pelvis and collar bone being broken.
His fireman Lawrence Powers jump.
ed and was only slightly hurt. Some
fifteen freight cars loaded with
various kind of merchandise were
wrecked and eleven of them burned.
Only few minutes after, and before
any warning could be given, fast
express No. z consisting of seven
cars in the following order, baggage
car, cafe car, the Pullman Sleeper
Kalmia with fifteen passengers, an
other Pullman, the Stanton with
twelve passengers, two day coaches
and Pullman car Caledonia rush
ing westward at the rate of fifty
miles an hour encountered the
wreck. The engine, driven by
Stephen Outwater, of Port Jervis,
with Frank Sells of the same place
as fireman, raised in the air mount
ed the freight engine and then went
down into the ground near the edge
of the bank with its driving wheels
suspended in the air. Both the en-
gineer and fireman were probably
instantly killed, as their bodies were
found latter lying under the boiler
on either side of the wrecked engine.
The baggage, cafe car and two
sleepers werS demolished, and took
fire, it is assumed from the gas
which was stored beneath them, and
burned. The passengers in the
sleepers had retired and were prob
ably most of them asleep. The Kali
mia was split open from end to end
and its occupants thrown down the
embankment, from the debris, they
crawled up the bank the only one
seriously enjured being George E.
Belz, of Cleveland, Ohio. Those oc-
cupying the second sleeper, which
left the track, but was not overturn.
ed or wrecked, escaped through the
windows and doors in their night
robes, The three uninjured cars were
pushed back by the trainmen and
passengers, and beyond the for.
ward end of one being slightly
burned were not injured. The trair
contained seventy.five passengers
and all but five, who are thought tC
have walked to Lackawaxen, were
taken back to Port Jervis, and the
injured some twenty in number
were conveyed to the hospital. Il
seems almost a miracle that no more
were killed or seriously injured, but
the terrible experience to those whC
passed through the horrors of thu
situation will not soon tade from
their recollections.
The loss in property to the Erie i
very great, and the wreck is prob
ably one of the most costly the com
pany has suffered in many years
From all the circumstances it seems
that no provision could have avoid
cd the accident. Train was sever
al minutes late OH account of tn,
storm. Had it been on time, i
would probably have passed tn
point before the slide occurred, as
track walker had passed there onl
u few moments previously an
found no obstruction.
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