The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-07-08
A NARROW ESCAPE.
For the Colonial Express Train.

New York, July lit was learned to-
day that five boys wedged an iron bal
across the New York, New Haven and
Hartford railroad tracks in the West
chester yards yesterday afternoon. The
| obstruction was discovered and removed
by a section gang just before the train
known In New England as the Con
i gresslonal Express" came In sight on
the obstructed track. The train consist
| ed of nine Pullman coaches and a Seri-
Gus accident was narrowly averted. Two
of the boys We're arrested to-day. They
would not tell what the motive was for
obstructing the track
The attempt to wreck the Colonial
Limited took place in the West Chester
yards of the New Haven road. The ex-
press is one of the fastest Tains in the
country. 1t usually has about seven
Pullman coaches, but yesterday there
were nine. Numbers of people returning
to the south and Washington from
spending the July holiday were on the
train, and every berth and state-room
was engaged. 1t travels at great speed,
and goes to the Harlem station, where
| it is shunted abroad the transfer boat
| Maryland, and taken to Jersey City. It
passes through West Chester at about 3
| o'clock in the afternoon, at the rate of
| almost a mile a minute.
| 1t is the custom of Westminster boys
who go up in the country to pick cher
rles at this time of the year to walk on
the tracks. There was large number
of boys out yesterday. Section Foreman
II, va1I Inv thn
track quarter of mile away; he had
occasion to go some distance to get a
drink of ice water and while he was
drinking his attention was attracted to
the movements of the boys Falby
dropped the tin dipper and walked to-
wards where the boys were gathered.
The boys ran away. Falby was about
to turn back and go to where the sec
ton hands were working when curiosity
led him to see what the boys had been
up to-
He walked leisurely along until he
heard in the distance family the warn
ing whistle of train. Knowing that it
was the express, he hurried. When he
reached the spot where the boys had
been, he found a big iron bar seven feet
long and two and one-half inches in
width wedged in the track
1t weighed forty five pounds. One end
of the bar was wedged in under one
rail, and driven so hard that 1t entered
the earth for about two feet. On either
side of this end were stones and heavy
iron braces driven into the earth up
next to the sleeper to hold 1t in place.
The bar or 'spreader," as it is called
from the fact that it Is used for spread
ing rails) was placed diagonally, 50 that
If the locomotive struck IT, it would be
further braced by the sleeper and iron
braces. A small crowbar was driven
down close to the bar, and a piece of
car-rail, endwise, braced this Falby
tried to move the car rail, but 1t was
fast.
He pulled and tugged, and with the
aid of another broken rail finally got the
obstruction loose. The express was
nearing; it could be seen. Falby tried
to move the 'spreader." He could not
bulge it. Several of his section hands
came in answer to his beckonings The
men picked up a rail and pried aside the
bar. The whistle of the express urged
them to act quickly. Scarcely had the
iron bar been pressed down when the
train went past.
Then the men examined the track and |
bar. While the bar had been battered |
aside 1t was bent and hard to remove; |
1t required some little effort to remove |
the spreader. AS soon as this was done |
Falby accompanied by one of his men,
went to the West Chester police station
and reported the matter to Captain
Dean who assigned Detectives Dillon
and Morton to the case. They at once
went to the West Chester yards, search
ed all through Pelham Park, and finally
saw couple of boys coming out of Abb
bolts woods. The detectives, in civilian
clothes began to question them. and
they became impudent. One boy was
tall, lank. and freckled faced; the other
was stocky, and looked as though he had
been travelling a-foot for some time.
When asked If they saw a gang of five I
boys down the road tampering with the
rack the freckIed-faced boy said:
'Wot's it to yer?" The other boy spoke
up: do yer take us for fresh guys?'
rhe detectives placed the boys under ar
est.
They We're taken to the West Chester
police station. They at l1fst denied all
of the affair. Then they adj
nitted that they saw some boys tamper-
ng with the track. The freckle- faced
Joy gave the name James Hannigan-
fifteen, of No. SOC Robbins avenue, and
he toush-loolSing youth that of James
HcMann of One Hundred and Forty
ninth street and Boulevard They told
he police that they had gone up the
DAD to pick cherries AT One Hundred
nd Twenty-ninth street they fell in
With lot of boys, whose names they
id not know, who We're on like expedi
ion They were In advance of the party
nd had nothing to do with them.