Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-09-06
THIRTEEN KILLED
And FIFTY INJURED
Awful Accidenton Philadelphia
e. Reading Railroad.
IT OCCURRED AT HATFIELD, PA.
Collision of Excursion and Milk
Trains.
A Dense Fog Prevailed at the Time, the
Excursion Train Was Minute Ahead of
Schedule and This system of the Road
is Operated without Block Signals.


p '-----
Thirteen persons were killed and so
injured Oh the Philadelphia & Reading
railroad Sunday morning in rear
end collision between southbound
Atlantic City excursion train and a
milk train. g =..
Tho disaster occurred few minutes
before Z o'clock, at Hatfield, Pa, a
small station in Montgomery county,
on the Bethlehem branch of the Phiia.
delphia & Reading railroad, q miles
northwest Of Philadelphia. A dense
fog prevailed at the time, the milk
train was late and this system of the
Reading is operated without Elook
signals, The accident is attributed to
these facts. t,s
The Atlantic City excursion left
Bethlehem in three sections few
minutes after 6 o'clock. Three.
quarters of an hour later tho first
section, composed of locomotive and
10 cars, crowded with passengers.
while running at speed OF between
40 and SO miles an hour, crashed into
the rear car of tram composed of
four milk cars and a passenger coach,
standing in front Of the little station
at Hatfield. &I
The momentum OF the excursion
train was so great that the train ahead
of it was driven almost 800 feet. The
locomotive OF tho excursion train was
thrown across the tn and south.
bound tracks about 900 feet from the
railroad station, where it fell on its
side. The first three cars it was draw
ing were torn from their trucks and
the ends crushed like egg shells,
carrying death and suffering to the
passengers. The fourth and fifth
coaches were partly derailed, and the
remaining fiye.remained intact In the
twinkling of any eye. the 500 PLEASURE
seekers on the train were thrown into
shrieking and terrified mass of men,
women and children.
As quickly as the passengers realized
that smashlp had occurred. they
strsamed out of the car doors and not
few in their haste clambered out of the
windows Many of those in the forward
coaches were unable to extricate them
selves from the debris Dozens of pas
caused by the splinters and fragments
Of glass. Others ran t,ither and thither
calling for their friends, and in
Il
wounded pinioned down by the seats
and timber were groauing OF crying
out to be relieved Of their crushing
burdens. f
The second section of the excursion,
made up OF persons from towns other
than Bethlehem and Allentown, left
soon after the first section, but was
tagged before 1t reached Hatfield.
NO MORE DEATHS Rs PORTED.
Phiadelrhia, Pa, Sept. 3.-Reports
from Bethlehem and Allentown are to
the effect that no more of those in
inred in tho terrible collision yester-
day at Hatfield, Pa, OH the Philadel-
phia & Reading railroad, have died,
although several are not expected to
live
The railroad company had y force of
man at the scene of the wreck early to-
day, cleaning away the debris. The
wrecked cars we're burned. and all
evidence of the accident was destroyed
assfar as possible.
Linfield Wildonter. the agent and
telegraph operator at Hatfield, made
a statement today, in which he said
the excursion train was scheduled to
arrive at Hatfield at 6.57 a. M, and
that the milk train arrived at 6.55.
The excursion train, he said, was a
minute ahead OF time. 1t was very
fugsy, and he was stamping tickets
when he heard the excursion train
coming. He first saw it when it was
about 100 yards north of the station,
travelling at the rate of about 40 miles
an hour, and ii twas then too late for
him to do anything to avert the awful
accident
General Superintendent Sweigard of
the Philadelphia & Reading railroad
Monday stated that the company las not
yet prepared to issue formal state
ment as to the cause Of the ACCIDENT.
From o partial Investigation, he
said, II think that q mistake has been
made, the responsibility for which can
only be placed after thorough in
vestigation. Train Dispatcher W. S.
Groves, In tho Reading Terminal
roo long before Issuing orders to hold
up the excursion train, which was
rapidly catching up to the milk train.
The station agent at Souderton, 2la
miles from the scene OF the wreck,
where the excursion train was three
minutes hehind the milk train, may
have failed to display the stop signal,
which the rules of tine company require
when trains are five minutes or less
apart, or the engineer Of the excursion
train did not see or disregarded the
signal.n
In addition to these possible causes,
Mr.. Sweigard said that the wires of
the company were working very badly,
due to a heavy fog, and interferred
with the transmission OF an order TO
hold the excursion train. When
asked if this order finally got
through, he said he could not say
until after the investigation. Train
Dispatcher Groves who would have sent
such dispatch, Mr.. Sweigard said,
has bsen in the employ of the company
sinos ii acquired control of the North
Penn railroad, in 1880, and has always
been considered one of its lest men.
He has occupied his present position
for five years. 1.-The milk train," Mr..
Sweigard said, ''left Bethlehem at 5. 90
a. u., and the excursion train As
minutes later. The engineers of both
trains had duplex orders, informing each
that the milk train was to be side
tracked at LansdRle to allow the exour-
sion train to rass. AT Perkasie, the
trains were q minutes apart. At Sell
ersville, they should have been II
inutes apart, but instead were only
II minutes apart. Here, Dispatcher
Groves tried to get the orders through
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