The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1901-01-15
Into the Real Cause Of the
Deaths of
FRITTS AND WARNER
The Engineer and Fireman Who Were
Killed in the Wreck Near
Essex.

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inquest to determine the cause of the
death of Engineer Harry Fritts. and
Fireman Albert Warner, who were
killed in the collision at Essex, Fri
day night A jury composed Of
Charles Goodrich, George Farmer, w.
H. Rider, j. H. c. Fitch, Fred Russell
and Fred Targensen. were sworn in
and the first witness, Major Baldwin,
called. He said in part:
Il was a passenger on the through
passenger train No. 3, which was de-
layed owing to the wreck We ar
rived at the scene of the collision,
perhaps fifteen minutes after it oc-
Cured. l saw the body of the en-
gineer OF the east bound freight train,
the body being at that time on top
of the tender of the engine of No. 16.
We only had a railroad lantern and
consequently could not see plainly
how he was hurt. The body was
covered with something which, when
removed, made it possible to see the
head, the top of which appeared to
have been torn off. That was the
only injury noticed.
The fireman of tne WestbOun1
train at that time appeared to be fast
ened between the tender and the en-
ginc, where he had been roasted and
steamed to death. i did not see him,
nor did | have and desire to do SO.
The engineer Of the westbound train
was Mr.. Thompson, l believe.
The wreck occurred about half
mile west of Essex, at about SIS p.
M. Friday. The two locomotive
boilers were touching each other, and
the headlights still burning. There
was between two and three feet of
snow on the ground, and it was diff
cult to see if the engines were off
the track. The wreck occurred at
a point where. l believe, both trains
could have been seen from the Essex
station There was a car load Of
HilhSoiCo "iNNhSu, "IIlSi VIC Ido W
climb over to reach the engines.
The next witness, Edward J. Nc
Laurie, the fireman with Engineer
Fritts, said:
81 was leaning out of the engine cab
when I discovered engine No. $50 ap-
preaching our engine, which was No.
739. When I first saw the head
light of the oncoming train it was,
judged, about 12-car lengths away,
but it struck us so soon that it could
not have been that distance.
jumped and grabbed my lantern, in.
tending to flag them. AS got to the
gangway, the headlights seemed to
be together, and before I struck the
snowI heard the crash as they struck.
Our train was travelling at between -
and IA miles an hour. Harry Fritts
was in his usual place. He had shut
off the air and was pulling the whis-
tie, giving a signal for brakes when
jumped. I did not see him again
until after he was dead.
Il jumped from the left side of the
engine, which landed me on the out
side Of the curve. Our last stop
was at Nyack, and as we pulled out
Engineer Fritts read his orders and
said he thought he had time to reach
Essex, where we were to meet No.
3. We had no knowledge of the eX-
ira freight running in front of that
train
81 found the engineer, bu- he was
dead at the time. He was fastened
against the boiler head, with his head
and shoulders down, and hot water
running through his hair and down
his back and neck.
Il walked up the left side of the
track hoping to find Barney Waite,
who was riding on the engine. I went
as far as the first car standing on the
track. He was found by his cries for
water. He must have jumped off
the same side I did.
Engineer Thompson said in part:
''At the time I started to run down
and back in I thought I had 80 min
utes, as started at S:07. We would
have headed in had there not been a
lot of cars at the east end of the
switch which prevented us doing 50.
My headlight had lantern in it, but
that gave a good light. l think the
wreck occurred just at the point of
the creek west of Essex. l am not
sure. but l think my train was run
ming about three miles an hour"
Charles J. Hawley, conductor on the
wrecked train going east, made a
statement which corroborated testi-
mOny already given and said