Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1902-12-29
No Deaths Yesterday Among
the Injured in the Grand
Trunk Collision.
SAY OPERATOR is RESPONSIBLE.
Claimed by Accused Man that He Re-
ceived Order from Dispatcher to
Cancel Previous One, Though He
Knew IT to Be Against Rule.

y
sons injured in Friday nights col
lision at Wanstead, on the Sarnia
branch of thu Grand Trunk railroad.
between Pacific express No. 5, west
bound, and an eastbound freight, in
which Is persons lost their lives. Last
night the Associated Press was in
formed at Victoria hospital that while
several of the injured are still in :
serious condition it is expected that
all will recover. The body of Fire
man Ricketts,, of the express train,
which was Saturday night believed to
| be buried under the wrecked engines
was found yesterday covered with
snow in the ditch beside the track.
One arm was completely torn off and
the body was otherwise mangled.
Death must have been instantaneous.
Last night there was but one uni.
Identified body at the morgue here,
that of the woman who was tieketed
from Toronto to Duluth. The mans
body, which was unidentified Satur-
day night, was yesterday afternoon
identified as George d. Southern, Of
Lockport, n. Y.
The possibility of pneumonia de.
veloping among the injured as re.
suit Of their exposure while pinned in
the wreck was feared by the surgeons
last night, as several of them show
some symptoms of the disease.
Say Operator Is Responsible.
Andrew Carson the operator at
Watford the first station east of the
wreck, whose failure to deliver orders
to Conductor McAuliffe, of the Pacific
express. to pass the freight at Wan
stead, is said by the Grand Trunk Off
cials to have caused the wreck, yester-
day afternoon made TO the Associated
Press his first statement since the
wreck. He says he received the order
for No. 5, the express, to pass the
freight at Wanstead at GAS o'clock,
but declares positively that few min
utes later Dispatcher J. c. Kerr, at
London, called him and ordered him
to "bust," or cancel, the order. He
said:
About 954. after calling Wyoming
and ascertainiHg that the freight was
there, the dispatcher called me rap
idly half dozen times. When l an
swered on the wire he told me to
bust" this order I wrote bust it
across the order just as No. was
coming in Conductor McAuliffe came
in and asked me what the order board
was out against him for told him
that we had had an order for him, but
the dispatcher had busted" it. He
asked me to hurry and write him
clearance order, which l did. After
the train had started and was out of
my reach the dispatcher learned that
the freight had left Wyoming. I told
him | could not stop No. 5, as it had
left. He Immediately began calling
Kings Court Junction, the station be-
tween Watford and Wanstead, on the
railroad wire, and | tried to raise
them on a commercial wire We both
failed to do this. however, until after
the express had passed the junction"
Knew 1t Was Against Rules.
Carson admitted that he knew it
was against the rules of the company
to cancel train order without send
ing substitute for it, but said that
the dispatcher was his superior Off
Ger, and he disliked to question his
order or dispute his authority to take
this action. Dispatcher Kerr's order
book in the local Grand Trunk Office
does not show that the order was
busted" or Cancelled, as Carson
claims. According to the book it was
still in force and should have been de-
livered to the conductor of the ex-
press, Kerr has not made any state
ment, even to the railroad officials,
and win not until he takes the stand
at the inquest.
Division Superintendent George
Jones, of Toronto, says that the rule
against caneeling or busting" train
orders is the strictest in the COM
pany's code Il do not believe" he
said last night, that it has been vio-
lated since the standard dispatching
rules went into effect. Dispatcher
Kerr is one of the best and most eff
cient dispatehers in our service. He
is the operator who accompanied the
train bearing the duke and duchess o.
York on the royal tour of Canada a
year ago. | have every confidence in
him"
Inquest Began.
Other Grand Trunk officials who
were present also expressed their con-
fdence in Kerr. Coroner DR.. Harvey,
of Lambton county began the inquest
at Wyoming today.
One of the mos. pathetic features
of the wreck is the triple loss sus-
tanned by the Bodley family, Of Port
Huron, in the death of Mrs. ]. Bod
ley, her soa, Glen Bodley, and grand
daughter. little Lottie Lynch, who
died at Victoria hospital The bodies
of 10 of the victims have been shipped
to their sorrowing friends at home
The trunk Of the as yet unidentified
woman YVES located by the Grand
Trunk officials yesterday and arrived
here about 10 o'clock last night. 1t
will be searched in an endeavor to
find something with which to Identify
thn woman