New-York tribune., 1902-12-29
THE ONTARIO DISASTER.
INJURED DOING WE'LL.
Operator Says He Vas Ordered
to Cancel Order.

1ondon Ont Dec 2S-There were no deaths
to-day among the persons injured In FRIDAY
nights collision at Wanstead, on the Sarnla
branch Of the Grand Trunk Railroad, between
Pacific Express No. >. westbound. and an east
hound freight in which twenty-eight persons
lost their lives Tonight The Associated Press
was informed at Victoria Hospital that, while
several of the injured are still in serious con-
dition. II is expected that all will recover
The body of Ricketts,. fireman of the express
train. which was last night believed TO be buried
under th. wrecked engines. was found to-day
covered with snow in the ditch beside the track
one arm WAS completely torn off. and the oody
was otherwise mangled- Death must have been
instantaneous. 1t is believed that the BODY
was thrown clear of the engine and into the
deep snow of the ditch. where in the storm ana
darkness the Wreckers failed to find ii on Fri
.1av night Snow fell rapidly all that night 50
that Ricketts's body was completely covered at
daybreak and was not found. To-day one of
the men working at the wreck noticed a little
mound i'm the ditch. and investigation showed
Ricketts's body under the snow
Tonight there is only one unidentified body
AT the uaorgue here. that of a woman who was
ficketed from Toronto to Duluth The man S
body which was not recognized last night was
this afternoon identified George d. Southern.
Of Lockport, N Y.
Andrew Carson. the operator at Watford, the
first station east Of the wreck. whose failure 10
deliver orders to Conductor McAulife. OF the
Pacific. .express. 10 pass the freight at Wanstead
is said by the Grand Trunk officials to have
caused the wreck this afternoon made TO The
Associated Press his first statement since the
,yracz He saws he received the order for No. ,
10 mass the freight at Wanstead at 9:4S o'clock,
flIt declares positively that few minutes later
7 G Kerr dispatcher at London, called him and
ordered him to bust or cancel the order He
said:
About a.54 o'clock after calling Wyoming
and ascertaining that the freight was there the
dispatcher called me rapidly half dozen times
When / answered the wire he told me to
bust this order l wrote bust it across the
order lust as No. = was coming in. Conductor
NcAuliffe 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 TO hurry and
write him a clearance order, which did After
the train had started .nd out Of my reach
the dispatcher learned that the freight had left
wyoming I told him 1 could not stop No. ., as
il had lea He Immediately began calling
Kingscourt Junction the station between Wat
ford and Wanstead, the railroad wire, and L
tried to raise them on a commercial wire. We
both failed to do this. however. until after the
express had passed the junction"
Carson admitted that he knew it against
the rules Of the company to cancel a train order
without sending substitute for 1t, but said that
the dispatcher was his superior officer, and he
dislilzed 10 question his order 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
delivered to the conductor Of the express. Kerr
has not made any statement to the railroad
officials. and viii not until he takes the stand at
the inquest.
Division Superintendent George G. Jones, Of
Toronto sGys that the rule against cancellng or
'-busting'' train orders is the strictest in the
octnpany's code Il do not believe he said to-
right that il has been violated since the
standard Cispatching rules went into effect.
Dispatcher Kerr is of the best and most
efficient dispatchers in our service. He is the
operator who accompanied the train bearing the
Duke and Duchess of York on the royal tour Of
Canada a year ago have every confidence in
him"
Other Grand Trunk officials who were present
also expressed their confidence IN Kerr.
Coroner Harvey. of LauEoton County. will be
gin the inquest Wyoming tomorrow.
Of the five Chicago people In Victoria Hos
pitaI. John Bird and DR.. c. Harvey, lecturer on
anatomy at the University of Chicago, are the
most seriously injured although Russell Quinn,
whose hands are badly scalded, is suffering a
great deal Of pain. DR.. Harvey, who was one
of the last persons dug out Of the telescoped
coach, is resting quietly tonight, and is
siderably better than last night. He is suffer-
ing from exposure in addition to his wounds
The condition OF John Bird shows little change
from yesterday He is suffering considerably
n
fering from shock, and complains of pain in
her back John Barnes. of Woodstock Ont,
whose leg is broken and whose back was in
1ured, is, the house surgeon says. probably the
most seriously injured of any OF the wreck vic
TINS. His condition tonight is not so good and
the doctors appTehensive about him. ]. J.
Cuthhertson. of Port Huron. Mich, whose mouth
was badly lacerated, is suffering tonight. His
wife and daughter, who also in the hos
pitaI. are not seriously injured. ]. NJ Stewart
Of Oshkosh. Wis. whose wife and two young
in the hospital, arrived to-day, and
found them doing well. Mrs. Stewards law is
and Earl. aged six, has broken arm Hobart
aged ten. has only minor injuries. Frank Ba-
ker, Of London, Ont, is reported not quite so
we'll tonight His collarbone is broken leg cut
Cummings, of Port Huron: George Stacey Of
Wenstse6; Miss Mamie Morse, Of Sarnia: Miss
Hattie Northey and James Nortney of Peter
ooro; J. A. Lamont, Of Wyoming, Ont: William
Morse, of Sarnia, and J. A Rampiin. of To-
ronto. are resting comfortably. the surgeons say
and making good progress toward recovery
One Of the pathetic features of the wreck is
the triple loss sustained by the Rodley family
of Port Huron, in the death OF Mrs. ]. Bodley
her son, Glen Bodiey. and granddaughter little
Lottie Lynch, who died at Victoria Hospital
The bodies of nineteen OF the victims have
been shipped to their sorrowing friends at home