Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-04-01
night and arranged to attend his fu-

night and arranged to attend his fu- neral
 Engineer ID. Wilson Burns, who was taken to the hospital yesterday morn ing, was able to leave for home yes- terday afternoon. His head Is swathed in bandages, his left leg is badly cut and his arms and legs are confused. He tells an interesting story of the col lision. He says: "I was sitting on the seat of my cab watching the track ahead. We had reached point of the road where the cross runs out to the acid works, and where the old Mer1den and Cromwell road passes overhead. Near this overhead bridge the road makes a sharp bend. was running at a pretty good rate of speed. for I wanted to make Waterbury on time, and was due there at S:25.
 "As we rounded the curve I saw a dark mass loom up before me and in tuitively reversed my engine and threw on the brakes. but in an instant we had come together head on. My cab was filed with steam and smoke. At the moment of collision; my fire man, Albert Neumann. was throwing coal into the furnace. AS soon as the collision came I thought of him aud looked where he had been an instant before, but could not see him. tried to leave the cab, but found my foot caught fast. By what do not know.
 "By this time the cab was so dense with steam that I could not see what was going on. Again I tried to free my foot, but failed. Then thought I was doomed to be steamed to death &vH < hnn EN vI,f AIo ,el~A T~x, newed strength and once more I wTenched with the obstruction and succeeded In getting my foot free. I know not how I did it, but found my self able to leave the cab. and did SO. That scene was one I shall never for get. Tn all the years I have been rail- roading, never saw an engine smash ed as badly as was 496 into which we had plunged. My engine was No 17. and 1t was so much heavier than the other that it had torn it all to pieces. The tubes of the boiler were knocked out. twisted and bent in all sonts of shape, while the sheathing of the boiler was twisted into scrap iron. do not think that the boiler of the other ep- zine exploded. It simply was knocked to pieces and this released the steam in great clouds. My own engine was badly damaged, but not so completely wrecked as the lighter engine
 GAS soon as got off the engine said to some bystanders: My fireman 1 is somewhere in that cab. see if you can find him. He was found in the | tender, where he had been hurled by the shock, dead"
 The other persons who were injured, besides those above mentioned. are all l getting along nicely. When one con- sfders the terrific force of tI1e head-on collision, which was one of the worst which has occurred in the state in some time, it appears remarkable that the passengers escaped with so slight injuries. Few of them were serious ly injured while about a dozen were slightly cut or bruised
 A visitor to the scene of the wreck to-day would scarcely perceive that such collision had occurred Pieces of the engine which strewed the ground | for some distance from the tracks are the only evidence that such terrible wreck took place. The wrecked %en- zines have been removed. Railroad men state that they never saw two en- 1 zines so badly smashed as those yes terday. They are complete wrecks. The engines have seen much service and have been doing duty for many years. The damage to; the mail car will not amount to more than S25. A man who knows says that the actual loss of property will not amount to as much as people think. It is the loss of life that makes the affair terrible.
 The work of removing the wrecBage was finished about five o'clock yester. day afternoon. The work was done under the direction of Superintendent Hopson of the Naugatucl and Rerk- shire divisions. who arrived on the scene of the wreck about ii o'clock yesterday morning. He came on the wrecking train. Superintendent Hop son is said to have made the following statement last night: Although we are satisfied that the blame rests upor Chapman, we shall investigate the mat ter still further. Chapman had or ders to keep clear of aff regular trains I cannot understand how he could gt out at SIS in the face of the north bound train and register himself out He signed the order at S:09 we thought much of him as an engineel and considered him trustworthy
 MT Hopson also stated that the re port that the passenger train was five minutes ahead of time was wrong ant 1t was impossible as the train was ont minute late in leaving Union City There were about 40 men in the wreck ing crew, including General Master Mechanic F. B. Smith and Master Me chanic CaIkfns.
 The scene of the wreck was visited by hundreds of people yesterday after noon and evening and many carried away with them pieces of the engine
 as souvenirs.