The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1903-04-16

~ 'SS' ~ ''SiSHN OiSFS9 dFNS0 Vt
ders 10 Take Siding. and Fast Ex.
press Struck His Engine With Ter.
rife Force.
Halifax. y. 5. April 1s.-Four per
sons dead. two fatally hurt, at least
one missing and several others slight
~ injured is the record o. a head-On
collision on the InterColonial Railway.
which occurred just before midnight
Saturday near Windsor junction.
Il miles from Halifax. The poles and
telegraph lines along the roadside
were wrecked and this city was cut
OF from communication with the out
side world for hours
The trains in collision were the Can
adian Pacific Railway express from
Montreal and Boston for Halifax and
n fast freight from Halifax for Mon
treal The conductor and driver of
the freight had orders 10 take the
siding at Windsor Junction and let the
express cross. but for some unknown
reason Driver Copeland. of the freight
train. passed the junction on the main
line and met the express two miles
beyond. 1t is thought that Copeland
may have lost control OF his train.
which was made up Of - cars. The
freight was running 25 miles an hour.
and the express. which was two hours
late. was travelling about IS miles an
hour.
The dead are. Express Driver VII
liam Wall. Express Fireman Michael
Oakley Freight Fireman Hill. Freight
Brakeman Thorp.
Fatally hurt Freight Driver Cope
land. tramp named McCready. o.
Antigonish.
The express consisted OF postal and
haSga-e cars and three passenger
coaches. in charge OF Conductor Nc
ClaGerty. The freight was an unusu-
ally heavy train. in charge OF Conduc-
tor Haynes. Both trains were hauled
by new and powerful locomotives. and
they crashed together on level niece
OF road skirting a lake. The engine
crew OF the express and Fireman HiU.
OF the freight died almost immediate
ly after the crash, and Brakeman
Thorp was instantly killed. The dri-
yer Of the freight is in the hospltal
with broken spine and cannot live.
\ tramp had been caught stealing n
ride on the train and had been nut
on by the train hands. but managed
10 swing on again. and was finally
taken into the cab ont of danger The
brakeman of the freight. who was
killed. was in the cab, having gone
forward prior To reaching Windsor
junction 10 be in readiness 10 drop OF
the train when il slowed up and open
the switch TO let the freight in on the
siding. When the speed Of the freight
was not reduced approaching the iunc-
uon Conductor Haynes says he real
lied that nothing short OF a miracle
could prevent collision. There was
no bell cord 10 send a warning 10 the
driver. and the conductor ordered a
brakeman 10 drop of the rear end of
the freight and telegraph the next
station, Wellington. 10 hold the ex-
press. The message was too late. The
express sped past Wellington Station
as the operator there received the
warning signal He dashed out on the
platform. wildly waving a lantern but
the train disappeared down the line
in the darkness. a few minutes later
the collision occurred.
The locomotives locked together
and remained on the track. The DOS
tai and baggage cars went over the
embankment down into the lake Two
railway mail clerks in the postal car
were shaken up. Their car landed
right side up and began to I'll with
water. but they escaped bv climbing
through window in the roof and wad-
ing ashore. The men in the baggage
and express car had like experience
except that a heavy safe broke loose
IN the fall and smashed through the
side OF the car. The passenger coaches
were considerably damaged, but re-
NAMED on the track. Several passen-
gers were thrown down by the shock
or cut by flying glass.
Driver Wall. of the express. was
caught in the mass of twisted iron
and was scalded to death by escaping
steam. Fireman Oakley was thrown
or jumped from the cab and was
drowned in the lake, where his body
was found in six feet of water. Fire
man Hill was burned to death and
brakeman Thorp was killed outright
Another brakeman of the freight train
Is missing. and the lake is being drae.
ged for his body.
Atlantic City. n. j.. April 1s-Tbe
schooner Elsie S. Rowe, from Boston
on a fishing cruise, went ashore near
Little Beach. The crew was taken off