Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1903-01-02
GRAND TRUNK
WRECK SERIOUS
Twenty-Eight Persons Perish
ed and More Than That
Number Injured.
The Freight Tried to Make Passing Siding
4 But Failed to Clesr-N, House Was Ac-
cesslble., Sc. Two Uninjured Pullman
Cars Wee Used as Hospitals.

London, Ont, Dec. 2S.-One of the
worst railroad accidents in many years
happened a short distance from the
little station of Wanstead, on the
Sarnia branch of the Grand Trunk
railway, last night. The trains in col.
lision were the Pacific express and
q freight, The express was nearly
two hours late and was making fast
time. The freight was endeavoring
to make a siding to get clear of the
express but failed. and the crash
came. The locomotives reared up and
fell over in the ditch, the baggage car
of the express telescoped the smoker,
and In an instant the shrieks and cries
Of the wounded and injured filled the
air. The loss of life is twenty-eight.
The injured will number considerable
more, and many Of these will die.
The responsibility for the accident
has not been definitely fixed, but it
is believed to have been due to tele-
graph operators error in delivering
orders to one of the trains.
The freights topped at Wanstead to
sidetrack and was ,telescoped by the
express. The binding storm which
was raging. rendered objects invisible
at the distance of a few feet.
There was not house at hand to
which the injured could be carried.
Fortunately, however, the two Pull
man cars on the train did not sus.
tain any damage. They were warm
and comfortable. and were converted
into temporary hospitals. The injur.
ed were placed in berths and every
thing possible done to ease their SUI.
ferings.
According to Master of Transports
ton Price Of this city 1t was the agent
and operator at Watford, the next
station east of Wanstead, who failed
to deliver the train crew of No. s
their orders to pass the freight crew
at Wanstead. The trainmaster, Price,
says that in explanation of the mis-
take that brought such terrible re-
suits, the operator says he understood
the dispatcher to kill the orders for
No. to pass the freight at Wanstead
but it Is understood in the Offices here
that the order for No. was killed.
The Pacific express, which was late
and endeavoring to make up time,
was made up Of two Pullmans cars,
two first class day coaches, and two
baggage cars. The train was crowded
with people returning from holiday
trips. No. was running fully fifty
miles an hour through the blizzard
when at the Wanstead siding the head
light Of the freight engine doomed up
through the snow. It was impossible
to see q hundred feet ahead because
Of the snow, and the trains crashed
together almost before the engine
crews realized that q collision was
imminent The impact threw the en-
gines clear OF the tract on the right
hand side. The two cay coaches Of
the express were between the heavily
loaded baggage and the weighty Pull
mans With terrific grinding crash
the rear baggage car was driven into
the coach for three-fourths Of its
length, and in twinkling score OF
the occupants were dead, and two
score more were pinned down in the
wreckage, crushed and mangled The
horror of fire was mercifully spared
the suffering persons buried In the
wreck. A little flame broke out but
the uninjured passengers extinguished
it before i. could gain any Roadway.
The occupants of the two Pullmans
and the second day coach swarmed
out of their cars to the rescue. A per
feet bedlam of noise greeted Them.
The hiss Of escaping steam from the
wrecked engines mingled with the
cries mingled with the cries Of the
unfortunates pined in the ruins. The
bitter cold wind and snow added to
their suffering.