The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-01-28

"A train containing the bodies of thirs
teen victims of the wreck arrived at
Plainfie1d at 3:05 a. m. Many of them
were not recognizable. The people OF the
city We're in frenzy of grief, All sorts
of rumors were afoat and it Yves reported
that the number of dead would reach a
hundred or more. The great majority Of
the dead and injured were either residents
Of Plainfield or lived in neighboring places
and were well known in Plainf1eld. Many
of them were wealthy commuters who had
their places Of business in New York. 1t
is known that more than fifty persons
were injured. but many Of them after they
had their wounds dressed, went to their
homes without giving their names.
The stories of dreadful incidents ac-
companying the collision were numerous.
The engine that drew the express plowed
half way through the rear car of the local
express before it came to standstill.
Bodies were crushed against the front Of
the locomotive and on the pilot and on the
crown sheet and could only be removed
after the fremen had drenched the loco
motive front for two hours and cooled Off
the plates. ~. 49,.
How the Trains Run.
The local express train leaves New
York at 5:45 p. M. and runs to Bound
Brook. 1t stops at Elizabeth, Wcstfield
and Plainfield and Beyond Bound Brook
is ran as local. The through express
leaves New York fifteen minutes later, but
travels at a higher rate. 1t stops only
at Elizabeth.
The slower train switches from track
No. 3 at Graceland to track No. 4, and
the through express should pass it at that
point. After the through express mas
passed. the other train returns to the eX
press track. Last evening a freight train
occupied No. and the local express was
Orfjc, tn onrfi no ovr aolS
as far as Dunellon and there switch to
track No a. Soon after receiving the
order the local express had to stop to al
low hot box to cool off. The local mad
just started and was going at a slow rate
when the express ran into it. ~
The seven unidentified bodies were bad
ly burned and it will be difficult to make
positive identifcations.
Or the injured, the. condition OF Everett
Reghton of Plainfeld is the most seri.
GUS Both his legs We're cut off and he
was badly scalded about the body Ele
is too weak to stand an operation and Il
is feared he cannot recover. 3, ~.
What the General Manager Says.
w. G. Hesler, vice president and gen
eral manager of the Central Railroad O.
New jersey who was at the scene II
forty minutes. gave out a statement to-
day that the accident was due to the 'ele
ment of human fallbiHty" in railroad. op
| GRAFTON. :
THE company he said, "has installe
the electro pneumatic-au syster
of block signalling, the signals Workin
before. during and after accidents. Tn
signals were working al fright before an
after the accident. Along came the Phil
adelphia express, one of our ihourl
trains between New York and Philadel
| phia and flying past all the warnings wa
driven by it's engineer into the local trai
| with such force as to telescope thre
| coaches. So far, as I can ascertain tn
only explanation Davis. engineer of tn
| express, ga , is that he did not see an
red lights. But he was in such a -critics
condition that he barely knew what h
was saying. He jumped and his injurie
were received in that manner. The al
brakes We're applied just before the crasf
| I think by the engineer, though the
might have been set by being torn apar
| In the crash. e = ..- ! 49, ~. 49,
| Davis was a thoroughly competent en-
gineer and had six years experience run
ming between New York and Philadelphia
| He was 33 years old. of god habits an
| had very god record.
1.-The property loss is insignificant. TIL
! expresstrain, apart from the engine, wa
not damaged cents WORTH. Soon afte
the wreck the Somerville local cam
through on another track and its car
| were scratched a little but the report
taht this train ran into the wreckage an
caused further loss of life are who'll
false 81.