The Paducah sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1898-1906, 1904-03-01
6. M. TAGG
KILLED
Popular Engineer and Elk Dies
Beneath His Engine.
Fast Passenger Train Wrecked Near
Princeton at Early Hour This
Morning.
TWO WERE INJURED IN CRASH.

A disastrous passenger freight wreck
one mile north Of Princeton, Ky. oc-
onrred on the l. O. road this morning
at $3.50 O'Clock when the fast Mem.
phis and Louisville passenger train
70. l0i struck cut OF thirteen
freight and coal CARS. Engineer
George NJ. Tagg, of Louisville, wac
killed and Conductor j. @. McKenny
and Fireman J. O. Jones, both of
Louisville, were injured
The wreck was caused by i'll luck
more than any thing else, aud will
cost the railroad company a great deal
in damages to equipment.
Tho passenger train No. l04, en-
CINE 202 in charge OF Engineer George
NJ. TsgR, Fireman J. q. Jones and
conductor J. c. McKenny arrived
in Psducah from Memphis on time.
ana departed for Louisville at 1853
O'Clock this morning. II met the Lou
isville and Memphis fast passenger
train No. 1913 at Kuttawa, and pro-
ceeded east towards Louisville.
A stop was made at Princeton and
after discharging the passengers, the
train pulled out. When the pumping
station, about one mile north OF
Princeton, was reached the big engine
struck the freight cars, which had
run down out Of II passing track, and
turned the passenger engine over,
wrecked three coal cars and badly
damaged mail car on the passenger
train.
Fireman Jones managed in some
way to get out of his cab and sus.
tanned a severely sprained right ankle,
but Eng ineer Tagg was not so fortu.
nate and was caught under his engine
which was thrown twenty feet from
tho track and turned over Tagg's
body remained under the mass of tan
gled machinery and the most thorough
search failed 10 discover the least trace
Of him at first
A. soon as news of the accident
reached the local dispatching offices
the wrecker was dispatched to the
scene, leaving Praducah at O'Clock
aud clearing the wreckage away by
1850. Few trains were delayed and
traffic was hampcred but slightly by
the unfortunate occurrence.
The cause of the accident can not
be attributed to any one in particular,
as every man connected with the dis
aster in any way apparently did his
duty. An extra south bound freight
train, in charge of Conductor j. 5
Taylor, had pulled into Princeton near
midnight, the cars were run in on a
passing track and the train cut into
three parts. The brakes were set on
all three sections to prevent the cars
from running down rather steep
grade, which runs towards the north
end of the yards. The Louisville and
Memphis passenger train No 1903 in
passing early in the night is suppos
to have shaken the cars mp aud
Jared the rschets on the brake shafts
loose. The brakes thus released let
the cars start and they ran down the
grade. split the switch and ran out
onto the main line, stopping at the
pumping station where the grade
ceases.
Conductor Taylor and his crew af-
ter seeing that everything was secure
had gone home, and after the accident
thorough examination of the cars
was made and several brakes found
set, as left by the freight crew, which
shows the accident was due chiefly TO
i'll luck.
This is the first serious wreck that
has occurred under such peculiar cir.
cumstauces, and is regretted very
much by the railroad officials who
have worked necessarily for months
to straighten out the division and get
trains to running regularly.
Ii was reported early in the morn
ing that several passengers and all the