New-York tribune., 1905-06-23
ABAND0NS FAST RUN.
Central Returns to 20-HOur Sched-
ale To-day-SarUiUors Here.


As result of the terrible disaster to the
Twentieth Century Limited the Lake Shore
road at Mentor, Ohio. on Wednesday night cost
ing twenty-one lives, the New-York Central Is
going to abandon what has been called "frenzied
railroading." President Newman announced
| yesterday that the Twentieth Century would re-
turn to a twenty hour schedule to-day, and that
no further effort would be made to cut down the
time between Chicago and New York while he
| held the executive reins
In official statement issued late in the
| afternoon President Newman said:
Since the sad accident which happened on the
Lake Shore last night have consulted with the
operating officials, who have explained that the
accident caused by misplaced switch, and
was not due TO the speed of the train They as
that the present schedule can be safely
and easily maintained.
While l agree with the operating officials that
there is physical reason why this schedule
should not be continued nevertheless, in my
judgment, the time Of the Twentieth Century
Limited should be restored to twenty hours, and
| il will be done at once.
Other officials declared that the trains which
left Chicago at 2:;}0 and New-York al 3:3O yes
terday would be the last of the eighteen hour
trains. The other Chicago and NewYork race
| train is the Pennsylvania Special. which made
| its first run on June II. 1t said yesterday
by the officers of the Pennsylvania company
that the eighteen hour schedule would be main
tanned. it considered perfectly safe
Seventeen survivors of the Mentor wreck, who
| had escaped serious injury reached the Grand
| Central Station yesterday afternoon on the New
York and New-England Express. A considera-
| BILE crowd gathered in the train shed. Some had
friends on the wrecked train. but many were
| curious ones, who expected to see bandaged and
| injured people limping away In this they were
| disappointed for not one of the survivors had
| a visible scratch, though many confessed to
! bruises from being tumbled about Not one of
| them was in the buffet car. Several. however,
| escaped from The second which was burned.
l The first man to make the gates from the
: express was William Barclay Parsons. the sub
| way engineer, who was the Century train,
but who escaped without a scratch being in
| one of the rear sleepers. He was in a great
| hurry to get to his summer home at Locust.
/ N J., where his wife waiting for him.
I'll tell you about the wreck later, he said'
as he hurried to the subway station. My wife
will not believe 1 have escaped until she has
seen with her own eyes
! Later, Mr.. Parsons said:
/ | had q very narrow escape, but got off for
! tunately without a scratch. | was just prepar-
! ing to turn into my berth when the crash came
and in instant all was confusion was IN
the third l had left the combination car
lust a moment before. The combination car, as
YOU know was entirely destroyed. did all could
in pulling other passengers from the runs or the
/ l the front OF the car, together WITH
+ others The vestibule had been crushed in and
we had to break our way through plate glass
windows in order to get out. The car ahead OF
ours was tilted UP and we seemed TO have run
in under it, The ahead of that was com
pletely turned over. The engine was on its side
and the tender included in the mfx-up. over
engine and tender was the IooI Oh "bdl iiau
been freight shed.
Fire broke out almost as soon as the crash
came 1 do not know that any OF those now low
dead were killed instantly, as II was stated on
the arrival of the relief train that there had
been no fatalities, and believe that those now
dead died on their way to Cleveland.
Too much cannot be said for the way in which
the women passengers acted. Why, they were
regular Red Cross nurses. They did not become
nanicstricken, but went to work, and used hand
kerchiefs and portions of their clothing to blnd
up the wounds of the injured. 1t certainly was
an awful experience, and how L escaped with
NV life I do not know However, il is my fifth
railroad wreck. so 1 guess am bullet proof
G E Pickard, of Chicago in an interview re-
garding the wreck said:
Not man on board the first escaped
death or serious injury; not man in the other
cars was than bruised. doubt, however,
If many of the poor fellows In the smoking ca!
were absolutely burnt death. The shock and
smash enough TO kill them. MY friend
John r. Bennett, of this city, was one OF the
( killed, but here the bills and some papers
| took from his pockets and you see they are
not so much as touched by the fire.
My escape was most fortunate naa
been talking with Bennett and had got out OF
the car with him at Cleveland and walked about
would not smoke any more and went back to
the second and sat down to read one OF
Ktpltng's stories l wonder how that finishes?
Bennett must have gone back TO the smoking
car and never him alive again.
Suddenly / felt jar, and as L had been IN a
wreck before recognized ii as the putting on
of the emergency brakes Nothing seemed
wrong and there was an appreciate time DeIore
there came another bump: the car toppled over
10 an angle of about 30 degrees and the man
sitting on the other side of the aisle from me
came falling across on me.
Nav YOU must not expect me TO be very ac-
curate about the time all these things took TO
bappen. No doubt they occurred in very brief
~ me thev took as l look back, not how long
really elapsed
| would even say there was two minutes be-
tween the first applying of the brakes and the
anal stop which is, OF course, absurd. Anyhow.
there was no particular confusion ia my car. l
locked round see If there was any nIe 8nd
as there was not, / supposed the accident was
90. very serious one. The lights all went out
- wa began 10 strike matches. The men who
,,er. in their hunks began TO get out and dress,
ana SCI 10 work to hunt up my belongings.
a Torter came along with a lantern and looked
IN twice and we asked him 10 leave IL with us
No Doubt he had people in far greater need OF
attantton than we 10 look after. and went away.
ts,Iia we all continued to hunt for our
bagoace and / even meditated instituting
bupf for NV spectacle case. AS matter OF
f.ct I did go down my hands and knees ana
search for my small bag
IIou long this all took don't really know. Dut
a. sae,ns now like ten minutes. Then began 10
ttinx about getting out. The not much