Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-06-23
MENTOR DISASTER
New York Central Withdraws Fastest Train In the World.
TWENTY -ONE MANCLED AND BURNED
All Dead Were Men, Many Prcmi. nent Tn New York and Cleveland. Officials Positive Express Was
 Deliberately Wrecked.

Deliberately Wrecked.
 NEW YORK, June 23.- President W. H. Newman of the New York Central and Lake Shore railroads has issued the following:
 "Since the sad accident which has happened on the Lake Shore I have had consultation with the operating off1cicls, who have explained that the accident was caused by misplaced switch and was not due to the speed of the train. and they assure me that the present schedule can be safely and easily maintained
 While agree with the operating officials that there is no physical req son why the schedule should not be continued, nevertheless in my judg- ment the time of the Twentieth Cen tury Limited should be restored to twenty hours, and it will be done at once"
 The fatality list of the Mentor wreck of the Twentieth Century Limited train has been. practically fixed at twenty-one lives. All the dead were men and all were passengers in the buffet car. Of the twenty-one, seven teen have been positively identified, and the other four are in doubt. The underclothing on one of the latter bodies bears the initials "E E. N"
 It is believed that all the dead have been removed from the scene of the wreck, the railway company bending every effort toward clearing away the wreckage as soon as possible. This work has proceeded so far by this time that the possibility of there being additional bodies buried in the debris is very slight.
 The Twentieth Century Limited is called the fastest long distance train in the world It ran into an open switch Officials of the Lake Shore road are positive in their declarations that the switch had been maliciously opened, and all the evidence at hand supports this theory.
 It is said that investigation has de veloped that boy meddled with the switch at Mentor and caused the wreck. William Usher and James Barnes reached the wreck twenty min- utes after it occurred. On the way to the wreck they met boy carrying a lantern. The boy said that he had been down to shut switch. The men went on to the wreck and found the switch open and locked. The men are of the opinion that the boy thought that there was freight ahead of the Twentieth Century and opened the switch to let 1t through to take siding.
 Another report says that the police of Mentor are looking for local eharac- ter considered slightly demented who had been heard to say that he would be revenged for what he considered i'll treatment on the Lake Shore road.
 Twelve persons were injured, some being seriously burned.
 The train was destroyed, flames ald- ing in the destruction. and several of the passengers were burned to death. Nearly all of the injured were burned.
 The dead are: s. C. BeckwIth, New York: John R. Bennett. patent attor ney. New York city, burned to death; F. J. Brandt. Toledo, trainman; J. H. Gibson. Chicago. traveller: Fireman Graham, Collinwood. crushed under engine: Archibald P. Head, London. steel company representative; Thomas R. Morgan of the Wellman-Seaver- Morgan company, Cleveland. burned 10 death; A. L. Rodgers. general man. ager Platt Iron company. New York. died on operating table at Cleveland General hospital Allen Tyler, Collin wood, O.. engineer. crushed under en- zine; x. B. Walters. baggageman of Hamburg, N. Y., scalded to death: Charles H. Wellman of the Wellman- company. Cleveland: Williams, first name and address un- known; H. H. Wright. travelling man. Chicago: H. c. Meckling. manager of the Wheeling Corrugating company, New York; L. M. Brick, manager Keith's theater. Cleveland: F. E. Nau- gle. Chicago.
 One of the passengers who arrived on the limited was William Barclay Parsons. former engineer of the New York subway. Mir. Parsons had mar row escape from death in the wreck.