Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1905-08-19
TWELVE MEN KILLED
Nickel Plate Passenger Hits
Freight Near Vermilion, 0.
AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE INJURED
Mixup Is Orders Probable Cause of
Disaster-Wsteh of Freight En9i-
neer safa 10 Have Been slow.
Dead Mostly Laborers.

fdStpOuHQ passenger Train on lUt
Nickel Plate road c0lllded with a west
bound freight train at Kishman, o..
near Yermilion, resulting IN the deatt
OF twelve persons, while at least
twenty-five others were injured, eight
Of whom VIII probably die. The wreck,
according TO the officials Of the com
pany, was caused by misunderstood
Ing Of orders or neglect to obey them
on the part Of the crew of the freight
trafa.
The dead are; Charles W. Poole, en-
| gineer Of the passenger train, sixty
| years Old, Conrieaut, o.; Joseph Alesl
ander, tygentyfouY years old, Newark,
". j.; Fraak Weaver, thirty Eve years
old, Findlay, o., and nine TtaJtan labor
ers, in the employ OF the St&A6ard Oil
| company, on Sheir way from Fort Sen
eca, O., to BrooISfield,. O., In charge of
a foreman. Engineer Poole was killed
at his post while trying to reaets for
the airbrske after seeing The headlight
of the freight train Els fireman.. H.sef.
ner, saved himself by jumpisg.
The engineer anG firemaa OF tsSs
freight tra'u saved themselves By
jumping as soon as tiSsy saw she pass-
senger train ronning.
Roy Winch OF Ffndiay, wao, all
though severely injured, was the first
man to rush into the wrecked smekidg]
ear to take part Salthe work of resrde.
gave the following accounts of the ter
rible sight within
"As soon as l eJfered the. car | sssw'l
that IL was filed with struggling
shFieking mass of sauirmings humani-]
TT. Tbe lights were out, and theI
screams sud yells Of the Italiahs; who
were squealing like rSes In are and |
terrible.
The living. the wouaded ara the |
dead were piled in ose indiserilainat e
mass all over the fioorcof the car the |
living entangied WITH the arms and |
legs of the dead and many of ,hem
pinned down by the dead bodies os4 the
Italians
sNDfilt "a klfe utau WIZ SO bTGIE
that througts their moHths
protr1aied hideous masses of iEssesa
tines
Two men,, Italians, RI saw. pinned
DOWN, the, ONE on top being caught in
some way about the Guest go that bel
co,Sbd not get sways~ IEa'7nsen-runaef-'
meath him was also held down. main-
ly by the weight of tie nssn on tetss
VITO in his frantic efforts to get away
kicked tia man under nilri literally ta
DEATH"
The high speed of the ,eassenger ,trasfa
threw its locomotive ,2ndl first thrae.
coaches over on the engine of thesl
freight train. telescoptng the smokaEsi
and the ear following. The forward
ears OF the, freight train were spliaa
tered TO fragments.
OF the passengers in che smoker noGs>I
escaped injury. Fortunately there was
no fire, but the heayE timbers of the
wrecked cars pinioneSE down many a@d
prevented them freEs getting out uesti
assistance arriyed.j
AS soon as possible. after the. wreck
OttuTTttl uOtlOIS W cfC Stnl Or II GslS-
cial train to the, scene from Lorain.
The injured were hurried to Losain
and placed in the hospital there, Fire
dead were conveyed to the morgae at
Lorain, awaiting Identification anIldts7
position.
When the trains came together al
most everybodS in the smoker was
90
out of their seats into the aisle and
threw severaE persons TO the loof and
sides of the, car, which seemed all at
once to cnuneh In like paper bag,
pinning dp@n each passenger in the
position in which he had been, caught
The passengers in the second car es-
| capped more easily. as there the vio-
lence of the impact was, not so severe
! although few got off Without cuts
/ bruises, sprains or brollea bones. TIE
! two, rear cars were sleepers, and tl,sey
withStood the shock without suffermg
serious harm No passengers in the
| slespers We're injured.
The men on the tCein who escaped
Eaiury worked as well as they could
without tools to save life and litab. aud
the residents in me sparseiy settled
vicinity soon argNed to hep. The
sleepers were used for the &ecommo-
dalton of some ct the injured, as Were
several houses Aear the siding The
officials of the Nickle Plate as soon as
they learned Of the accident ordered
every possible assistance to be giyer
and no expense spared 10 taking car,
Of the injuoed.
President Caniff of the Nickle Plat,
stated that from the Information in tn,
hands of the officials the freight train
crew had orders to 40 on the siding a
I<ishman and there await the passage
Of the passenger train, Why this wa
not done in time to permit the passen
ger train TO go by or tiagman sen
out has not vet been learned. A rigi'
Investigation Is being made by the rail
way officials.
IT Is said that the watch of the en-