Perth Amboy evening news., 1905-06-23
TOR DISASTER
York Central Withdraws
lest Train In the World.
MANCLED AND BURNED
dead Were Men, Many Promi-
In New York and Cleveland.
Officials Positive Express Was
Deliberately wrecked.

Deliberately Wrecked.
NEW YORK, June 23.-President w.
Hewman of the New York Central
sN lhLake Shore railroads has issued
h9 pllowing:
"Since the sad accident which has
happened on the Lake Shore l have
had a consultation with the operating
oficicls, who have explained that the
accident was caused by a misplaced
switch and was not due to the speed
II the train, and they assure me that
the present schedule can be safely and
easi1A maintained.
f"Whiie | agree with the operating
officials that there is no physical rea-
son why the schedule should not be
continued, nevertheless in my judg-
ment the time of the Twentieth Cen
fury Limited should be restored to
twenty hours, and it will be done at
Dnce."
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. Il. NJ"
1t 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
ia the world. 1t 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.
1T is said that investigation has de-
veloped that a boy meddled with the
switch at Mentor and caused the
wreck. William Usher and James
Barnes reached the wreck twenty mill
utes after it occurred. On the way to
the wreck they me- a boy carrying a
lantern. The boy said that he had been
down to shut a switch. The mel 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 a freight ahead of the Twentieth
Century and opened the switch to let
It through to take a siding.
Another report says that the police of
Mentor are looking for a local charac-
eE1c6nsidered 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 aid
Ing in the destruction, and several of
the passengers were burned to death.
Nearly all Of the injured were burned.
The dead are: s. G. Beckwith, New
York; John r. Bennett, patent attor-
ney, New York city, burned to death;
r. ]. Brandt, Toledo, trainman; j.. III.
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
TO death; A. L. Rodgers, general man
ager Plat Iron company, New York.
died on operating table at Cleveland
General hospital; Allen Tyler, Collin
wood, O., engineer, crushed under en-
: CINE: N. b. Walters, baggageman of
Hamburg, N. Y, scalded to death;
Charles H. Wellman of the Wellman-
Seaver- Morgan company, Cleveland;
williams, first name and address UNI
known; II. H. Wright, travelling man,
Chicago; III. G. Meckl.ng, manager of
the Wheeling Corrugating company,
New York; L. NJ. Eirick, manager
Keith's theater, Cleveland; e. e. Maui
gle, Chicago.
One of the passengers who arrived
on the limited was William Barclay
Parsons, former engineer of the New
York subway. Mr.. Parsons had a mar
row escape from death in the wreck,
Death Due to Natural Causes.
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