River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1905-08-17
TWELVE DIE IN
RAILWAY WRECK
PASSENGER AND A FREIGHT
COLLIDE IN OHIO.
OVER TWO DOZEN INJURED
Disaster Caused by Mistaken Orders
or Carelessness in Obeying
Them-Victims Are Most
ly Foreigners.

Cleveland, o., Aug. IA fast east
bound passenger train on the Nickel
Plate road collided with westbOund
freight train early Sunday at Kishman,
O., near Vermillion, resulting in the
death of IL persons, while at least 25
others were injured, eight of whom
will probably die. The wreck, accord
ing to the officials of the company, was
caused by a misunderstanding of or
ders, or neglect to obey them on the
part of the crew of the freight train.
Victims Mostly Laborers.
Aside from the engineer, the men
killed on the passenger train were all
riding in the smoking car at the head
of the train, and were mostly foreign
laborers in the employ of the Standard
Oil company on their way from Fort
Seneca, O., to Brookfield, o., in charge
of foreman. Engineer G. G. Poole of
the passenger train was killed at his
post, while trying to reach for the air
brake after seeing the headlight of the
freight train. His fireman, Haefner,
saved himself by jumping.
The high speed of the passenger
train threw its locomotive and first
three coaches over on the engine of the
freight train, telescoping the smoker
and the car following The forward
cars of the freight train were splin-
tered to fragments. Of the passen
gers in the smoker, none escaped in
jury. Fortunately there was no fire,
but the heavy timbers of the wrecked
cars pinned down many and prevented
them from getting out until assistance
arrived.
AS soon as possible after the wreck
occurred doctors were sent on special
train to the scene from Lorain. The
injured were hurried to Lorain and
placed in the hospital there. The dead
were conveyed to a morgue at Lorain,
awaiting Identification and disposition.
Car Crushed Like Paper.
When the trains came together, al
most everybody in the smoker was
doing. The sudden jar hurled them
out of their seats into the aisle and
threw several persons to the roof and
sides of the car which seemed all at
once to crush in like paper bag, pin
ming down each passenger in the posi-
ton in which he had been caught. The
passengers in the second car escaped
more easily, as there the violence Of
the impact was not so severe, although
few got off without cuts, bruises,
sprains or broken bones. The two rear
cars were sleepers, and they withstood
the shock without suffering serious
harm. No passengers in the sleepers
were injured.
The men on the train who escaped in
jury, worked as well as they could with
out tools to save life and limb, and the
residents in the sparsely settled vicinity
soon arrived to help. sSssats wsses
Train Ordered to Siding.
President Caniff. of the Nickel Plate,
stated that from the information in the
hands of the officials, the freight train
crew had orders to go on the siding at
Kishman and there await the passage of
the passenger train. Why this was not
done in time to permit the passenger
train to go by, or 1agman sent out,
has not yet been learned. A rigid in
vestigation is. however, being made by
the railway officials. 1t is said that the
watch of the engineer of the freight
train was slow, and that the engineer
believed he had eight minutes to get his
train on the siding before the passenger
train was due. The freight train had
Stacked speed, and was about to back in
on the siding from the main track when
the passenger train came tearing along
at a rate of As miles an hour and dashed
into it.