Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-08-14
TWELVE MEN KILLED
Nickel Plate Passenger Hits Freight Near Vernlilion, O.
AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE INJURED.
Mixup In Orders Probable Cause oi Disaster-Watch of Freight Engi- neer Said to Have Been Slow.
 Dead Mostly Laborers.

bound freight train at Kishman, O..
 near Vermilion, resulting in the deatf of twelve persons, while at least twenty-five others were injured, eight of whom will probably die The wreck
 according to the officials of the com.
 pany, was caused by a misunderstood.
 ing of orders or neglect to obey them
 on the part of the crew of the freight
 train.
 The dead are; Charles W. Poole, en-
 glneer of the passenger train, sixty
 years old, Conneaut, O.; Joseph Alex
 ander. twenty-four years old. Newark,
 N. J.; Frank Weaver, thirty-fve years
 old. Findlay, O., and nine Italian labor
 CTS. in the employ of the Standard Oil
 company, on their way from Fort Sen
 eca, O., to Brookfield, O., in charge of
 foreman. Engineer Poole was killed
 at his post while trying to reach for
 the airbrake after seeing the headlight
 Of the freight train. His fireman, Haef-
 her. saved himself by jumping.
 The engineer and fireman of the
 freight train saved themselves by
 jumping as soon as they saw the pas
 senger train coming.
 Roy Winch of Findlay, who. al- though severely injured, was the first man to rush into the wrecked smoking car to take part in the work of rescue. gave the following account of the ter rible sight within:
 "As soon as entered the car I saw that it was filled with struggling. shrieking mass of squirming humani- ty. The lights were out, and the screams and yells of the Italians, who were squealing like rats in fire and fighting each other, were something terrible.
 "The living. the wounded and the dead were piled in one indiscriminate mass all over the floor of the car, the living entangled with the arms and legs of the dead and many. of them pinned down by the dead bodies of the Italians.
 Some of the dead were so badly smashed that through their mouths protruded hideous masses of intes- tines.
 1.-Two men, Italians. I saw pinned down, the one on top being caught in some way about the chest so that he could not get away. The man under heath him was also held down, main- Iy by the weight of the man on top. who in his frantic efforts to get away kicked the man under him literally to death" .4The high. speed of the passenger train threw it's locomotive and first three l coaches over on the engine of the | freight train, telescoping the smoker | and the car following. The forward | ,ars of the freight train were splin- cred to fragments.
 Of the passengers in the smoker none | escaped injury. Fortunately there was 10 fire. but the heavy timbers of the wrecked cars pinioned down many and | prevented them from getting out until assistance arrived.
 As soon as possible after the wreck occurred doctors were sent on a spe- ,ial train to the scene from Lorain. The injured were hurried to Lorain md placed in the hospital there. The lead were conveyed to the morgue at - .orain, awaiting Identification and dis position.
 When the trains came together al- most everybody in the smoker was ozing The sudden jar hurled them ut of their seats into the aisle and hrew several persons to the roof and ides of the car, which seemed all at nee to crunch in like paper bag. inning down each passenger fin the osition in which he had been caught. he passengers in the second car es- aped more easily. as there the vio- snce of the impact was not so severe. though few got off without cuts. ruises. sprains or broken bones. The NO rear cars were sleepers. and they -ithstood the shock without suffering erious harm. No passengers in the leepers were injured.
 The men on the train who escaped ljury worked as well as they could 'ithout tools to save life and limb. and le residents in the sparsely settled icinity soon arrived 10 help. The eepers were used for fhe accommo- ation of some of the injured. as were sveral houses near the siding. The ficials of the Nickle Plate as soon as icy learned of the accident ordered very possible assistance to be given { ld no expense spared in taking care the injured.
 President CaniT of the Nickle Plate sted that from the information in the snds Of the officials the freight train -ew had orders 10 go on the siding at ishman and there await the pa~sage the passenger train. Why this was ,t done in time 10 permit the passen- F train to go by or a aagman sent II has not yet been learned. A rigid vestigafiou is heinz made hy inc rail- ay officials II IL is said that tha watch of the en- 1 neer Of the freight tran was slow 2 id that the engineer believed he had zht minutes to get his train on the :, ling before the passenger train was , le. The freight train had slackei leei and was about to back in on the ! ding from the main track when the 2 lsseuzer train came tearing along at e rate of foTtv-Gve miles an hour and Ished into t.