The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1906-12-06
WHY WRECKS OCCUR
!. ALMOST DAILY.
Railroads Should Give More At.
tention to Replacing Old Ties.
Conditions Alarming. Try
to do too Much Business.
Caftar IN Walk

~ w wv iNAuSh Dp0AAASSos
Safer to Walk.
Is it safe to travel by rail in
North Dakota? Hardly. A
person scarcely knows when
there is going to be a collision,
when the rails are going to
spread, or when the train is
about to dash into an open
switch. These three causes per-
formed an important part in the
several wrecks on the Great
Northern recently.
The Great Northern road bed
is not in good condition, it is
said. The ties are rotting and
both ties and laborers have been
50 scarce that the poor ties have
not been replaced. When a tie
becomes rotten, the spike refus-
es to perform it's mission longer,
and the rails spread under the
weight Of the terrible loads that
daily pass over them. Trains
are Invariably late during the
cold months, and engineers are
compelled to take advantage OF
good stretches to make up time.
Frequently passenger trains
tear along at a rate OF sixty or
seventy miles an hour when
forty should be the limit.
The Doyon wreck, in which
Engineer Henry Comfort was
killed, was a terrible one. Men
ton was made of it in a recent
issue. Comfort was found stand
ing. in the cab. the day coach
forced against the cab in such a
manner that the engineer could
not get out. He had reversed
the lever and stood in the cab,
being literally cooked to death
by the escaping steam. Firemen
Morrisette, of Minot, who was
dead heading here, was instantly
killed, being cut almost in two.
Fireman Rice escaped with hard
ly a scratch, and does not know
how he got out OF the engine.
The mail clerk and several pass
engers got a terrible shaking up
but none were seriously injured.
The day coach was forced past
the smoking car, tearing out
one side of the car, seats and all.
Strange none OF the passengers
we're killed. There were three
distinct shocks, one when the
engine went off the track, and
again when the tender broke
loose and thirdly when the mail,
baggage and smoking car were
twisted out of the train,
The same day the Lone Tree
wreck occurred when No. ? ran
into an open switch and was
ditched. Engineer Mike Hines
and his firemen we're injured, but
not fatally. The cars were piled
up in a horrible manner, but the
wreckage now has about been
cleared up.
The same day at noon a very
serious wreck occurred at White
Earth. A freight train was
standing on the east siding. A
train of Montana stock, sheep
and cattle had received orders
at Ray to stop at the White
Earth siding and let the three
sections OF No. 2 pass. The
stock train attempted to side
track, but there was not room.
The train was then backed to
the main line and the conductCr
went down the track a mile with
torpedoes and a flag to stop the
first section. He was a mile
from the train when the first
section OF No. 2 came tearing a.
long. The engineer, Tom Pierce
saw the signal, but the breaks
failed to work and a wreck was
inevitable. No. ? crashed into
the rear of the stock train. L. J.
Smith fireman on No. ? jumped
just before the train struck, and
landed on his face. Nearly every
inch OF skin on his face was torn
off and he was quite badly in
iured. Pierce was uninjured.
The caboose of the stock train
was forced thru a car OF shingles
in front and stood up on it's end.
II. S. Cowan Of Harlem, Mont,
who had charge of IL cars of
sheep and 2 cars Of cattle, was
badly injured. His shoulder and
one leg were broken and back
dislocated. A travelling mans
nose was broken. A boy was
thrown out of the caboose win
dow and hurt slightly. Drs.
Whitemore of White Earth and
Richmond of Ross were sent for
at once and administered to the
victims. 1t was reported that