Arizona republican., 1906-03-28
WAS TIE BOY TO RLAME2
Circumstances Immediately Preceding
 the Wreck at Swallow.

| The following story from Denver
 concerning the late Rio Grande wreck
 near Swallow. Colo. lends to reduce
 the responsibility of Operator Lively:
 The orders which caused the fright.
 full wreck on the Rio Grande railroad
 were sent by the chief dispatcher at Pueblo after Frank Lively, tEe boy op-
 orator at Swallows, had admitted t, the Pueblo office that he had been
 asleep at his post.
 In order to save five minutes time
 over fifty lives were snuffed out.
 The sleeping operator at Swallows
 was ordered to stand by the key after he had notified the Pueblo office that
 he had not been relieved. Although the Pueblo office had an opportunity to relieve him at 10 o'clock l it failed to do so
 Lively was entitled to an hour for lunch between 12:3O and 13O a. m. Instead of eating he slept. Having worked the better part of | twenty-four hours, he overslept and did not awaken until 1850, when he heard the ticker calling him. He went to work at o'clock in the morning and was supposed to remain OH uulN uIllll Q -D the evening. Wll- liap Van Dusen, the night operator went to Pueblo that afternoon. He did not go to cash the pay checks alone, although that was one of the errands he is soid to have performe l. but went for pleasure. He promised Lively that he would be back at 6:15. Lively agreed to work the extra fifteen minutes
 When the 6:15 train passed Swallow Van Dusen was not on the train. Lively at once informed the chief dispatcher at Pueblo that he was work ing on another mans shift and that Van Dusen had failed to return. Lively had stayed with his work closely all day. At noon he had only a cold lunch. He had brought no sup , per with him.
 The chief operator at Pueblo an swered Lively that Van Dusen had missed his train, to remain on duty un- til 10 o'clock. when Van Dusen would arrive at Swallows on a dump train. Ten o'clock came and the dump train pulled by, but Van Dusen was not on it. Immediately Lively telegraphed this information to the chief dispatcher and asked for instructions. The chief dispatcher answered that an effort would be made to relieve him at the earliest moment.
 All that long evening to midnight the boy-Lively is only 19 years old stuck close to duty. He had no supper. There was no way of getting anything to eat at midnight. He could not leave the office at that hour. He had been on duty eighteen hours without warm food and without food of any kind for more than twelve hours. Exhausted, the boy decided to take a short nap during the midnight hour, between 12:30 and 1:SG, that is given to operators for dinner. He overslept twenty minutes, awak- ening at 1850 instead of 1:3O, as he had planned.
 He does not know what woke him then. Perhaps it was the rush of the flying passenger train, on its way to destruction. The first thing he actu- ualIy knows he heard was the click ing of the key of the telegraph in strument repeating his call
 Answering the call of the key, he was asked by Pueblo: Has No. 3 gone by?' Lively click ed back "No.'
 At 2:O2 the chief operator at Pueblo , called him again:
 Has No. 3 gone by?'
 "No. At least not since 1:5O." The chief dispatcher then asked him:
 Have you been asleep?'
 ''Yes," was Lively's answer.
 For two minutes there was silence The keys did not click. Then, at 2:Of, came another call from the chief dis patcher's office.
 It was the fatal third order, chang ing the place of meeting of train No. and train No. 16 from Adobe 10 Beaver.
 And the Pueblo office sent this order out to save five minutes time after the boy operator admitted that he had been asleep.