Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-16
SCORE DIE IN
TRALNHORROR
MISTAKE IN ORDERS CAUSES
TERRIBLE DISASTER
DEAD AND INJURED PILED HIGH
in DITCH
Terrific Head-on Collision on Boston
& Maine Railroad Causes Death c.
Twenty-Five and Injuries
Many Others

BY Associated Press.
1 WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Sept. 15.--
A fearful head-on collision between the
southbound Quebec express and north
4 bound train on the Concord division of
the Boston & Maine railroad four miles
north of Canaan station early today cost
the lives Of more than score. The
wreck was due to a mistake In the train
dispatchers orders. From a demolished
passenger coach there were taken out
twenty-five dead and dying and twenty
seven other passengers, most OF them
seriously injured Nearly all of those
who were in the i'll fated car were re-
| turning from a fair at SherbrO0ke, Que
bee, sixty miles north.
The conductor of the freight train was
given to understand by the night oper-
ator at Canaan that he had plenty of
time to reach a siding, receiving, accord
ing to the superintendent of the division.
a copy of a telegraph order from the
| train dispatcher at Concord, who con-
fused the train numbers 80 and "a.
Fog Obscures Headlights
| The wreck occurred just after the ex-
| press had dashed into straight stretch
of track, but owing to the early morning
| mist neither engineer saw the others
| headlight until it was too late.
Those identified up to o'clock tonight
were as follows:
/ TIMOTHY SHAUGHNESSY, Castle
4 Bar, Quebec.
MRS. SHAUGHNESSY.
MISS ANNA ST. PIERRE.
i FRED PELLS, Ochiltree, Texas.
MRS. A. e. WARREN, Haverhill. Mass.
Mrs. F. c. BLAKE, South Corinth. VT
MRS. MARGARET LARGY, Manches-
ter, N. H.
Il MISS BARRETT. Manchester, N. H.
MRS. PHILIP CAGON, Sherbrooke-
MISS ALVINA GIRON, Nassau.
MRS. WEBSTER, a dressmaker. living
in Massachusetts.
u j. L. CONGROTH, Somerville Mass.
Infant child of Irving Clifford, Concord.
MRS E. L. BRIGGS. West Canaan.
New Hampshire.
JOHN c. DUNCAN, Bethel, VT.
4 Unidentified boy 4 years of age.
The unidentified include a man 40 years
old, woman so years, woman of IS.
a man of 35 years and four others. TWEEN
ty-two of the bodies arrived at Con-
cord during the day.
The southbound train was made up at
Sherbrooke last evening. Here it picked
up two sleepers from Quebec and two
more the way down. The train con-
sisted of the baggage car. passenger
coach and smoking car in that order,
with the sleepers In the rear. The train
left White River Junction today at $40,
forty minutes hate, and was followed
twenty minutes later by the Montreal ex-
press over the Central Vermont rail-
: road. The Quebec train is known as No.
80 and the Montreal train as No. 80.
Train Orders Confused
4 In the meantime northbound train
known as No. 267 had arrived at Canaan.
eighteen miles down the road, at 4:10
a. m. on time. According to Division Su-
perintendent w. r. Ray, j. r. Crowley,
~, ,fonf in, fcf,a of
sent a dispatch to John Greedy, the night
operator at Canaan that No. "a was one
hour and ten minutes late.
The order which Conductor Lawrence
of the freight train showed after the ac-
cident distinctly stated that No 80, in
| stead of No. "a, was an hour and ten
minutes late. Conductor Lawrence, be-
lieving that he had sufficient time In the
hour and ten minutes to reach the side
track at West Canaan, four miles beyond,
| before No. 80 reached 1t, ordered his
train ahead. The superintendent declared
that the accident was due to the mistake
OF placing a cipher after the three
In the number of the train instead of a
| -four
The morning was dull and misty in the
Western New Hampshire mountains, and
| the long freight train with a score of
heavily loaded cars numbered up the
grade to West Canaan at the usual
| speed.
| At the other side of the cut the Que
bee express was sliding down the single
track with her load of passengers and
the four sleepers in the rear The freight
| train was on straight piece of track
about mile in length and the Quebec
express had rounded the curve into this
stretch when the two engineers saw the
headlight of the opposite train burst out
] of the fog. Both engineers set their
brakes and then jumped.
| In another instant there was crash
and both engines were lying together
a mass of wreckage in the ditch beside
the track. The baggage car next to the
passenger locomotive had been driven
back into the passenger coach, telescop-
| ing 1t and crushing the lives out of half
a carload of people. At the same time
nearly every one else in that car was In
jured.
Few Escape
A few escaped, but those who were in
the sleeping car in the rear were saved
from death by the stronger quality of
the car. The accident occurred at 4:24
a. M. just as the dawn was showing ir
the east. The moment after 1t happened
train hands who had escaped injury and
passengers in the sleeping car were look
ing upon one of the worst wrecks ever
seen in New Hampshire.
The locomotive lay In a tangled pile.
I16 DdBBdBe rCdIf p<tfthJ ucfdiitus was
held nearly upright by the wreckage of
the demolished day coach. one side OF
which had been completely ripped on.
while the remainder was ground to splin-
ters by the force of the shock.
A smoker behind the day coach stood
on the rails with ends demolished and
windows broken. The sleeper was prac-
tically undamaged.
In the debris of the passenger coach
LAY more dead and injured than could be
estimated at the moment At once those
who had escaped harm saw their task.
The cries and means of the injured
prompted speedy action. Out from under
brake beams and splintered joists bleed
ing forms were dragged and laid ON
broken backs of seats or blankets in
the sleeping car.
Wounds were hastily bound up with
torn sheets in the berths and such other
help as could be hastily provided was
given. An hour elapsed before physicians