Troy weekly news. (Troy, Idaho) 1897-1933, 1907-09-20
FATAL TRAIN WRECK
TWENT-FOUR PERSONS KILLED
And MANY INJURED.
Quebec Express colIldes With eos
ton & Maine Freight-Due to Mis
take in Train Dispatcher's Orders
Occurred in Early Morning Hour
During Heavy Mist.

White River Junction, VT. Septic
"A fearful head-on collision betweor
the southbound Quebec express and q
northbound freight train on the Con.
cord division Of the Boston G. Maine
railway occurred four miles north os
Canaan station early yesterday. due to
a mistake in train dispatcher's orders
and from a demolished passenger
coach there were taken out "a dead
and dying and 27 other passengers
most of them seriously wounded
Nearly all Of those who were in tbe
death car were returning from a fair
at Sherbrooke, Quebec, 16O miles
north.
The conductor of the freight train
was given to understand that he had
plenty Of time to reach a siding nv
the night operator at Canaan, receiv.
ing, according to the superintendent
of the division, a copy Of telegram
order from the train dispatcher at
Concord, which confused the trains
numbers 80 and "a.
The wreck occurred Just after the
express had rounded into a straight
stretch Of track, but owing to the
early morning mist neither engineer
saw the others headlight until it was
too late Those identified I'D to
o'clock Sunday night were as follows;
List of the Dead.
Timothy Shaughnessy, Castle Bar.
Quebec.
Mrs. Shaughnessy.
Miss Anna St. Pierre, Isle Verte.
Quebec.
Fred M. Petts, Ochiltree, Texas.
Mrs. A. p. Warren, Haverhill, Mass.
Mrs. F. c. Blake, South Corinth. vt
Mrs. Margaret Largy, Manchester,
N. H.
Miss Barrett, Manchester.
Mrs. Philip Gagon, Sherbrooke,
Quebec.
Miss Alvina Garon, Nassau.
Mrs. Webster, a dressmaker living
in Massachusetts,.
]. ]. Concroth. Somerville, Mass.
Infant child of Irving Clifford. Con-
cord.
Mrs. e. T. Briggs. West Canaan, N.
H.
John G. Duncan, Bethel, VT.
The unidentified include a boy
years of age and man 40 years old
a woman of so years, another of S.,
a man of 35 years and four others.
Twenty-Five of the bodies were re-
moved to Concord during the night.
The Train Was Late.
The passenger train had left here
bound for Concord about an hour late
The track to the south is a single one
to Franklin, so miles distant, with a
few sidings. 1t abounds in curves,
while the greatest part of it from
Canaan is down grade. The freight
train pulled out of a siding some
miles to the south and started up the
track for this place at 4 o'clock
The train dispatcher's sheet at Con-
cord is declared to show that the
freight crew disobeyed orders in do
ing so. There are no signals on the
road and the trains are directed from
station to station. Going north 1t is
a long, straight track from Canaan
to the curve where the accident hap
pened and the freight was making
good time when the passenger train
came around the curve. 1t is esti-
mated both trains were going at a
speed Of from 30 to 40 miles an hour.
There was time to put on the brakes
and both engine crews jumped and
escaped injury.
Early in the afternoon, although 10
of the 80 freight cars which had COM
posed that train were derailed, and
the track was torn up for a quarter
of mile, the work of rescue had been
completed, and it became known that
the number of dead was "a. Twenty
two of them were taken by train 10
Concord, and two were sent to this
place.
Before the removal of the bodies IA
had been identified.