The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-01-04

the horror and mercifully hid for a
while the extent of the. disaster.
Strange Feature of Crash.
| A strange feature of the wreck is
the fact that neither the engine, the
tender, nor any of the empty coaches
| of the colliding trains left the track
Despite the havoc which it wrought,
the engine of the second train, run
ming 60 miles an hour, was only slight
ly injured, and neither the engineer
nor the fireman sustained any injury.
| Both remained in their cab and were
placed under arrest as soon as the
police reached the scene.
Engineer Harry Hildebrand, who
has been on the road many years, was
so excited that he has not yet been
able to give any lucid account of what
| happened. He does not even remem-
Der putting on the air brake to stop
| his train, which ran a full length after
! it had struck the rear coach of the
local. He states positively that when
| his train entered the block at North
Takoma, short distance beyond Ter
ra Gotta, he was given a clear track.
This statement is directly contrary
to that of the operator at North Ia
koma, who declares that he gave the
train the red light, indicating that the
track was not clear. The Baltimore &
Ohio is run by the block signal sys-
tenn.
Brakeman Says Signals Were Out.
Lying in critical condition at
Providence hospital, Frederick Leigh,
a brakeman on the ill-fated passenger
train, gasped out his story of the
wreck and died soon afterward.
when we passed Kensington the
danger signals were hoisted, and we
were told to move cautiously" he
said. when we hit Takoma the sig
nails were still out, and we left the
station slowly and proceeded to Terra
Gotta, our next stop. The signals
were out at Terra Gotta, and We took
aboard a few passengers and started
to pull out for Washington when the
train following us hit the back coach
and smashed it to splinters."
DR.. e. o. Belt, one of the most
prominent physicians of Washington,
and his sons, Edwin, seven years old,
and Sinclair, five years old, were pas
sengers on the train. Edwin and his
father were killed, and the other son,
missing, is believed to be among the
unidentified dead.
Scores Visit Morgue.
Scores of persons visited the morgue
Monday to assist in the Identification.
The total number of bodies carried
into the room shortly after midnight
was 80. Most of the victims were res
idents of Washington and suburbs and
the majority of these will be buried
Monday and Tuesday.
Coroner hewitt began an inquest at
1870 Monday. After the jurymen
were selected and the list of witnesses
secured the inquest was adjourned un-
til Wednesday. The coroner says it
may last several days.
The members of the crew of the
train causing the wreck, who were
placed under arrest by the local police,
are Harry Hildebrand, engineer;
Frank Hoffmier, conductor; J. G. Nc
Cullum, fireman; Robert Rutter, brake
man, and w. A. Norris, baggagemas-
ter. All were taken to the Tenth pre-
cinct police station.
The officials of the Baltimore &
Ohio railroad, who were unable to fix
the responsibility for the disaster, be-
gan their investigation at Baltimore
Engineer Hildebrand and the fireman
of the dead train, tower operator
Phillips, and all others in any way
connected with the operation of the
train will be examined.
Two Versions of Cause.
Two distinct stories were Monday
told by the friends of those who will
naturally be implicated. The en-
trance to the block on which the ac-
cident occurred is at Silver Spring,
Maryland. 1t is said local No. &C.,
from Frederick, had entered the block
with clear track. Two green lights
were then set on the signal tower,
showing that the block was occupied.
The engineer of the dead" train,
which was following, accordingly
slowed down as he entered the block
to run cautiously" At the Takoma
station, near the center of the block,
it is said the day operator had tied
down white signals showing a clear
track, and left his station. At this
indication, the engineer of the dead"
train crowded on all steam and forged
ahead at tremendous speed in the
dark and foggy night and on a slip
perry track. 1t was only few min.
utes until the huge engine of the
dead train plunged into the rear of
the local, just pulling out of Terra
Gotta, and only three miles from
Washington.
Operator Phillips, at Takoma denies
that his signals were white. He de-
clares he was at his post and that red
signalss were set showing occupied
tracks. He was much astonished to
see the dead" train rush past, and
expected it to slow down and back
up. Instead, he heard of the accident
in a few minutes.
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