Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-09-20
DISPATCHER ERRS
AND SCORE PERISH
TWENTY-FIVE KILLED AND AS
MANY INJURED IN WRECK
IN VERMONT.
AN INVESTIGATION BEGUN
Freight and Passenger Train, Loaded
with Millworkers, Collide and Day
Coach Is Splintered.
EXPRESS NARROWLY ESCAPES.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT,
Sept. 1G.-Through the error of n train
dispatcher twenty-five persons were
killed and as many more seriously in
jured early in a head-on collision on the
Concord division of the Boston q Maine
railroad. The revised list of identified
dead follows:
SHAUGHNESSY, TIMOTHY, Manchester.
SHAUGIlNESSI, MRS. TIMOTHY, Man
chester
SOUTuWICK, GEORGE L., Six Linden
street, Worcester, Mass.
PHELPS, FRED NJ, Ochiltree, Tex.
WARREN, MRS. NJ, H., Haverbill, Mass.
BOISNERT, MRS. ADOLPH, Concord,
N. ii.
BARRETT, MISS ANNIE, Manchester.
ROVER, AUGUSTINE, Manchester.
GARRISON, RICHARD f., Lebanon, n.
II.
LOWER, L. H., Barton Landing Vi,
BRIGGS, MRS. L. $, West Lebanon, n,
CONGDON, JOHN NJ, Bethel, Vt.
CADY, LEON s., West Lebanon \, II.
WARREN, T. HOWARD, uaycrhill,
Mass
VENrINNIER, MRS. WILLIAM. Robin,
son, Que.
VENTINNIER, MISS LILLIAN, daughter
of above.
CUNNINGIIAM, MRS. ALICE, Hamilton,
Mass.
Station Agent Greeley of Canaan sta
ton. through whose hands passed the Ia
tai orders Tor the freight train to pro-
coed on the passenger trains time, was
temporarily removed today. Greeley was
regarded highly here as Il capable agent,
An investigation of the disaster viii
be begun here today. probably under the
direction of NJ. -. Cohlegh of Lebanon,
the county solicitor.
4 Read as Costs 25 Lives.
Supt. Ray of the Concord division be-
gan an investigation of the cause of
the disaster and this afternoon gave out
the following statement:
The accident was due to misunderstood
ing between j. A. Crowley the night dis
patchcr at Concord, who has been in the
service for seven years, and John Greeley,
the night operator at Canaan, who has seen
twenty three years service in transmitting
train orders. One of these two men made
the fatal error of taking Il cipher for
four. The train order which Conductor
Lawrence of the freight signed for ut the
Canaan station said that train No. 30 was
running one hour and ten minutes late.
ION this order the freight conductor could
easily have made the Sdctrack ut West
Canaan and this was his intention Ordi
narily train No "a followed No. 30, thirty
five minutes later but the freight conductor
held train order received at West Han
over that No. 81 was forty minutes late. 1t
was the freight conductors intention then
to keep on to West Canaan. Train Dis
patchcr Crowley of Concord state that he
told the Canaan operator that No. IA was
an hour and ten minutes late. 1t was this
mistake of taking a cipher for Il four that
caused the wreck.
The wreck occurred just before dawn
OH n stretch of track near Canaan sta
ton. A heavy northbound freight
crashed into the southbound Quebec ex-
press. The day coach of the passenger
train. crowded with persons, mostly New
England millworkers returning from Il
fair at SherbrookC, Quebec, was smashed
to matchwood. No one i'll the coach es-
capped death or serious injury. paSSen-
gers in four sleeping coaches ut the rear
of the passenger train escaped with
severe jOlting.
The crowded Montreal express, which
was following the Quebec train, almost
ran on to the wreck in the early morn
ing mist. 1t was stopped only a few hum
drcd yards behind the wreck and its pas
sengers aided in the work of rescue
Crowded Day Coach Splintered
The freight tram was on a straight
piece of track about mile in length.
and the Quebec express had rounded the
curve into this stretch when each en-
gineer saw the headlight of the opposite
train burst out of the fog not 200 yards
away. Both engineers set their brakes
and then jumped, while the two great
locomotives crashed into each other and.
locked together, rolled into the ditch.
The baggage car in the rear of tho
engine was hurled back into the crowded
day coach like Il great ram and tore it
asunder from end to end. As it did SO
the rear end of the baggage car rose up.
so thar when it stopped ut the forward
end of the smoker, after tearing through
the day coach, the car was almost per
pendicular.
The shattered day coach was crowded
with more than fifty people. Shortly
before the accident Il few OF the men had
gone back into the smoking car in the
rear. leaving the womento get Il little sleep
in the straight seats. One of those who
escaped said that as the train was round
ing the curve some one in the front of
the car began to sing, so that nearly
everyone was awake when the crash
came.