Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-11-02
Wreckage StreWs Tracks.
None Of 800 PaSSen-
gers Injured.
FIREMAN ONLY ONE HURT
AND HE WILL RECOVER
Open Cr0ss=Over and Failure to
Heed Block Signals Said
TO Be Cause. &

The Buffalo limited. the fastest train
run over the Morris and Essex division
of the Lackawanna railroad, going
west at the rate of a mile a minute,
was wrecked in South Orange shortly
before 3 O'Clock this morning.
The wreck is considered the most
complete in the history of the rail-
road. No one, however, was seriously
injured There were about 800 people
on the train. James Ferguson, OF
Scranton, fireman of the wrecked loco
motive, was the only one injured. and
1t was said at the Orange Memorial
Hospital, where he is being cared for,
that he would survive.
The accident occurredIat the entrance
of the South Orange passenger car
yards, and was causedsby the flyer en-
tering the cross-over.
The huge engine and the ten cars
which it had been drawing were strewn
over the three main tracks. blocking
all traffic, both east, and west for sew
eral hours. The engineer, Thomas
Coleman, of Scranton. was penned in
the cab of the wrecked locomotive until
relieved. Fireman Ferguson was thrown
over two passenger coaches.
Did Not Heed Block Signals.
Failure on the part of Engineer Cole
man to take heed of the block signals
is said TO be the direct cause of the
accident, while William Poplet, Of
| Wharton, who was in charge of the
switch tower at the yard entrance, is
also blamed because of having left
the crossover open when the limited
| Superintendent E. NJ Pine. IN speak
ing of the accident today, said that 1t
was one of the worst the company had
experienced and declared ii miraculous
that no one was killed. He said that
| 1t was more severe than the one whicn
occurred on the meadows about IF en-
years ago, when thirteen were killed
and sixty injured.
Locomotive TurnS somerssuIt.
The locomotive was turned complete
ly over and about so that it was
headed for New York. That there
was NO one killed is due probably to
the fact that the passenger coaches
and Pullman cars were on the rear
of the train. The first two cars were
filed with express and baggage. They
were splintered, one of them fetching
up into a large water tank in the
yard. The third car. used for mail.
and in which were four clerks, was
thrown crossways on its side. Every
window in the car was broken, and
the mail strewn about the yard. The
men, however, escaped serious injury.
John E. Dempsey, of Scranton. chick
mail clerk. was the only one to COM
plain. His left knee was lacerated. In
the fourth car were baggage and ex-
press. This car was lifted completely
around. The fifth car was a smoker,
the occupants of which were thrown
about. The sixth and seventh sec
tions of the train were passenger
coaches, and the remaining ones Pull
mans.
Tracks were ripped up and the entire
interlocking system put out of order.
1t was not until o'clock that trains
were permitted to run west, and then
on one of the two east-bound tracks.
The first east-bound train passed the
wreckage at 6:10 o'clock. The South
Orange locals lying over at South
Orange during the night were forced
to back up to Millburn in order to
leave the yard.
Oscar j. Miller, Of Dunsmore, Pa.
was conductor of the train. It left Ho-
boken on its proposed Journey to Buff
falo at 2:25 and reached South Orange
at 1851 o'clock. 1t was due in Buffalo
at 1:15 o'clock this afternoon.
Passenger Sleeps on Peacefully.
| While most of the passengers in the
Pullman were tossed out of their berths
when the crash came, one man. Henry
B. Morris, of New York. a travelling
salesman. who happened to be on the
fourth car. which was crosswise on the
tracks when stopped. slept until awak-
ened by a member of the train crew.
George W. Clarke, of SO Hixon place.
South Orange. was a passenger on the
train. He had left his home at mid
night, going to Hoboken, where he
boarded the train, intending to reach
Binghamton, N. Y, this afternoon. The
wreck occurred almost opposite his
home. This ended mis- trip. He went
home. He happened to be in a Pull
man and was tossed about. Speaking
of his experience Mr.. Clarke said that
no snake could make such turns as the
train had made without breaking its
back
Although he was the most seriously
injured, Fireman Ferguson, after being
thrown from the tender of the engine
over the wreckage, helped relieve En-
gineer Coleman from his cab in the
forepart of the engine, which had
pitched up 200 feet further than the
tender Ferguson. after assisting his
engineer attempted to aid other MEM
bers of the crew in the train and fell
unconscious.
Some difficulty was experienced in
reaching medical aid because OF the
towerman's disappearance and the fact
that there were no night telegraph
operators at the South Grange and