The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1910-09-19

H0I SeNsIbly HuTt IL Was lUSSy,
headlight was burning. There were 90
cars in our train. The fog was SO
heavy could see only few car
| lengths. The Iron Mountain conduct
or and | were together after the COLI
| sion. We met Clarke, the operator at
Beech Ridge, at the wreck. heard
lhim say. The sons of b--s are try.
! ing to place the blame for this wreck
ON me-. Afterward met the operator
| at Beech Ridge at the station. could
! get no satisfaction out of him. He
| was intoxicated at the time; saw two
lbottlcs full Of whisky in his suit case.
| went to Cache, half a mile north, to
report the wreck. Returning to Beech
Ridge station ait about ) o'clock, / saw
the operator. Mr.. Ireland was there
| asked him II Clarke was draak. He
said yes; never saw him before un.
I'll this morning. Clarke went to
Beech Ridge fom Cairo on No,
M. 0 train; was on duty only one
hour when accident happened. We
had orders to 60 to Tamms without
further orders, as Mooreham dispatch
ed at Jackson had no orders to the
contrary from Jackson to Beech
Ridge"
E. G. Buckner of Chester, ILL.,, con
/: ductor on the Iron Mountain, said:
| We have always had running or
| ders to Beech Ridge If blocks are
| against us we stop. The road was
clear; the air was foggy; was riding
in the cab as had 10 caDoose; was
running about 25 miles an hour as we
lpassed the station; threw out the reg.
istered order as we passed; saw the
| operator standing on the platform !;
the order fell at his feet and he pick
ed it up. minute after this as |
was looking ahead saw the headlight
| of the M. & @. CLEAN over the cloud
of fog. l yelled; What is the mac.
/ ter" The engineer instantly set the
! brake and we all jumped. The M. &
! @. was only five car lengths ahead at
| the time | first saw tie light I was
in the air when the trains collided.
The air brake was set and our cars
did not telescope. After the wreck
went to the station and saw the oper-
ator He had a telephone receiver at
| his ear upside down trying to tele-
phone. He said he didn't understand
this block business; there is someth-
| ing the matter" He offered whisky
to my engineer, who arrived at the
station shortly after got there, He
| pulled the bottle, which was half full
| Of whisky out of his POCKET He did
not seem to realize what had happen
ed. left the station and walked to
Cache to report the wreck on T. G.,
wires The M. & O. wires had been
knocked down by the wreck. Cache is
where we got orders for Beech Ridge.
Have frequently gone by Beech Ridge
without stopping If blocks were clear.
My engineer stayed at Beech Ridge to
, look after Clarke when | went to
Cache to report. On my return to
Beech Ridge | noticed the operator
had rot registered my train. He had
not opened the paper / had thrown
| out to him. 1t was still twisted up.
W. M. Newton, whose home is at
Illinois, Mo, brakeman on the Iron
Mountain, said he was riding ON the
rear car, as there was no caboose at
| tached to the train. Saw the block
was clear as he passed the station Az,
| ter the wreck | went back to the
station; saw Operator Clark and said:
don't understand this business. He
was drunk. went to Cache to report
and then returned to Beech Ridge
Clarke was still there, but the agent
relieved him and he went tBAsleep on
a bench"
Il. e, Palsgrove of Jonesboro, Ark,
brakeman on the Iron Mountain, said:
Il was on the rear car when we
passed Beech Ridge; saw everything
clear. After the wreck started to
the head of the train; met engineer,
who said. Don't 60 close to the en-
CINE; 1t might blow up" then
walked back to the station; saw Oper-
ator Clarke, who said he wanted to
| call the agent He was drunk and
| laid down on a bench and went to
sleep. This was at $40 o'clock"
A. Hellyar of Poplar Bluff, fireman
on the Iron Mountain, said: I'VE left
Cache and whistled for block; seeing
Everything clear, we kept on going
Half mile south of Beech Ridge Con-
ductor Buckner, who was in the cab
with us, cried. Look there' We saw
in--au instant there was trouble |
/ jumped out of the window, alighting
| safely as the trains met. | rushed at
i opce to the rear of the train for fear
one Of the locomotives would explode
! its boiler: then went with Conduct
or Buckner to the station. When we
got there Operator Clarke looked nip
!, and said: I don't understand this bus.
mess said did not think he dill
The collision occurred about $3.50 a.
m. 1t was foggy: cloud lowered over
the train. We had been running in
a fog; we were going at the rate of 80