Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1911-07-14
ON NEW HAVEN ROAD
Federal Express Plunges Down
Emil kment-Fourteen Killed.

Bridgeport, Conn, July 12-Fourteen
battered corpses in the morgue, Al suf-
erers in the hospitals and mountain of
junk at the foot of a 20-foot embank-
ment at the western end of the city tell
the tale of the worst wreck in So years
history of the New York, New Haven &
Hartford railroad. Although it occurred
just before dawn and the coroner's office
has had one man all day long doing
nothing but answering telephone and
telegraph queries from all parts of the
country, four of the dead, two men and
two women, remain unidentified. The
others are
c. w. Christie, Philadelphia.
George E. Saunders, Norwich, Conn.
Mrs. Gwendolin F. Rogers, wife of
Sergeant George F. Rogers, coast arti-
lery, U. S. A.
May Louise Rogers, seven months old,
daughter of the above.
Mrs. Helena B. Walcott, Washington,
d. c., wife of Charles d. Walcott.
- Hartman, seven years old. son
of Mrs. Louis Hartman, Newfield. N.
j., who is in a serious condition at the
hospital.
A. NJ. Curtiss, New York, engineer of
the train.
w. a. Ryan, New York, fireman.
When the Federal express from
Washington to Boston eaped from the
embankment Tuesday morning, day
coach next the baggage car was caught
at the bottom of the heap and smashed
into matchwood and not person inside
escaped death or serious injury. The
heavier Pullmans, five of them, that
crashed down after it, held together and
the sleeping passengers inside, although
badly shaken, for the most part suffer-
ed nothing worse than broken bones and
bruises.
With one or two exceptions all those
in the hospitals tonight were expected
to recover. Several, however. are in
critical condition. Among them is Dan
iel Kissner, head brakeman, whose
home is in New York. His skull and
several ribs are broken and he has in
ternal injuries. John F. Won Pfeiffer
of ReadviIle, Mass. and Mary
/ McSweeney and Miss Loretta McCrohan
of Philadelphia may not survive. Mrs.
McCrohan received several broken ribs
and internal injuries. The wreck will
be responsible for two more deaths if
Mrs Sarah Calabra, also of Phladel-
phia, succumbs, for she is about to give
birth to a child. Three of her children,
aged from two to five, are at the hospi-
tai with her. none of them badly hurt.
In private ward at ST. Vincent's
hospital is w. \. King, a young ma
chinist, who recently came to Bridge
port from Kansas City and who went
to Philadelphia to meet George H.
Kirby, who was coming from Kansas
City to get employment in local fac
tory. Although King shows hardly a
scratch, the accident drove him stark
mad. He raved and shouted contin-
uousy for his pal"
"When they We're dragging me out
saw two legs under the wreckage," he
said in one of his lucid moments. "The |
trousers were the same kind George
wore. "
Kirby has not been found here, and |
he may be one of the two dead men
still unidentified. The other is a negro,
whose ticket read from Philadelphia to
Boston and whose trunk was checked |
from West Chester, Pa.
On May 8, 1858, there was wreck at
South Norwalk, Conn, in which "A
lives We're lost. Since then the New
Haven railroad line has been singularly |
free from disasters. Automatic signals |
protected the cross-over which the ex-
press had to take here to enable it to
make the stop at the local station and |
the rules of the line prescribed a speed |
at this point of not more than 10 miles |
an hour
Stories that the engineer was new
man not accustomed to train of su Oh |
Importance and that the tower man was
not at his post were denied by the COM
pany in official statements. The fact
remains, however, that when the ex-
press darted across the trestle where
the switch is located, it was running
nearly 60 miles an hour When it
struck the cross-over the engine leaped
the rails, dragging all but three of its
cars along.
The towerman says that when Curtis
locomotive whizzed by steam had been
shut off and the brakes We're grinding
on sand. He believes the engineer re-
allied his mistake and was trying to
slow down, but too late.
Several hours elapsed before Mrs.
Walcott, one of the dead, was identi-