The Washington times., 1911-07-12

last PuIimans. seemed at first to be
actually buried in the ground II was
| Just before dawn, and in the gray nenl
| II did seem as II everyone IN tne CARS
must have been caught There WASH r
was CONTINUOUS swapping and sizznng
from the electric wires that had been
snapped and were swinging against the
steel viaduct. That was one OF tne ne. nIs as
power shut off, and I think that prob
ably prevented fire in the wreckage. :,
There was a lot Of screaming, anu
we could see people trying to get out OF
the cars. but apparently held IN by
masses OF broken woodwork and car
fittinCs that ssere jammed up around
them Those baseball players came
tumbling out in their patamas or halt
dressed. and they turned right IN TO
I'VE all climbed up on the floors and
sides of the overturned cars, broke win
dows and chopped through the bottom
where we had 10; and In some cases we we
the cars. Then we carried the people
to Horan's lawn. and when the doctors
CAGE from all over town IN their auto
mobiles we used the rachlnes 10 carry
the injured to the hospitals"
BIansfield and all the other policemen
on duty declared that It Was an hour
before the railroad sent any aid to the
scene Of the wreck, but this was
afeT SireefiP ekPiansd West Of the FSireid avenue
viaduct, they said, was a switching
tower, from which the switch was
thrown to send the Federal Express on
to the station track The wreck @ proRe
and cut off the towerman,s communi-
cation with New Haven and points east
of Bridgeport.
Clarence Hemingway, the towerman,
was not seen In his tower Immediately
after the wreck, and rumor started
that he had disappeared, and later II
grew into a story that he had commit
ted suicide. Hemingway was tound,
however, busily working with the police
and hremen in helping to get the In
iured out of the wreckage.
II appeared that Immediately after
the wreck he sent a brief report OF
it to Stamford. telling them 10 get II
crews. Stamford sent the word to
New Haven by long distance tele-
phone, being unable to get a connec-
ton because of the broken wires at
Bridgeport.
HeminesEay was entirely absolved
from any blame. in connection with
the wreck by the officials Of the road,
and C. N. Woodward, the division su-
perintendent who took charge or the
wrecking crews. added a word OF
praise to the towerman's record, for
his evident desire and efficiency in
handling the situation when 1t con-
fronted him.
train could drop the fish stock car In
Bridgeport" said Hemingway. and
knowing the train was late I paid
more attention to 1t than usual l
was watching her as she took the
such a roar and grinding that I
thought she'd hit the tower
Two Of the most remarkable escapes
in a wreck which was conspicuous
for the escapes were those OF the two
employees of the United States Bureau
of Fisheries, who were in the car |
which was right behind the engine.
H L. Garfield and P. Oden, tr.. OF |
the Fisheries Bureau. were sleeping
in their hunks when the train plunged |
over the embankment
One side of their car was wiped out |
as IL II had been made Of paper, and |
they were thrown violently against |
the roof OF the car. Almost instantly |
or three gaping holes in its flooring.
The two men dropped through the
holes, literally thrown out to com
parative safety. and they lost not
minute in crawling. away from the
EN- mbankment on which they found
themselves. They crossed the ditch
at the foot OF the incline and didn't
let a few bruises and scratches keep
them from turning around TO help
others who were not so fortunate.
Several thousand fishes, mostly trout,
were scattered around the wreckage Of
the Governments stock car.
The stone retaining wall which holds
the embankment at the street crossing
via6uct held three strangely painted
notices which were an object of curl
Gus awe both to the thousads Of people
who came to- look at the scene Of the
wreck today. and to the lucky survivors
Of the wreck
Prepare to meet Thy God" was the
wording of these signs so uncannily
placed by a religious enthusiast on the
scene of a disaster. The words were
painted in characters ten inches or so
in height, and could be read easily
from almost any point within 200 feet of
the vfaduct