The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-05-15
James Mckay, Of Wrecking
Crew, Crushed by Car
BEINGDRAWN FROM DEBRIS
-Four Men Were Killed Outright In Yes
terday Mornings Head-on Collision
Between Central Vermont
and B. & M. Freights.

White River Juction, May ia Cen
trail Vermont local freight train, bound
from this place TO Springfield, Mass,
and Boston & Maine freight, from
Springfield fg White River Junction,
collided head-on. two miles south of here
yesterday morning in fog, four men
being killed and three Others being Sc
riously injured. The wreckage caught
fire, badly burning the bodies of one
or two victims
A fifth death, due to the wreck, was
that of James Mckay of Concord, N
H., member of the wrecking crew
which came to clear the track. Mckay
was struck by part of falling car yes
terday afternoon. One leg was broken;
also one arm, and he was hurt inter-
nally. The injured man was taken to
the hospital, where he died last night.
The Dead:
Roy Kendall of Brattleboro, brake
man Of the Central Vermont, body ter
ribly burned.
James NJ. Livingstone of Greenfield,
Mass, brakeman on the Boston & Maine.
Ralph II. Fairman of Vernon, head
brakeman on the Boston g. Maine, body
partially burned.
r. l. Webber of Ware, Mass, fireman
on the Boston g. Maine.
James Mckay of Concord, n H., mem
Der of wrecking crew.
The most seriously injured all OF
whom, however, are expected to live,
are William I. Pellissier of Northamp-
ton, Mass, engineer of the Boston &
Maine locomotive, who sustained three
gashes on the head, and whose back
and arms are seriously injured; S. Me-
Donald Of New London, the Central Ver-
mont engineer, who was badly burned
before he escaped from the mass of
wreckage, and w. G. Wrench of New
London, Conn, fireman on the Central
Vermont engine, who was badly injured
and cut about the face and body Ots.
ers of the trainmen also received in-
iuries but they were not such as to
prevent them from assisting in remov-
ing the bodies of the dead and in fight
ing the flames which attacked the wreck
age.
Overlapping of Orders.
Overlapping Of orders, by which both
trains are said to have received word
to continue in opposite directions over
the single track, is declared by the err
gineers to have caused the collision,
Both engineers say they did not see the
Others headlight owing to the fog and
that their first knowledge that there was
another train on the track came with
the collision, The place where the ac-
cident occurred is known as Devil curve.
To quench the flames the White River
Junction fire department was called upon
and pumped water from the Connecti-
cut river upon the wrecksge, but it was
not until noon that the debris had
cooled off sufficiently to allow search
for the bodies.
The wreck tied up traffic for hours.
The tender of the Boston & Maine To-
comotive was thrown bottom up on top
of the Central Vermont locomotive,
which had been headed south, but which
in the collision was turned completely
about. Both engines and their cabs left
the rails entirely, ripping up the tracks
for nearly 100 yards and piling on one
side most of the 80 cars which botn had
been pulling.
Supt. Keefe arrived on the scene at
2 o'clock yesterday afternoon and as
sumed charge of the wrecking operations.
Crews were put to work at both ends
to clear the track, and by midnight
last night the track was cleared.