The Detroit times., 1911-08-26
DEFECTIVE RAIL IS CAUSE
OF LEHIGH VALLEY WRECK
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MANCHESTER. N. ". Aug. "a
Following a complete search OF the
ruins Of the wrecked day express on
the Lehlgh Valley railway. the county
and railway officials agreed that the
death list was "a and that OF the ss
seriously hurt In the hospitals AZ
Canandaigua and Rochester, not less
than eight are certain to die. IL has
also been determined that the wreck
was due directly 10 a defective rail.
which crumbled under the train.
A stan OF is undertakers worked all
night embalming bodies In the hastily
improvised morgue In the basement
OF a country furniture store. Coroner
Eiseline today said that ne will hold
the inquest on Monday. Meanwhile
he Is granting permits for the removal
OF the bodies as fast as they are iden-
tilted.
A mass Of shattered wood. glass and
metal at the bottom OF an ernbank-
ment. some OF Il covered with mud
and silt from the bed OF the Canaan
daigua outlet, today marked the
scene Of the most DISASTROUS wreck
in the history OF the Lehtgh Valley
railway. In the. temporary morgue
at Shortsville. are the bodies OF 20
Victims or the disaster, while four
others are dead In Rochester. Tenn
porary hospitals here and the big re-
n 10 DA.hAaN..v hAatan rnnpo
than so badly injured victims and OF
these several will die, The railroad
company's official statement places
the number OF dead az SO, and IL ID
feared that before the grim total In
complete. II win reach 40.
Day Coaches Suffer Most,
As usual the greater number OF
deaths took place In the fiimsy day
coaches. The big steel diner and Pull
man. although subjected to fully as
great strain as the cars that crum-
pied like paper, held fast and their oc-
cupants were only bruised and cut
The wooden coaches. however, split
apart and went all To pieces In the
crash and their inmates were cut TO
death by spltnters OF wood, iron and
glass
1t Is practically certain that the
cause Of the disaster was blow hole
In the big steel rail which carried the
trains onto the great steel trestle that
spans the outlet. This rail had been
In place for twenty months and held
true. but the pressure from the heavy
double-header lew York and Phila-
delphia day express caused II to split
and the middle OF the train careened
over the embankment into the water
below.
Archibald Buchanan. supervisor OF
equipment OF the public service com
mission and two assistants took
charge OF the situation today. They
are making a searching investigation
into the causes. The inquiry Is pro
ceeding very slowly. Many OF the
bodies were terribly mangled, but on
most OF them are jewelry and other
personal belongings which aid In
establishing who they are.
Ten OF the most seriously hurt are
In the Thompson Memorial hospital
in Canandaigua. Five are residents OF
Philadelphia, George Irving. Mrs
George Irving and their son John;
Miss Amanda Williams and Miss
Sarah Williams, Thay viii recover
Mrs. II. E, Smith, wife Of a Lehigt
engineer, living In Rochester, was re
ported dying today. Her skull II frac
tured.
pitfalls during the night They were an
unidentified woman, about 40. dark
complexion, hair tinged with gray
wedding ring inscribed ''E. II. II. to E
F. W." and w. p. Rumble, or Easton
| Pa.
The wreck was the worst in the
history OF the Lehigh Valley line II
this state, and one Of the most die
astrous ever recorded on the system
Crowded with passengers, many 81
whom were war veterans and excur
sionists from the @. A. r. encamp
ment at Rochester, teh train. made
up of IA cars, drawn by two big mogu
engines, was 40 minutes late when u
reached Rochester Junction. and from
there sped eastward TO make up time
before reaching Geneva. The engines
and two day coaches had Just passed
the center OF the 400-foot trestle over
Canandaigua outlet, $50 yards east OF
the station at Manchester, at 1888
o'clock, when the Pullman car Austin
the third of the long train, left the
rails. II dragged the dining car with
II, and two day coaches and two Pull
mans, In this order followed. All
bumped over the ties a short distance,
when the coupling between the day
coaches and the rear end OF the diner
broke. The forward end of the train
dragged the derailed Pullman and the
diner over safely, after which both
plunged down the south embankment
and rolled over.
The free end of the Inflated Lee
high Valley day coach, in which most
OF the victims were riding. showed out
over the gulf and followed by Grand
Trunk day coach, stripped the rear
guard of the south side OF the trestle
and plunged to the shallow river bee
more than 40 feet below.
The end OF the FIRST day coach that
went oyer struck the east embank-
ment OF solid masonry and, with the
other 6O-foot car behind II, both shot
against the wall with terrific force.
Both cars were filled with passen-
gers and in a few moments the cars
lay a mass of crumbled wood, metal
and glass, under which hundred
men, women and children, many OF
whom were killed Instantly, were
buried. The greatest destruction oc.
CURED IN the day coach. No. 2SI and
dozen persons were later taken
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