Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-07-13

II was In bed at tho time Of the wreck,
I grabbed hold OF n bar and held on for
my life. l got n good bump on tho head,
but thai was all. thank God that our
boys got or safe. but feel for the other
poor people"
Tho ball players car stayed on the
track, but IT'S sudden stop at tho mo-
ment or the crash threw everyone II
the oall tossers out Of his birth. with
out waiting 10 dress completely, the
players hurried from their car, climbed
down tho viaduct and spent q strenu-
Gus two hours helping railroad men,
policemen and surgeons at their work
In tho wreckage.
As matter OF fact. the mistake Of
n switching crow in the New York
yards probably saved the lives Of most
Of the players. When tho team board
ed the train out of Philadelphia they
were in tho fourth car from the en-
CINE. But when the cars were taken
off the ferry after circling Manhattan
island, the switchmen accidentally put
their coach at the end of the train.
All Of the teams baggage, including
their uniforms. was lost in the wreck
ed baggage car.
EXPRESS WAS AN HOUR LATE.
Tho express left Harlem river an
hour late. 1t was going at high speed
when the open switch was struck. The
Bridgeport station was only mile
and Il half further on. Tho open
switch was near the tower which
stands at the junction Of Fairfield
avenue and State street. There was
one tremendous crash an Instant OF In
tense silence. and then the groans and
shrieks of the wounded.
A now cross-over installed on the
Burr road viaduct and embankment on
the western outskirts of the city, was
indirectly responsible for the accident.
AS the train was late, tho engineer
had the throttle wide open to make
up for lost time. Apparently he for
got about the cross on which
the train should have passed at slow
speed to another track to enable 1t to
stop at the Bridgeport station. When
the heavy vestibule train of nine cars
struck the switch at full speed. the
locomotive leaped into the air rocked
and swayed over for nearly $50 yards,
and finally leaped to the street below,
dragging six cars down the bank. The
coupling broke between the sixth and
seventh cars, leaving three sleepers
upright on the embankment, two still
on the rails.
In an instant ire broke out but the
Bridgeport fire department promptly put
this out and the men lent their assistance
to the rescue of those whose cries Of
agony filed the air Ambuances and
doctors hastily summoned, did their best
to save those under the debris.
One Of the remarkable incidents was
when the fremen cut a hole in the roof
of Il coach which was lying on its side
and a man crawled out dragging n suit
case after him. He said he had not even
had a scratch. lie dropped his dress suit
case and Immediately assisted in the work
Of saving the other victims.
WARM PRAISE FOR PLAYERS.
Boston, July ia hundred or more
survivors Of the fatal train wreck at
Bridgeport arrived at the South station
shortly after noon to-day and We're quick
~ clasped in the arms of watching rela-
tives and friends. They were tired and
smoked-begrimed party of travellers as
they walked down the train shed. They
horrible experience of a lifetime There
We're many heroes among them, but
Bresnahan, Morey and Grier of the ST
Louis base ball club were the names on
almost every ones lips.
These three ball players were the big
heroes OF the wreck" said Eugene Nc
CuCkin, a Philadelphia newspaper writer,
on his way North for a vacation. The
St. Louis boys worked like mad. They
rescued a score or more of people from
the wreck. Fortunately they were in the
! last car of the train, though their car
| had been scheduled to be placed next 10
the engine. If this had been done they
would all be dead instead of being heroes
Just as soon as they had tumbled out OF
| their car and realized what had happened
| they went to work. They pulled away
timbers, releasing injured women. Ten
| derly they took these women away from
| the scene. and time and time again they
returned to the labor. Not once did l SCI
| them stop. They were playing the gam,