Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-07-18
.FORTY-ONE DEAD
IN TRAIN CRASH
LaGkaWanna Express C0IIides
With Passenger Coaches.
SIXTY PERSONS ARE INJURED
Many of Victims Were Undressed at
Time OF Accident and Means
Of Identification Are
Lacking.

Corning. n. Y, July 6.-Forty-One
( persons were killed and between 80
and 60 were injured on Thursday when
west-bOund Lackawanna passenger
train No. from New York, due to ar
rive at Corning at 4:47 a. n, compOs-
ed Of two engines, a baggage car, three
Pullmans and two day coaches, in the
order named, was demolished at Glib
son, three miles east of Corning by
express train No II, due at Corning
at $40 a. N. The wreck was the
worst in the history Of the road. It's
cause, according to Engineer SchrOe-
der Of the express, was his failure to
see signals set against his train The
weather was foggy and he said he
could not make them out.
A. Buchanan, Jr., of Albany, acct
dent inspector for the public service
commission declared today that the
wreck was the worst rear-end collision
in the history Of railroading in this
country or abroad.
The dead and injured were passen-
gers on No. 9, an excursion train
/ bound Bor Niagara Falls from New
York For almost a half hour before
the wreck the train had been stalled
on the main line by a crippled freight
car. Signals had been set against the
express, but the heavy mist concealed
them.
With Engineer William Schroeder
at the throttle, the express train
sped around a slight curve and with a
terrific impact completely telescoped
the rear day coach, derailed the sec
ond coach and crushed a Pullman
sleeper. The one-hundred-ton mon
! ster, blocked by a mountain of debris
that it had piled in front Of it, re.
NAMED on the roadbed and in the
midst Of the desolatioL it's plunge
had caused.
Engineer Schroeder had taken No
II at Elmira Is minutes before. No
8 was supposed to be a half hour
ahead of him. He had no warning IN,
til he made out the outline of the rear
coach through the fog that was crawl
ing up the hillside from the river be.
low. He reversed the throttle without
turning off steam. The jerk threw
the train off the track and pitched
| Schroeder from the cab. He landed
on his shoulder on the roadbed practi
caIly unhurt. The fireman on No. II
was the only one injured on that train
A temporary morgue and hospital
was established a hundred feet from
the wreck The dead and injured
were removed to Elmira Most of the
bodies were mangled and, as many OF
the passengers were killed while in
/ bed asleep, the absence of clothing
made their Identification diFfcult.
There were many distressing
scenes. One man picked up small
white sheet which lay on the ground
only to draw back ashen-faced as his
act revealed the body of a baby only
a few months Old At late hour the
child had not been identified. The
daughter of one man who was off the
train at the time OF. the collision was
killed, and he helped recover her mu.
tilated body.
One Of the unidentified bodies was
that of young bride. She had upon
her finger ring bearing within the
inscription "F c. M. and A. B.. July
8, 1912" Later a bridegroom, re
moved to hospital, bewailed the
loss of his wife, a bride of one day
who was crushed beyond recognition
On the body Of another woman, IN
/ identified, was found nothing but q
pendant set with an amethyst and
three pearls. The body of a little
girl five or six years old was among
the unidentified.