The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-07-06
Freight Crashes Into Loaded
Passenger Cars
CRUSHING CARS LIKE PAPER
Thirty Injured, Only One on Train Not
Killed or Injured-First Accident on
Valley Road in 20 Years in
III Which Lives Were Lost. IL

Latrobe, Pa, July 6.-Twenty-one
persons were killed and 80 injured, a
number fatally, as a result OF a wreck
yesterday afternoon on the Ligonier Val
ley railroad at Wilpen.
An overloaded passenger coach, pushed
by an engine, was struck by double
header freight train of coal cars, crush
ing the coach like paper and spreading
death and injury to all but one aboard
the train.
The accident occurred at the fair
grounds at Wilpen, one and half miles
from Ligonier, at summer resort.
The passenger train had started from
Lgonier. 1t consisted of an engine and
coach, the engine pushing the coach. The
freight train was made up of many coal
cars and was being pulled by two heavy
locomotives.
The impact was terrible. The pas
senger coach was practically laid open
and the passengers either crushed or
thrown like shot through the air.
1t was the first fatal accident, it is
said, in the history of the Ligonier road
for the past 40 years.
A majority of the injured, 30 in all,
We're residents along the Wilpen branch
They were brought to a hospital here
or sent to hospitals at Pittsburg when
1t was found they were in critical con-
dition
Among them were: DR.. j. B. John
son, of Ligonier, hurt internally, will
probably die; DR.. c. A. Hamill of Ligon-
Ter, may die; Miss Esther NJ. Matthews,
a nurse employed at the home of George
Senft of Ligonier, president of the Lyon
ier Valley railroad; Walter Serena of
McKeesport, clerk in bank at that
place, in precarious condition.
The injuries of the Others were AL
severe, consisting of broken legs, arms
and contusons.
The train was crowded every seat in
the lone coach being occupied with per-
sons returning from a Fourth of July
holiday.
The freight engines ploughed through
the wooden coach, crushing it as they
would paper.
The coach was ripped to pieces. All
the occupants were hurled to the road
bed Some fell in the path of the on
rushing engines, while others were inl-
bedded, partly in the cinders and crushed
stones beside the rails The first en-
gine of the freight train soon after tear
ing through the passenger train, turned
half way around and fell over on the
side.
Engineer McConnaughey was scalded
to death, while his fireman, George
Byers, jumped, only to fall on the track
and meet death under the wheels. En-
gineer Smith 2. Beatty of the second
engine jumped and sustained broken
leg His fireman, John Ankney, fell
beneath a car. His legs were severed
and he died en- route to hospital En-
gineer Dunlap of the passenger train
and his fireman remained at their posts
and escaped with slight injuries.
A pathetic feature of the wreck was
the injury of Miss Esther M. Matthews,
nurse, and the death of two and the
injury of four children she was taking
to the woods near Wilpen for an after.
moons outing.
An hour and a half after the accident,
physicians, nurses and railroad officials
had reached the accident. From that
time on the work of rescue and attending
to the suffering was effective.
The Pennsylvania railroad, of which |
the Ligonier is branch, sent a special
train from Pittsburg to Latrobe to take |
some of the injured from the overtaxed |
hospital here to Pittsburg. The action
was timely, as the facilities here were
exhausted.
The first rescue train reached here |
from the accident at eight o'clock last |
night. Practically the entire town met |
it. Every conveyance was ready to haul
the injured to the hospital.
To obtain connected story from any |
of the victims was next to impossible at |
a late hour. But one person on the
train escaped without injury. He was
a railroad employe and was too busy to
talk.