The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-07-15
IS KILLED WHEN
FAST MAIL HIT
EXPRESS
Burlington Train Crashed Into
Overland Standing on Track
PULLMANS WERE CRUSHED
Locomotive PIoughed Through the
Cars Managing Passengers In
Their Berths

u
sons were killed and Is to 20 were
injured in a wreck on the Chicago,
Burlington and Quincy railroad at
Western Springs, a suburb OF Chic
ago, at $3.50 a. m, yesterday. Com
ing through fog with supposedly
a clear track ahead, train No.
fast mail, ran at full speed into the
rear of train No. 2, known as the
Overland express, from Denver which
was standing still on the track, tel
escoping two of the Overland Pull
man cars.
Railroad officials refused to fix the
blame until after the wreck had been
investigated thoroughly. Mrs. F. A.
Wilcox, who was in charge of the
tower from which the block signals
were controlled, said she was certain
the block was thrown against both
trains. She collapsed after the acct
dent and still is in highly nervous
condition.
Theengine No. s plowed through
this car, halving it and crushing out
the lives of helpless passengers many
of whom were still in their berths. On
into the second coach the engine
sped. Half way through that car 1t
veered to the left, derailing the sleep
err The engine was entirely stripped
when it stopped
Fire, starting from the gas lights
in the sleepers, then broke out. Many
victims, pinioned down by heavy
timbers and iron, pleaded for death.
Members of the fire departments OF
Western Springs and Lagrange were
on the scene a few minutes after the
wreck occurred and put out the fire.
Ghouls are believed to have robbed
the dead before they reached the
morgue in Lagrange. More than a
dozen large diamond sets are missing
from jewelry, and although most oil
the dead appeared to have been per-
sons in comfortable circumstances, a
dime was the largest sum found on
any of the bodies. Coroner Hoffman
ordered all of the bodies embalmed
early in the afternoon and impaneled
jury to investigate the wreck.
In a little room above a business
house in Lagrange, Mrs. Wilcox hid
herself from visitors throughout the
greater part of the day. Finally she
said:
After think ing the whole affair
over. have decided that / was not
in any way to blame for the accident.
| know that the blocks were set
against the train. l was not | that
erred
Three trains instead Of two pass
ed the signals in violation of all rules
although it may have been that the
engineers did not see the boards.
First | heard No. a train in no way
connected with the wreck, pass. Then
in a few minutes, No. 2 came by.
thought something was wrong and /
began to try to think Of something to
do to stop the trains from running
the board. But before / could get my
wits together No had sped by. The
crash followed"
Another story of how the wreck
occurred differed from that of Mrs
Wilcox. 1t was that No. having
been blocked by signal, had sent a
brakeman to set torpedoes to warn
No. s. No. s was coming down grade
when the crash came. Persons res
ponsible for the story of the torped.
oes said that No. s had been given
signal that the track was clear,
and that the crew had either failed
tohear the torpedoes or had believed
they had clear track.
A relief train from Aurora gather
ed up all the available physicians be-
tween that city and the scene OF the
wreck. Another relief train was
sent from Chicago.
A statement issued by p. s. Eustis
passenger traffic manager OF the Chi
cago, Burlington and Quincy railroad,
substantiates Mrs. Wilcox's assertion
that she was not to blame and also
corroborates the story that torpedoes
were set by the brakeman on No. 2.
The statement does not fix the blame
for the collision.