The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-09-10

"nlIe the damage uone TO the road
bed where Pennsylvania "24-hour" fly
er. No. 81, was wrecked yesterday,
near Wiley's Station, o, was quickly
repaired by the Columbus and Rich
mond wreck crews. the twisted and
battered steel coaches and the ruined
locomotive still lie in the adjacent
fields pending Investigations of the
wreck. These investigations will be
conducted. by the officials of the In
dianapolis- Columbus division and prob
ably by the Ohio Railroad Commits
sion
[ 1t is the general impression among
railroad men that the Investigations
will show that the train crew was not
responsible for the wreck and that ii
resulted from the improper ballasting
of the stretch of track where il oc-
Cured. This ballasting, it is believed.
had not been tamped down between
the ties sufficiently to hold the rails
firm against the vibrations of the
heavy. rapid travelling flyer"
Investigate One Report!
The report that the rail which
spread had no angle bar and was held
in place by only one bolt will be thor
oughly investigated.
The quiz into the cause of the wreck
was begun by the railroad officials to-
day. This was in charge of Superin-
tendent Ohliger of Columbus, who ar
rived in Richmond yesterday after
noon.
OF the twenty-four injured passen-
gers and train crew members who
were taken to the Reid Memorial hos
pital yesterday afternoon, four passen-
gers and crew members were being
cared for there today and il is beiiey-
ed that all of them have a good chance
to recover, except Fireman Tharp.
Another dangerously injured victim
at the hospital is George B. Wright,
of Kansas City, a passenger. He is
suffering from a fracture of the skull
and other injuries. The other pas
senger victims at the hospital today
were Mrs. Jerome Casey of McKees-
young son. slightly bruised, and d. A.
Dewitt. Whitman, Mass, painful but
not dangerous cuts about the head.
Tharp Expected to Die.
Most of the other passengers and
crew members treated at the hospital
were dismissed late yesterday and
this morning and all of them have re-
turned to their homes.
Physicians attending Fireman ]. W.
Tharp doubt very much if he will re-
cover and a special nurse was assign
ed to him today. The railroad COM
pany issued orders at the hospital, or.
dering that no expense be spared in
caring for the injured people at the
hospital, ordering special rooms for
them and summoning two extra nurses
from Indianapolis.
Tharp lives at Columbus, o., and is
married and has four children. Tharp
| was very badly scalded and cut.
Praise the Steel Cars.
| Passengers on ill-fated train No. 81
were loud in their praise of the Penn
sylvania railroads policy of operating
only steel a,s on its fast trains fol
would have been killed If the train
had consisted of wood coaches.
Thank Heaven this wreck did not
take place on the New York, New
Haven & Hartford railroad" grimly
remarked one passenger as he helped
his wife into the relief train. He re
called the terrible wreck on that road
! last week when twenty-one people lost
their lives.
THE wreck yesterday" said Charles
Green, chief clerk to Richmond Divis
ion Superintendent Mccullough, was
the fourth illustration that the stee
coaches operated on the Pennsylvania
! lines are almost perfect life saving
devices"
| The wreck at Wiley's Station yes
terday was the first serious one oc
/, curing on the MISUNDERSTANDING
! division in many years. and not life
was lost in it This is a remarkable
record for a railroad.
First Bad Wreck in Years.
The wreck yesterday was also the
first serious one occurring on tbs
Pennsylvania lines in the vicinity oi
Richmond since the disastrous WRECK
near Hamilton, O., about three years
ago when seven people were killed
The hundreds OF people who viewet
the wreck ruins yesterday were great
Iy impressed with the splendid stee
used in the rails. Some rails were
twisted almost in the shape OF cork
screws, but there were no breaks.
/ Statement of ohiiger.
Improper support to the re-surfacet
track is assigned as the cause Of th'
wreck by l. o. OhHger, superintend
Il ant ox the CoIurnhus division Of tn.