Norwich bulletin., 1913-09-03

ities commission of Connecticut last | December, was in a measure respon- ! sible for the wreck, although the ques- | tion as to whether the engineer Of the | White Mountain train. Augustus b; l Miller, was making too much speed ! under the weather conditions, IS un- 1 der Investigation
 l. Under the banjo" system, as soon l as a train passes a signal, 1t sets red and automatically opens the sig l nal in the previous block, allowing
 a train following to enter. Wreckage Burned Last Night. The vestibuIe of one Pullman, sit l ting astride the pilot of the locomotive | and the vestibule of the other, tossed l into the ditch were the only parts of ' ed. Tonight the Wreckage was burned 1 by the railroad officials.
 ! Trolley cars were pressed into ser l vice to bring to New Haven both the i dead and dying. 4 part of the White i Mountain train took some of the in- l jured to Meriden, and the undamaged ! cars of the Bar Harbor train were | used to take others of the injured to | this city. where they were placed in | hospitals. There are eighteen here in all and some are in such serious con | dition that the death list may increase. Some of the less seriously hurt went | on to New York.
 ] Vale Football Star in Rescue Work. i The death list grew from thirteen to exactly twice that number during the afternoon and evening. Some of those badly injured died on their way to i the hospitals or after reaching there, An actual count of the bodies tonight showed that twenty-six had perished, Daniel Dunn. a former Yale football ] star and athletic instructor of the boy campers, and Harry l.. Mooney, who IS | in charge of them. came out of the wreck unseathed and led iH the rescue work. Practically all of their young l charges were in the overturned third car, the Chisholm, They dragged out l the body of Albert Greene of New York and William Altschultz of Nor folk Va, both about 16 years old. While others Of the bays received in juries they were net serious, and the youngsters, who have been trained as volunteer life savers, did effective work in helping others.
 President EiIiett's Statement,
 President Elliott did not visit the scene of the wreck, but directed opera tions by teleph0ne from his offices iB New Haven. He promised tonight that every effort possible would be made by the company te give full information tc the public authorities and to the press of all facts that may be devel- eFed."
 'Ihe Foad has automatic block sig Hs is" said Mir. Elliott, "of what is call co the banjo type, which when in stalled were considered very satisfac- tory Since then improved methods of signalling have been advised and au- theTity was issued some time ago to MstaH the most improved and modern signals between New Haven and Springfield. Fifteen per cent. of the new work is already done, and men and material ready for the balance. which should be finished by Jan. 1.
 Of97aaT and nf the road is full of sorrow over the dread fuI occurrence and of sympathy for those who are suffering themselves and for saddened friends
 Both Trains an Hour Late.
 Under the new semaphore system, which the railroad officials said they were in the process of installing. the E5~pal in the previous block would be set at erezr7IiorfAi i--->--~1 = - l.
 Both more than an hour late, the, two trains passed Wallingford, three miles north of the scene of the acci- dent, eight minutes apart, shortly be- fore seven o'clock Eight minutes ahead of them was the first section of the Ear Harbor Express and a local train. due to stop al North Haven, three miles south of the wreck led them all,
 Engineer Followed Rules.
 Under the rules of the road. accord ing to the officials. an engineer may pass a banjo" signal set at red after he has brought his train to a stop. This. according to the officials. the engineer of the Bar Harbor express did and then came to another stop about one hundred feet on the other side of the signal, mile north of North Haven. This opened the signal in the previous block, a mile away, and down a stretch of track straight as an arrow, plunging through the thick fog. came the White Mountain Express, l with the impetus of seven cars, bag gage day coach and five sleepers be hind the engine.
 Meantime F1agman c. H. Murray of the Bar Harbor train had gone back said of four hundred feet. The torpedoes went off, according to the officials of the road, and some of the train crew. Then came the crash.
 Semaphore Would Have Averted
 Wreck.
 According to A. R. Whaley vice president of the New Haven, it would not have been possible at the speed the train was making for Engineer Miller to have stopped his train within fifteen hundred feet after he saw the signal The engineer did not see 1t, he says. until he was almost upon it or scarce ly more than one hundred feet from the rear of the Bar Harbor Express, and at the same moment heard the tor pedoes. Had the senaphore system been in operation, MT. Whaley said to- night Miller would have got "cau- tibn signal" in the previous block q mile away and The wreck would have been avoided
 ''l do not wish to place any blame on the engineer" said MT, Whaley. but in view of the foggy conditions q t,. hA dAt EYF9tAR0 lS whether he was running too fast under the circumstances. There is no rule of the road which would require him te make up time and take a risk running in 2 fog and as far as I know he received no instructions to make up time" Twice Advised to Abolish Banjo Sys-
 tenn.
 Chief Engineer Elwell said tonight that the New Haven had been twice advised by the public utilities com mission te abolish the "baRj9" syststa,