The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-05-08
DON'T BELIEVE
PLOT WRECKED
FRENCH TRAIN
War Mission Given Shaking
Up, but None Hurt.
Find Spread Rails; Three
Coaches Ran OF the Track.
TELLS OF MYSTERIOUS man
Farmer Boy Says He Saw Him
Just Before Accident.
JOlting Made Hash of Fancy
: Eats in Diner.

With the French War Commission
Effingham, Ill, May S.-Traveling on
a special train, the French war COM
missioners resumed their tour of the
middle west today. following the wreck
which shook up members of the party
last night. The new special was to
leave Effingham at a. IN. Its sched-
ule was largely kept secret.
Assistant Secretary of state Long, III
the chill gray hours of just before
dawn, announced that the new train
was ready. Marshal Joffre. Former
Premier Viviani and the others trans
ferred their belongings and the trip
was resumed. Long also announced
the special would stop ten minutes at
Terre Haute, an hour and quarter at
indianapolis and the same length OF
time at Columbus, Ohio. Beyond that
the new schedule is unknown.
Find Rails Spread.
II was learned early today that in
near Arcola. Ill. disclosed a broken
nail about twenty feet behind the rear
end of the wrecked train. This might
have been broken by the two heavy
engines pulling the train.
The French special was derailed, eX-
merits decided. when cars bumped off
The rails and the wheels shattered the
fish-plates which join the rails, thus
allowing them to spread.
Government officials p; -ctically de-
cided today that the derailment was
an accident The train was composed
of five steel cars drawn by two en-
zines and was running eastward at
forty miles an hour over the Pennsyl-
vania line. Three cars were dttched
and all aboard shaken up, but none
was hurt.
Escape Miraculous.
After the jolt NJ. Hovelacque. French
insnector general of public instruction
Viviani, Admiral Chocheprat, Detausan
and other members of the party re-
garded their escape as miraculous II
the cars had been French, or wooden
construction, they agreed that many
might have been killed. Some MEM
bers of the French commission in
cline8 to the belief that German plot
tiers had spread Il . rails.
Every member of the French COM
mission was calm and collected thru
out. They We're sitting in the diner
when the crash came. The luxurious
" appointed ear bedecked with red
and white roses became a scene of
turbulent confusion as it banged along
the ties Joffre and the others were
showered with unsolicited bouquets as
the vases upset. Plates of SOUP, ice
cream, chicken and asparagus salad
flew into the laps of the distinguished
Frenchmen.
Amid the flying food and flowers,
Marshal Joffre grasped the window
ledge and remained unperturbed.
When the jolting. swaying car finally
came to. a crashing stop awry on the
track the marshal If France arose, as
sured himself that there has been no
casualties and quietly picked his way
out of the wreckage. He pIodded
back to his state room in the observa-
ton car, sat in stolid calm. awaiting
relief from the unpleasant situation.
John Redmond, veteran engineer
of the Vandalia living at Arcola, Ill,
was the hero and savior of the French
party. The front car had block ed
the track and if Redmond had not
damned on his emergency brakes the
moment he felt the humping, the bal
ance of the train would have piled up.
A farmer boy giving the name of
Weinberg came running across the
fields in the darkness just after the
wreck and described having seen d
mysterious man leaving the scene fif-
teen minutes before the crash. A
bridge guard nearby had not seen
him. however.
Train Kills Drunken Man.
The first harbinger of ilI-luck since
the French commission left Wash
ington was at Decatur. when the spe-
cial train killed a drunken laborer
staggering across the tracks. The
smash came a few minutes later
. Immediately after the Jolt, secret
service men took the underailed loco
motive and ran ahead to F'ilson. They
code meSsaged Washington concern
ing the wreck. Champaign, Ill. sent
a special train. This train was coupled
with the two underailed cars of the
French special and hauled them bach
to an unnamed point.
For Thoro Investigation.
Philadelphia. Pa, May S.-The ex-
ecutive officers of the PENNSYLVANIA
railroad announced today that a thorc
investigation has been started of the
wreck of the French commission's
special train near Arcola, Ill. Officials
announced dispatches already received
Indicated there is every reason to be-
1ieve the derailment was purely acct.
dental. but the authorities will MOI
stop their investigation until definite
cause is assigned.
ALL q A To InlAI NAIAE