Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-01-16
TWENTY-0NE DIE IN
RAILROAD WRECK
Two West Bound Trains on New
York Central Collide at
South Byron
BOTH BEHIND SCHEDULE
Southwestern limited Crashes Into
Rear OF h Wolverine Which Ii
At n Stnndstill

Batavia, N. Y, Jan. 12.-Twenty-one
persons were killed and three were seri-
ously injured in a rear-end collision on
the New York Central railroad at South
Byron, six miles east of Batavia, at 1896
O'Clock this morning. Both of the trains
involved were westbound, running behind
their schedules. Train No. II, known as
the Southwestern Limited, ran into the
rear of train No. II, the Wolverine. while
the latter was at a standstill preparatory
to taking on a second engine FOR the run
up the steep grade between South Byron
and Batavia.
Up to a late hour tonight only a few
of the q dead had been identified, the
mang1ed condition of the bodies and the
absence of clothing making the work of
identification slow and difficult. All of
the fatalities occurred in the last car Of
the Wolverine which bore the full i'm
pact o, the engine CT the western
going at nigh speed.
The rear Pullman, a steel car, was re-
duced to complete wreckage. When the
engine hit it, tho upper part of the
second coach from the end was torn from
its trucks and, lifted slightly. smashed
directly through the center of the rear
coach for its entire length, sweeping the
berths and seats into a compact pile or
wreckage. Into this debris the passen-
gers were tightly wedged and the condi-
ton of the bodies indicates that the
deaths of most of them must have been al
most instantaneous.
Not a sleeping passenger In the car
escaped death or serious injury. When
the two cars became locked In their tan
gle of broken timbers and iron girders,
the top of the rear car was gone-en-
tirely demolished and crushed down into
the opening was the body of the second
car nearly intact for it's entire length
The crash of this great battering-ram
down the aisle and through the berths
of the under car swept everything before
it toward the rear end where the engine
of the Southwestern, jammed into the
platform and practically unchanged,
acted as a buffer against which the debris
piled.
The crews of the two trains. reinforced
by railroad workmen from Batavia, tried
for several hours to bring out the bodies
but it was not until we'll on toward noon
when a wrecking train equipped with a
large derrick came on from Buffalo that
it was possible to lift away the upper
most car and thus permit the workmen
to get down into the under car, where all
the bodies were located.
There appears to be some conflict be-
tween the statements of railroad officials
and Engineer John Friedley of the South
western as to the responsibility for the
disaster. The railroad officials say that
the rear of the standing Wolverine was
protected by all the usual safeguards,
such as the block system, and that in
addition a f1agman with a lighted fuse
u,aG cant hack alopu tho frackS
Engineer Friedley says the block was
clear when his train entered it. Fireman
Brill backs him W in this claim. Fried.
ley says that the first danger sign he
observed was a red light between the
rails on which his train was travelling
This light, he claims, was only a few ca,
lengths behind the Wolverine, leaving ar
insufficient distance within which even tc
check the speed of his train.
When he threw on the emergency
brake, Engineer Friedley said it was
done SO quickly that the engine and
tender broke away from the train. Freed
from the drag of the cars. its momentum
almost seemed to make 1t leap forward
and then came the crash. Neither En-.
gineer Friedly nor Fireman Brill was
injured.
Engineer Friedly left Buffalo yester.
udy AFTERNOON at o.lU u CLOCK anu TedCiltt
Syracuse at 7:30 O'Clock. He laid ovei
there until one o'clock in the morning
and then took the southwestern Limited
westbound. The train was late. 1t wa
due in Batavia at 1:N a. m. and tho
Wolverine was due at POS. One watcl
found in the wrecked sleeper had stopped
at $3.50 a. m. and another at 1898 a. m.
1t was a clear, cold night and objects
at this hour could be seen at a con,
siderable distance. The track at the
point where the accident occurred is
~straightaway and there is nothing tC
obstruct the view of train crews fol
miles. The railroad inquiry is already
under way and II Is understood Coroner
Snow plans to begin one tomorrow.
Only three passengers in the dealt
coach escaped instant death. They wert
Mr.. and Mrs. Nathan Lichterman o
New York and an unconscious woman
said by the railroad authorities to h,
Miss Flora Doherty of Flint. Mich. Des'
perately wounded, they were brought Il
the Batavia hospital.
Miss Doherty has both legs broken anc
is internally injured. She is not expectc,
to live through the night. Mrs. LIGHTER
man is more seriously injured than ne
husband. In addition to body ~in1ur,ct
her face is terribly torn. Mrs .ach'ei'
mans parents, Mr.. and Mrs. Gels O
New York, are due here tonight. l
was said Mr.. and Mrs. Lichterman wer,
married only a short time ago and wer'
on their way to Chicago where Mr.
Lichterman has business interests.
Eleven bodies were released from tn
wreckage about noon and brought L
undertaking rooms here. Shortly afto
> three o'clock nine additional bodies wor'
brought In and it was said that Their
were no more in the wreckage.