The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-08-18
THREE PERSONS KILLED
WHEN TRAIN AND AUTO
CRASHED At .JONESVILLE
Continued from first page.l

the corner of the watertank Just as the
machine was at the crossing.
A collision was inevitable, although |
Engineer Smith apparently did all that
he could to avert the crash by trying to
stop his train. These efforts were futile, |
The train struck the light automobile, a
Hupmobile of 1913 manufacture, full
force, showed it perhaps 20 feet along the
track and then hurled it down the steep !
20-foot embankment toward the river. |
Scraped crossing boards and ties showed |
where the motor vehicle had been showed |
ahead of the locomotive.
What Caused the Train Wreck9
Whether the force of the collision
caused the cowcatcher of the engine to
buckle under and derail the engine, or
whether parts of the demolished auto
mobile diverted the pony trucks of the
giant No. 220, one of the Central YER
mont's largest locomotives, it is not pos
sible to say at present 4
Another theory as to the derailment
and subsequent wreck is that the sudden
reversing Of the engine under Engineer
Smiths frantic efforts caused the train
to jackknife and then to send the engine
trucks off the iron. 1t was evident a
short time after the wreck that the
trucks of the engine did not begin to ride
the ties until after the automobile had
been thrown clear of the track. Passen
gers on the first coach just back OF the
baggage car state that their car stopped
quite violently, although not enough TO
injure any OF them.
Secretary of State Black on Wrecked
Train
Among the passengers on this ear were
Secretary of State Harry A. Black and
his l0-year old son. The boy asked his
father if that wasn't rather sudden
stop, and Mr.. Black, having felt the
trucks humping over the ties and having
been in previous experiences OF like ma
ture, expressed the opinion that the car
must have got off the iron. He and the
others thought il had been merely a
derailment and did not learn of the
serious nature OF the wreck until they
got off the train, saw the demolished
automobile down the bank, the dead ly
ing about, the baggage car lettering on
the brink OF the bank and the engine
nowhere in sight
KAN funCluIeu DdSSdbe Sdi
The engine had swayed its huge bulk
through a short cut in the rock, com
pletely obliterating the track as it
plunged along, and then swept down
ward to the river, carrying great bould
ers along with it, A rail, torn completely
of the ties by the engine, reared one
end directly in the path Of the oncoming
baggage ear and punctured the end OF
that ear as if il had been made of paper
and protruded Is feet into the ear before
the momentum of the car was stopped.
All that saved the baggage car from
following the engine and tender down
the embankment was the fact that the
forward end of the car landed on the
rear of the tender, which had stopped
right side up on the embankment. Thus
the baggage car was balanced when the
wreeking crew, which soon came from St
Adams, began the task of repairing the
damage TO the roadbed.
Engineer Smith Scalded in Cab.
As already stated Engineer Smith had
been carried down with his engine and
was sealded TO death before he could be
taken out of the steam filled cab. The
while the front end Of the engine was
submerged Engineer Smith was soon
lifted out Of the wreck, but was so ter
ribly burned by the steam that he lived
only few minutes, the flesh on his arms
being burned so that it came off in large
pieces He was carried into passenger
coach, but there was no chance to save
him, death soon ensuing to release him.
Fireman Chevalier Jumped.
Meanwhile Fireman Chevalier had
been picked up where he had fallen after
leaping from the cab az the engine went
down the bank, and he was carried to a
house in Jonesville, where medical at
tention was given him. Later he Was
taken to his home in st. Adams.
Dead Motorists Found Near Demolished
Automobile.
The body of Mr. Miles lay near his
wrecked automobile. while that of Mrs.
Miles lay on the rocks between the auto
mobile and the railroad track. Both were
blood stained II was the opinion Of the
persons first on the spot that both had
been killed outright when the train
struck the automobile. They were rid
ing on the front seat of the machine. and
that seems to nave received more of the
| impact that the rear seat, which was
occupied by Miss Miles and Mr.. Fielding
Miss Miles was picked up from the rocks
near where her mother lay, and she was
carried at once to the Mary Fletcher
! hospital in Btu acton Mr. Fielding was
| taken to his home in Huntington Center
as it seemed that he was not seriously
! injured The bodies of Mr., and Mrs
Miles were taken to an undertaking es-
| Enlistment in Richmond
Young 0'Neips Daring Plunge to
Safety.
Young Leon O'Neil who had taken
such a heroic method to escape what
seemed to him to be sure death as the
engine plunged down the bank at him,
was not injured, and he also suffered no
bad consequences by reason of his plunge
| into the river and his swim across the
stream. He was complimented right and
| left on his quick thought and daring.
His ffshpole lay beside the river just
where he dropped it, until long after the
railroad crews had begun to make prog
ress in clearing the track.
Track Made Passable in Seven Hours.
wrecking train made short work of
hauling the partly derailed passenger
coach back onto the iron, built a new
track in the space intervening between
that and the baggage car, set the bag
gage car one side and rebuilt the entire
stretch of track, so that regular trains
were passing over the spot seven hours