New-York tribune., 1921-02-28
Women began to scream and found
s'yself lying alongside the track.
Redies Mangles sn Cash

6odleS bia@gie0 an S2aSn
"We crowded out OF the wreckage as
best we could. on al sides were
people lying on the ground. some dead
and some injured. Many of the. bodies
were badly mangled
Every ore was rullajsg around fran
tically, flames aaC Clouds Of steam
were shooting from the engines but
the wreckage of the cars did not catch
fire.
THE trainmen quickly obtained axes
from the cars and. armed with these.
the passengers helped in the work Of
recovering the bodies
There was little we could do for
the injured, but we tried to make them
comfortable until the rescue trains ar
rived"
Word received at Michigan Central
Offices here at midaight said that twen-
ty-seven bodies had been taken from
the wrsckaee and that nos many more
were hidden in he5debris.s
More than one hundred injured, Sc
riously and slightly, had been sent to
hospitals nj Chestertsn.
The four rear coaches of the Inter
state Limited New York sleepers, were
the only ones which held TO the rails,
and passengers in these escaped with
bad shaking up,
Rescuers, handicapped by the dark
ness, were forced to grope their way
through the wreckage guided by the
groans of the injured. Every effort
was made 10 reach the women and
children first.
A number of women who we're
thought to have been seriously injured
at first were later found to have tainted
from the excitement and shock.
Many Passengers in Diners
Many of the passengers on both
trains were in the diners, and these on
both trains escaped the worst OF the
impact.
I'm investigation was immediately
launched by RAILROAD officials and the
Indiana state authorities to fix respon-
sibility for TIE wreck First reports
we're that the blame was on the engine
crew of the Toronto bound train for
failing to heed two red block SIGNALS
set against them.
That the signals and derailiug equip
ment were in perfect working order
was shown by the fact that every coach
of the train had been derailed
The engineer and fireman were or
dered held for investigation 1t was
at first reported that both had been
later that they had escaped by leaping
from the locomotive as it overturned
Relief trains were sent from Gary
and Laporte by both the Lake Shore
and Michigan Central railroads. The
doctors and nurses of the Illinois Steel
Company hospital at Gary were aboard
the Lake Shore relief trains wish fun
emergency equipment. Ambulances
waited for the trains at Gary and La
porte
Several years ago an engineer on the
Michigan Central passed the warning
signals and drove 4 deadhead equip
inent train through the caboose and
i've wooden coaches of the Hagenback-
Wallace circus train, killing more than
eighty performers and workmen. This
wreck occurred ten miles west of the
crossing at Porter. At the moment of
the crash the dining cars of each train
were crowded and hardly a passenger
N these coaches escaped without Sc
we're injuries. ..
Porter, Ind, is. railroad junction
Ioint, fifty miles from Chicago. It is
there that the New York Central lines
cross those of the Pere Marquette.
The nearest cities are Gary and Mich
iean City, Ind. The tracks cross in
open country and are visible for con-
sideraRlee distances from either direc-
ton.
New York Central train No. 151 was
known as the Interstate Express and
was bound ~from Boston to Chicago.
Beth were practically solid Pullman
trains