Year: 1859

ONE MAN KILLRD--MILK TRAIN SMASHED UP.


The milk train Geo. Handford conductor that left
Dover Plains at o'clock Monday evening, arrived at
Hunts Bridge, West Mount Vernon at l22 Tuesday
morning. where it ran of the track in consequence
of misplaced SWITCH making complete wreck of the
engine and tender the cabOose and three four Of the
freight cars and instantly killing Ed Hall milk freight
agent, who in the caboose with come FIVE or six
other men. He leaped out and was killed, while the
others escaped without serious injury, notwthstand-
standing the caboo;e was completely reversed and up
set On one side of the track, that passed it on
the other The engineer and fireman escaped, one
would fay, to look at the wreck, by miracle; the
engine lies upon its side, partly in the ground at the
bottom Of he ditch and the tender behind it, bottom
up with the caboose top. The three frst freight
cars were turned this way and that but not as much
torn UP as we should say they would have been, and
most Of the milk cans seemed be sound and contents
not spled The balance of the train Of nineteen cars
in all remained on the rails. Where the engine went
off, the track torn up and rails bent as though
they were nothing but small wire. The engine is
badly damaged, and all the morning trains up and
down were detained hours until the wreck could
be cleared away, and the track repaired.


Ed. Hall, the deceased, native Of ireland,
where he has parents and brothers and sisters He
has two cousins in Brooklyn and no other near rea-
tives in the country. lie is about 26 years old,
married, and boarded in Fourth avenue near Thirty
second street. lie has been in this country little
over six years.


The cause of the accident act Of pure forget
fubess on the part of the swtchman, WIN. McCullom,
at Hunts Bridge When Hills train went up quarter
before eight it was necessary to leave some passenger
cars and the long switch was opened to let his train
run in The swi.chman then went up on the cars and
closed the switch at the upper end, when the train
went out and back and locked the CATS left on
the switch and stood and looked about him delberese
ly to see that everything all right '--entirely
forgetting that he had not closed the switch at the
lower end He is perhaps as sober and careful a man
as there is upon the road and has always had the rpu
tation Of extreme carefuness.


1t appears that the engineer saw that the switch
wrong few rods before he reached it, and blew the
signal for brakes ard reversed his engine, but the
speed was too great, or the distance too short.


For such accidents as this tbnss two remedies:


self closing switch and most positive rule for all
trains to run at low speed past all stations, or places
where il is possible for a switch to be open.


The body of the man killed was lying at the hotel
at the Hunts Bridge Station on Tuesday morning,
awaiting the movement of the Coroner.


The caInage to engine and cars we heard estimated
at $4,000 or $l2 0OO This would pay for good many
switches upon which it would be impossible for such
an accident to occur. A self-cosng switch is more
reliable than any cheap Irshmsn--such as the Harlem
Railroad Company generally have in their employ.