Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1911 — Monon’s Wreck Canned by the Operator In Interlocking Tower. [ARTICLE]

Monon’s Wreck Canned by the Operator In Interlocking Tower.

The wreck pf passenger train No. ( 32 at St John Monday was caused by the operator in the interlocking switch lower, according to information furnished to the Lafayette Journal. Apparently the man in charge of the tower had first the right of passage to the Monon strain and had afterward took this away and g«ve the right to the Indiana Harbor, though no train was coming on that road. The interlocking switches are arranged to prevent one train from crashing into another and if Ue crossing signal is unfavorable and the engineer sends his train ahead it Will be derailed before reaching the crossing track.. This was the case at St. John. The train was not moving rapidly, and when the engine went off the track Engineer Murphy jumped down ttye embankment. The fireman did not jump until he saw the engine tipping over and then he jumped off on the other side and escaped injury. The engineer jumped on the same side that the engine turned on and rolled d6wn an embankment and slid across some ice in a ditch. His injuries were not at all serious. The two mail cars remained'upright although they went off the track. Among the Rensselaer people on the train were Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Babcock, Mrs. George Ketchum, Mrs. ,J. L. Brady, Mrs. P. L. Mattes, Miss Bessie Moody, Ross Benjamin and possibly others. They were not injured in the least and yet all had quite a scare. The track was not cleared until after 6 o’clock in the evening, and trains between the one that was wrecked and the evening trains due here at 5:58 were detoured from Hammond by way of the Erie and the Michigan division of the Monon. The coaches of the wrecked train were brought back to Monon, passing through Rensselaer at about 3 o’clock. Mrs. Brady, Mrs. Ketchum and Miss Moody, who were going to Chicago to attend grand opera, continued their trip, going to Chicago via Monon and the Michigan City division. An investigation is being made to ascertain the cause of the blunder in the interlocking tower. * Women’s Silk Kid Shoes, $2.50. $3.00 and $3.50 values, January sale price $1.50, at The G. E. Murray Co.