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| D. L. & W. railroad train at Cortland depot. Trolley waiting to cross. |
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| D. L. & W. train close to Tioughnioga River near Blodgett Mills, N. Y. |
MORE ABOUT THE WRECK.
ALL THE
INJURED DOING WELL AND GOING HOME SOON.
The
Matter of a Coroner's Inquest and the Removal of the Body of Mrs. McQuillen—How
the Accident Seemed to Mr. Lovell of Elmira.
The work of clearing up the wreck of the D.,
L. & W. vestibule
limited train at Blodgett Mills progressed rapidly yesterday afternoon after
the wrecking train with its big derricks arrived from Syracuse at 1 o'clock.
The day coach was jacked up and new trucks were put under it. The Pullman
palace car Richfield was righted up and had its own trucks placed under it. The
left side of the car, which was the under side and which had scraped along the ground
as the car dashed forward in its mad career, presented a pretty sorry looking
appearance when it was raised up where it could be seen. Both cars were taken
back to Syracuse last night and will at once go into the repair shops. All the
repairs except the upholstering will be done there, but the cars will have to
go to Hoboken though for that. The S. & B. division of the D., L. & W.
R. R. will, however, have to settle the expense of all its repairs, as each
division keeps a separate set of books and is entirely independent of the
others from the financial point of view.
The work of clearing up the wreck was viewed
by hundreds of people from all over the country. They came in carriages, on
wheels and on foot, and they continue to come till darkness settled down.
The remains of Mrs. McQuillen were taken to
Philadelphia on the train made up at Blodgett Mills, which started away at 2
o'clock. Beard & Peck did not have time to prepare and trim a coffin, and
the remains were placed in one of their shipping cases.
It was a question what to do with the
remains. Coroner Moore was away from Cortland. Coroner Bradford of Homer was at
his cottage on Skaneateles lake, 1 mile from Glen Haven. Coroner M. R. Smith at
McGrawville was the nearest official, but there was a delay in getting word to
him and he had not received the notification when the train was ready to start.
The friends of the deceased were clamorous to get away from the scene of the
horror. They wanted to get home. They were unwilling to go without Mrs.
McQuillen's remains. The matter was talked over by the physicians present and
by Superintendent Schwarz and the result was that the friends decided to take
the remains with them. Dr. Higgins issued a certificate of death and Justice T.
H. Dowd received the certificate and issued a transit permit which gave
authority to the railroad company to transport the remains.
Just what bearing upon the matter of a
coroner's inquest the removal of the remains will have is in question. Coroner
Smith said to a STANDARD man that he did not see how he could impanel a jury or
hold an inquest if there were no remains to be viewed. He was away from home
looking after his patients yesterday morning and did not hear of the accident or
that his services were required till about 1:15 o'clock yesterday afternoon,
which was a few minutes after the train with the remains on board left Blodgett
Mills. He heard that the remains had gone at the same time that he heard of the
death. He thought there was nothing to be done so far as he was concerned now,
but he felt that the removal of the remains was irregular and he feared that
legal complications and embarrassments would follow.
Justice Dowd told a STANDARD man that he
assumed no responsibility for the removal of the remains in granting the transit
permit. A regularly issued death certificate signed by a physician was
presented to him and there was no reason why he should not issue the permit as
that was one of the duties of his office.
Dr. Higgins, who issued the death certificate
said that he did it as an act of mercy and because he could see no reason why
it should not be done. It was true that the coroner had not arrived, but it was
evident that there had been a death and if the coroner or a coroner's jury
desired official information of that fact it would be easy to take testimony of
hundreds of people to establish the fact. The friends were clamorous to go home
and would not go without the remains of their mother and grandmother. It was
surely a fact that there had not been a criminal attempt to cause death in
deliberately planning to wreck this train, and if there was contributory
negligence on the part of the railroad company through the work of the section
hands in repairing the track, the company was ready to admit the fact and
settle for the damages as far as possible. He talked the matter over with
Superintendent Schwarz and they all decided that it was best to let the remains
go on to Philadelphia. He had this morning taken counsel in the matter since
the question had been raised and was advised that he had transgressed no law,
and that he was all right in taking the course he did. Surely, he said, if no
law was broken, it was a merciful thing to let the friends go and take the remains.
Before word reached Coroner Smith a summons
was sent to Coroner Bradford at Glen Haven, and he did come down to Homer and
there learned that Coroner Smith had been notified and that the remains had
gone on. He then returned to his cottage on the lake.
Mr. A. D. Wallace, one of those injured in
the wreck at Blodgett Mills yesterday, finds himself pretty well lamed up to-day
as a result of the severe shaking up he received. He is attended by Dr. E. A.
Didama, and Dr. H. T. Dana was called in consultation yesterday. Immediately
after the accident, his left arm, which was injured, began to swell, so that
when the surgeons made an examination they were unable to definitely ascertain
what the injuries were. The arm at the elbow joint is swelled so that it is two
inches larger in circumference than the other, and is extremely tender, so
to-day it cannot be definitely learned whether there is a broken bone. Nothing
serious is expected from the injuries to the back of the head.
Miss Maud Graham, the niece of Mr. Wallace,
feels pretty lame to-day, and finds that she was bruised on the left hip and
arm, while her back troubles her considerably from lameness.
Miss M. Spellman of Oswego who was cut over
the left eye has been attended by Dr. Sornberger at The Kremlin [Hotel], and left this
afternoon for home.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Bergin of
Philadelphia, who were in the day coach, are at The Kremlin, and expect to go
home to-morrow. Mrs. Bergin was one of the first to minister to the wounded, and
did much toward relieving the pain in Mr. Wallace's arm by applying cloths wrung
from hot water. The shock proved almost too much for her, and it was thought
best to remain over a day. Dr. Didama was called to see her at The Kremlin last
night.
Mrs. R. F. Downing of New York was injured
more seriously than was at first supposed. There is a cut four or five inches
long on the top of her head, but Dr. Higgins, who is attending her, does not
consider it dangerous. She also received quite a severe shock to her nervous
system. She is at the home of Mr. E. L. Tanner at Blodgett Mills. Her husband
arrived from New York on the early train this morning, the train being stopped
at that station to let him off. A sister also came from Oswego. Mr. and Mrs.
Downing leave to-morrow morning for New York on the vestibule train which will
be stopped at Blodgett Mills to take them on.
Mr. and Mrs. Ransom Simpson and
granddaughter, Bessie Burton of McGrawville,
who were moving to Lestershire, Broome county, were on the wrecked train
yesterday. Mr. Simpson had his leg quite badly hurt, but the others escaped
uninjured.
Violet Heiman and Deman Nell, cousins, of Philadelphia,
11 and 10 years old, were traveling in care of the porter of the drawing room
car from Oswego, where they had been visiting friends, to their home in
Philadelphia. The little girl had a bad scalp wound, and the little boy had his
back and one foot hurt.
An Albany dispatch last night said that the
railroad commissioners at once, upon learning of the accident on the D., L. & W. R. R. at Blodgett Mills,
sent Inspector G. H. Gatchell to investigate the reasons for the accident and
to find out, if possible, where the blame could be laid. It is impossible to
learn that this gentleman has been at Blodgett Mills yet or at Cortland.
Mrs. H. S. Carter, daughter of Mrs. McQuillen
who was killed, lost a valuable gold watch in escaping from the wrecked car. It
was found last night in clearing up the debris and was forwarded to her to-day.
One of her nephews, one of the McQuillen boys, also lost a pair of spectacles.
These were found and sent on.
Miss Maud Graham lost a valuable watch and a
handsome Elks pin, but neither have been found.
It was reported that a gentleman lost a
pocketbook containing $150, but it has so far been impossible to verify this or
to learn who the man was.
Three linemen on a handcar left the
[Cortland] Junction yesterday at about 10:45 o'clock to go down the road to
repair telegraph lines. They did not know of the wreck or of the special train
with doctors on board that was just behind them. Suddenly the train appeared behind
them and they jumped off and got their car off the track as soon as possible,
and just in time.
The special train that took the physicians
from Cortland to the wreck was made up by taking the engine and caboose from
the local freight that was then switching in the yard here.
Train Dispatcher Ferris at Syracuse was
absolutely astounded and could hardly believe it when told that the finest
train on this division had been wrecked and that all the doctors in Cortland
had been called.
The camera fiend many times multiplied was
in evidence at the wreck yesterday and hundreds of snap shots were taken.
Among the passengers on the wrecked train
were Mr. and Mrs. Hiram H. Lovell, their daughter, Mrs. E. S. Becker, and
eight-months-old baby boy, all of Elmira. Mr. Lovell was interviewed last night
after their return by a reporter of The Advertiser and gave some sidelights on
the wreck that will be interesting to Cortland parties. Mr. Lovell said:
"I was sitting near the rear of the day
coach, with the baby beside me, next to the window. Behind me sat Mrs. Lovell
and Mrs. Becker. When we got on the train at Syracuse there was a large crowd
and we thought some of going into the chair car, which was the last on the
train. We found pleasant seats on the east side of the day coach, however, in
spite of the crowd, and took them instead.
I had just taken the baby into the seat with
me and had pulled down the blinds. The conductor was coming through the car and
after taking the tickets of the lady opposite me, turned to take our tickets,
which I was holding up to him. My left hand was in the baby's lap, holding
him to the seat.
Just then there was a sudden lurch, and it
seemed from the motion of the car as if it was turning over. The conductor
applied the bell cord, and in a short time we came to a stop.
Mrs. Becker had been thrown against the side
of the car, but Mrs. Lovell had been able to reach over and save the baby from
falling under the sea. I was thrown down by the shock and could not save him.
They weren't long in helping us out and it was but a short step from the car to
the ground.
The car windows had nearly all been broken
on the side we were on, and the only thing that saved the baby from being
covered with broken glass was the fact that the blinds were drawn. Although our
car was full of people, not one was seriously hurt.
"Just what was the situation
there," asked the reporter.
All of Blodgett Mills is on the west side of
the track excepting the milk station, icehouse, the ticket office and the
creamery. The icehouse was north of the ticket office, and the creamery was
still further south. Between the creamery and the ticket office is a road
running east and west.
I went back and looked at the place where we
left the track. About ten feet of the east rail was ripped loose from the ties.
The portion that came out was broken twice. One section was about eight long.
Another was a foot long, and the rest was broken into small pieces.
The train had passed over safely until the
rear trucks on our coach came along. They jumped the track and ripped loose of
the body of the car. The front truck remained on the track, but the rear end of
the coach swung against the ticket office and knocked it completely from the foundation.
Then we had bounded along for about 200 feet until the end of the coach struck
the platform of the creamery. The platform tipped down and rested on two oil
barrels, which must have been under it. The end of the coach rested on this
platform and that was all that prevented the car from tipping over on the side.
The chair car tipped on its side and lay
between the icehouse and the remains of the ticket office. In it was the body
of Mrs. McQuillen of Philadelphia, the woman who was killed. She was an elderly
woman and was traveling with her daughter, daughter-in-law and three grandsons,
one of whom was a boy of about 14 years. He was painfully hurt, but didn't seem
to mind his wounds. He had just changed places with his grandmother and seemed
to feel almost guilty that he had done so.
'Oh! if it had only been me,' he cried. 'If
we hadn't charged places, I might have gotten out! Oh, if it had only been me.'
In the car with us, sitting across the aisle
from me, were a bride and groom from Cortland. His name was Lombard and she had
been Annie Murphy. They had been showered with rice at the station and had
hardly got it picked out of their hair when the shock came.
The people of the place were very good to us
all. They opened their homes, brought tea and coffee and cakes, and did
everything that they could. I saw a hand-car start out for Cortland four miles
away, just after the wreck, and as the station was wrecked so that they could
not telegraph, I surmised that that is the way help was summoned.
The doctors got down in about an hour and
they had hardly got to work on the people before the railroad had a gang on the
track fixing it up.
We were taken to Binghamton on a special
which left the Mills at 1:15 and we arrived here at 4:37.
"I have often passed through Blodgett
Mills," said Mrs. Lovell, "but never noticed the place before. I'll
always remember it now, though."
69 CENTS OR DEFEAT!
Miners
Believe They Control the Situation.
INTENSE
EXCITEMENT PREVAILS.
Colonel
Rend Confers With His Minors and Urges Them to Arbitrate—Acceptance of 64-Cent
Rate, Pending Arbitration, Is Probable.
PITTSBURG, Sept. 3.—Judging from surface
indications it seems reasonably certain that President Ratchford of the United
Mine Workers and his colleagues in office will reject the offer of the
operators to return to work at the 64-cent rate pending arbitration. Great
influence has been brought to bear upon the strike leaders from this district
to induce them to assume such an attitude.
The sentiment among the miners here is so
intense for a "69-cent rate or nothing" settlement, that all the
local labor leaders now in the city have advised strongly for a continuation of
the fight along the present lines and to the bitter end.
Secretary Warner wired to Ratchford that the
miners here want 69 cents or defeat, and to submit the Hanna proposition, as it
is called, to a vote would only entail needless expenditure of time and money.
The result, he said, would not be in doubt for an instant.
The miners believe they have victory well
within their grasp, and having a firm belief in the justice of their cause they
will not submit to anything that savors of temporizing or partial retreat from
the original stand.
The members of the district executive board
are in hearty accord with this view of the case.
CONSULTED
HIS MINERS.
Colonel
Rend Presented the Necessity of a Settlement to Them.
PITTSBURG, Sept. 3.—Colonel W. P. Rend met
his thousand miners through a committee of 12 men selected for the purpose at
McDonald, Pa. There was an immense gathering of miners, their wives and
children about the place of conference.
The best of feeling prevailed and Colonel
Rend announced after the conference that there had been a full and candid discussion
of the merits of the last plan proposed for settlement of the strike. He says
the committee that waited on him assured him that the plan had their cordial
support and they felt that the body of the miners would indorse it if submitted
to them.
The colonel pointed out to his men how an
enforced settlement would result in only temporary gain to either side, and
repeated to them his well-known views in favor of arbitration. He said that 54
cents [per ton of coal] was not a living rate, but he thought 69 cents too
much.
OFF
BROOKLYN BRIDGE.
Orton
Took the Perilous Leap For Fame and Cash.
NEW YORK, Sept. 3.—A poorly-dressed man,
William Orton, jumped from the Brooklyn bridge, doubtless in the hope of making
money subsequently because of his daring act.
He stood on the rail for a few seconds and,
throwing off his hat, jumped out into space. He turned over several times in
his descent and finally struck the water on his right side.
When he came to the surface the crew of the
tug Gratitude fished him out with a boathook.
Orton was in an exhausted condition and
after a while said:
"I did it. I did it, didn't I?"
Then he sank into a state of coma.
The man on regaining consciousness said that
he was Herman Otten, 18 years old and a sailor.
He is under arrest as having tried to commit
suicide.
PAGE
TWO—EDITORIALS.
An
Office of Responsibility.
With one exception, the mayor of Greater New York will be charged with greater responsibilities than any other elected
officer in the world. Besides him, even the president of the republic of France
will be but a puny figure-head. Only the president of the United States will b
e more powerful. The debt will be about $170,000,000—greater than the combined
indebtedness of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New England and eight of
the southern states—and the annual interest charges will be about $8,000,000.
The annual expenditures of Greater New York for schools alone will be nine
millions. The annual expenditures for public works, and for the police, fire,
and health departments will be something like twenty-five millions. The
payrolls of Greater New York will contain the names of 30,000 persons—more
names than are on the payrolls of the army of the United States. At the very
beginning the expenditures of Greater New York will be at the rate of
seventy-five million dollars a year. The mayor will serve four years.
Expenditures will naturally increase. It would not be surprising if the total
expenditures for the four years would be $350,000,000.
As they contemplate such statistics as
these, we suppose the people of Greater New York say to themselves: "We
must select as the first mayor of Greater New York a man of thorough honesty, a
man of long experience, and a man of extraordinary capacity." It is not
surprising that Tammany wants to select the mayor, but it would be very
surprising if Tammany elected its candidate.
Immigration.
During the years following the financial
panic of 1873 immigration from
Europe to
this country fell off rapidly. The industrial depression, beginning with 1873
continued six years, the immigration dropping down year by year till 1879, when
it reached the low figure of 177,829. Then, the hard times being over, it
started up again. The story is repeated in our present industrial depression.
The Baring failure of November, 1890, was the real beginning of the present
hard times. We felt it slightly in 1891 and 1892, and in 1893 the crash came
that tumbled all things together. It is noticeable in our financial history
that it usually takes six years for the country to recover from a business
panic. Counting from 1891, as the real beginning of the business disturbance,
we have now had six years of hard times, and it is to be expected that we shall
climb up and out again.
Immigration follows exactly the financial
thermometer. Just as it reached its lowest figure in 1879, the sixth and last
year of the depression following the crash of 1873, so it reached its lowest
figure daring the present hard times for the year ending June 30, 1897, the sixth
year after the real business disturbance began.
For this last fiscal year only 230,832
immigrants came to our shores. Next season, however, we may look for an
increase. Prosperity has alighted upon our shores again. Europe is not yet done
dumping her poor upon us. She raises them faster than we can find place for
them.
A
BUSINESS CHANGE.
G. F.
Beaudry Sells a Portion of His Stock to R. A. Stowell & Co.
Mr. G. F. Beaudry has sold to R. A. Stowell
& Co. of Cortland his entire stock of crockery, toys and notions, and the
inventory is now being taken. The stock is an excellent one and will be added
to the already large and fine stock at Stowell's store in Cortland, where it
will be sold at a great reduction. The stock at Stowell's will then be the
largest and most complete in its line in this section.
Mr. Beaudry has associated with himself Mr.
Otis C. Smith, who is well known in Cortland, and they will put in a full and
complete line of first-class stationery, school books and wallpaper. The firm
name will be Smith & Beaudry. Mr. Beaudry is well known as one of
Cortland's leading business men, and Mr. Smith understands the wallpaper
business from beginning to end. The firm promises to be a strong one. Mr.
Beandry will retain his business in fine confectionery, fruits, bicycles and
tobacco and cigars.
The Day
for the Convention.
To the Editor of the STANDARD:
SIR—The merchants of Cortland some time ago
agreed to close their stores next Monday which is Labor day. Being a legal holiday,
banks and public offices will be closed. Yet the Republican committee, knowing
of the fact and in spite of the opposition of Republican merchants, was induced
to call the Republican county convention for that day. People come from all
over the county convention day intending to do business and trading as well as
to attend the convention. But so as to have it on Monday and prevent the
delegates from meeting and consulting before the convention, or to prevent the
numerous candidates from minor offices who are bringing delegates for the
"machine" from comparing notes. The convenience of the people and
interest of the village is sneered at.
Five of the committeemen from
Cortland—Messrs. McGraw, Sillson, Price, Crombie and Hyde—opposed Monday and
asked for a later date, while Mr. Kelley,
the substitute for Chairman Brown, insisted upon Monday.
REPUBLICAN MERCHANT.
Cortland, Sept. 2, 1897.
BREVITIES.
—New display advertisements to-day are—Bingham
Bros. & Miller, Bargains in Clothing, page 8.
—The jury in Justice Kelley's court in the case
of Sophia White against F. A. Brainard failed to agree. This was the second trial
of the case with the same result. Another attempt will be made to reach a
decision.
—Cortland
people who are lovers of flowers, of flower culture and in general of anything
beautiful should not fail to attend the flower show at Homer tonight. The
exhibition began last night and is really one of the most if not the moat
artistic and attracting exhibits of flowers ever seen in this vicinity. It is
well worth a trip to Homer to see. An account of it appears in our Homer letter
to-day.
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