Canaan, New Hampshire
Train Wreck
September 15, 1907
Concord, N. H., Sept. 16.-- The
investigation by the officials of the Boston &
Maine Railroad of the collision of trains on the
Concord division, near Canaan early yesterday
morning, by which 25 passengers of the Quebec
express lost their lives and nearly 39 were
injured, occupied the entire time of heads of
the system today. General Supt.,
C. E. Lee
and Assistant Supt., G.
H. Folger of Boston with
William F. Ray,
superintendent of the Concord division, examined
the records in the train dispatcher’s office
here and also made a careful investigation at
Canaan and other stations along the line of the
Concord division, in an effort to determine just
who was responsible for the blunder by which the
two trains were brought together. The
proceedings of the examination were secret, but
it is known that J. A.
Browley, the train dispatcher in this
city, and Operator
Greeley, the man who received the
order from the train dispatcher at the station
in Canaan, were particularly questioned. After
the examination of these men at the office of
Division Supt. Ray, the railway officials,
accompanied by Operator Greeley left for the
scene of the accident in a special tram.
At Canaan the officials visited the wreck and
examined the records of the operators at the
station and then went on to White River
Junction, stopping at various stations on the
way, to interview telegraph operators at those
points. After reaching White River Junction and
inspecting the records there at the railroad
office, they returned to this city.
Just what action will be taken by the
authorities of Grafton county, in which the town
of Canaan is located, has not been determined.
County Solicitor M. D.
Cobleigh of Lebanon said tonight that
no move has been made as yet on the part of the
state.
“It is necessary,” Mr. Cobleigh said, “to wait
until the investigation which is being conducted
by the office of the medical referee, in
conjunction with the inquiry of the railroad
officials shan’t have thrown the blame upon some
one person.”
“There is a possibility,” indeed Mr. Cobleigh,
that witnesses may be taken before the grand
jury which comes in at Woodsville on Wednesday
of this week This action, however, has not been
positively decided upon.
Mr. Cobleigh also suggested that it was likely
that the railroad commissioners might decide to
begin an investigation of the wreck and in that
case they would probably drop all other business
before them and conduct their inquiry
immediately.
All the victims of the wreck have now been
identified, the final identifications having
been made tonight. The list of 25 is as follows:
MISS ANNIE BARRETT,
Manchester, N. H.
DOMENICK BENOIT, Lowell, Mass.
L. C. BLAKE, Somerville, Mass.
MRS. ADOLPH BOISCERT, Concord, N. H.
MRS. E. S. BRIGGS, West Lebanon, N. H.
LEON S. CADY,
West Lebanon, N. H.
RICHARD F. CLARSON,
Lebanon, N. H.
J. M. CONGDON,
Bethel, Vt., and Boston.
MRS. ALICE CUNNINGHAM,
Hamilton, Mass.
C. E. DERBY, Boston.
MRS. VERA GAGNON,
Sherbrooke, P. Q.
DELIA HOULD, Manchester, N. H.
F. H. LOWER, Barton Landing, Vt.
FRED M. PHELPS,
Ochiltree, Texas
AUGUSTINE ROYER,
Manchester, N. H.
MISS ANNIE ST. PIERRE,
Isle Vort, P. Q.
TIMOTHY SHAUGHNESSEY,
Manchester, N. H.
MRS. TIMOTHY SHAUGHNESSEY, Manchester, N. H.
GEORGE L. SOUTHWICK, Worcester, Mass.
H. D. STEVENS,
Musquodoboit, N. S.
MRS. WILLIAM VENTINNIER,
Robinson, Que.
MISS LILLIAN VENTINNIER,
daughter of above, same
address.
MRS. M. E. WARREN, Haverhill, Mass.
T. HOWARD WARREN,
eight years old., son of
above, same address.
M. H. WILSON East Cambridge, Mass.
None of the 22 bodies which were brought to the
undertaking establishments in this city had been
shipped away tonight, and it was expected that
nearly all the others would be claimed by
relatives and removed tomorrow morning.
The injured at the Mary Hitchcock hospital at
Hanover were all reported tonight as doing well
and they are expected to recover, with the
possible exception of
Miss Albina Jauorn of Nashua, who was
injured internally. Miss Jauorn was reported as
failing tonight, and it is feared that she may
not live until morning. The physicians however,
said they had not given up hope of her recovery
and that they thought possible, should she
survive the night that her condition would show
improvement tomorrow.
Mrs. John Barrett,
one of the passengers of the express train, who
was taken to her home in Manchester after the
accident was today taken to the hospital at
Hanover that she might be near her husband who
is also among the injured in the hospital. Mrs.
Barrett is suffering from a shoulder sprain and
scalp wound. Her daughter
Miss Annie Barrett was
one of those killed in the collision.
AN INVESTIGATION
To Be Made By Railroad Officials of Terrible
Disaster.
Canaan, N. H., Sept. 16.--An investigation
of the terrible disaster of yesterday by which
more than a score of people lost their lives and
a greater number received injuries by a
collision of a freight and express train on the
Boston & Maine Railroad, will be begun here
today, probably under the direction of
M. D. Cobleigh
of Lebanon, the county solicitor. Until his
inquiry and the railroad company’s own
investigation is completed, the actual
responsibility for the accident will remain in
doubt. According to a statement issued by the
railroad officials, a blunder in handling train
orders was clearly the cause, but the identity
of the employe responsible for the error remains
to be determined.
County Solicitor
Cobleigh said early today that he
will take immediately such action as is required
of him as an official under the laws of New
Hampshire.
Meanwhile the bodies of the victims will be
turned over to relatives who claim them. At the
rooms of the undertaking firm in Concord, where
most of the dead were removed immediately after
the accident, 22 bodies were laid out in long
rows early today. Of these 14 were considered as
positively identified by relatives, while the
identity of several others was believed to be
sufficiently known.
Of the injured who were removed to the Mary
Hitchcock hospital in Hanover, one died during
the night and another, an unidentified girl, was
believed to be fatally hurt.
The others injured are expected to recover
according to a report received from the hospital
early today.
Canaan people were early astir this morning and
the place of the wreck was viewed by hundreds of
visitors. A thick mist, just such a one as
prevailed Sunday morning when the two trains
rushed to their head-on collisions, hung over
the valley of the little Indian river and added
gloom to the scene. The tangled masses of metal
and wood which bordered the track were visible
evidences of the disaster.
The wrecking crew, having cleared the track late
yesterday afternoon, after it had been blocked
for about 12 hours, abandoned further work when
darkness set in. When work was resumed this
morning it was not thought probable that any
bodies would remain, so thorough was yesterday’s
overhauling of the wreckage.
On one side of the embankment lay the two big
engines, head to head in an almost demoralized
condition. It seemed a strange thing that in
such a terrific impact no explosion had occurred
and no fire started. As many of the wrecked cars
had been filled with grain and paper stock, the
fire, if one had started would have cut off all
attempts to rescue the injured.
Station Agent Greeley
of Canaan station, through, whose hands passed
the fatal orders for the freight train to
proceed on the passenger train’s time, was not
at his post as usual this morning, the officials
having temporally removed him. Greeley was known
to almost everyone in town and was regarded
highly here as a capable agent and operator,
positions which he had held with the railroad
company for a period covering more than 20
years.
Yesterday’s crowd in Canaan was a big one and
coming so unexpectedly, it completely
overwhelmed the hotel accommodations of the
town. At the two public houses here at 6 o’clock
last night it was declared that not a bite to
eat was obtainable, although neighbors had been
called in and done extra cooking.
During the night not a few people could be met
on the roads leading from the wreck with big
rolls of glazed white paper on their shoulders,
which they had found among the wrecked freight
cars. Other persons also helped themselves to
portions of the tons of grain, mostly corn,
which was strewn about the tracks. No effort was
made to guard the wreckage through the night.
WITH THE INJURED.
Many of Those Taken to Hanover Able to Go to
Homes.
Hanover, N. H., Sept. 16.--Twelve of the 27
persons who were taken to the Mary Hitchcock
hospital here suffering from injuries received
at the railroad accident at West Canaan, early
yesterday, which caused the death of 25 persons,
had recovered sufficiently to leave that
institution for their homes. But 15 persons,
still remained at the hospital. None of these
was in a dangerous condition, their injuries
consisting mainly of concussions, bruises and
sprains.
The body of but one dead person was held at the
hospital morgue, that of a boy apparently eight
years of age. He had died during the night from
bodily injuries and was unidentified.
Following is a revised list of the injured
persons at the Margaret [sic] Hitchcock hospital
at Hanover:
MRS. S. M. SAUNDERS, Nashua, N. H.. left leg
and wrist injured.
WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, Hamilton, Mass., back and
chest injured.
CHARLES ST. PIERRE,
Isle Certe, Que., . internal
injuries.
ANTHONY JACQUES, Millbury, internal injuries.
PHILIP GAGNON, Sherbrooke, Que., internal
injuries.
JOHN BARRETT, Manchester, head and breast
injured.
FRANK RYAN, brakeman, White River Junction, arm
bruised and leg cut.
MISS JENNIE JAURON, Nashut, [sic] hip wrenched.
MISS ALVIRAH JAURON, Nashua, broken breast bone.
MRS. C. A. DEWEY,
Manchester, right side
injured.
MISS ROSA ROYER,
Manchester bruised face.
IVO NOYES, Pomfret, Vt., head and back injured.
MISS ELLA VINTINNER, Lisbon, N. H.
clevical [sic] bone broken.
THE BABY OF WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM,
one of the
injured, was also taken to the hospital,
although uninjured.
Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME 17
Sept 1907
Transcribed by Helen
Coughlin. Thank you, Helen!
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