Menlo Park, New Jersey

Train Wreck

October 8, 1902

TRAINS CRASH ON A CURVE
One Killed and Twelve Injured In Wreck at Menlo Park, N. J.

New Brunswick, N. J., Oct. 9 – A rear-end collision occurred on the Pennsylvania Railroad on the curve at Menlo Park, seven miles from New Brunswick, yesterday morning, between two fast trains going towards New York. JOHN SILPATH, of Jersey City, was killed and 12 others were injured.

The eastern express on reaching Menlo Park, stopped on the curve while a hot box was fixed. Train No. 76, known as the New York and Philadelphia express, followed the eastern express close behind. The engineer of this train in some way disregarded the signals, and ran into the other train from the rear. The train was running at the rate of 60 miles an hour on the curve. The rear car was partly cut in two by the engine.

The injured are: C. F. CURTIS, of Philadelphia; MRS. CLARKE FISHER, of Trenton; MRS. MCCARTEN, of Brooklyn; EDEN BUZZEE, of Philadelphia; MRS. T. B. WRENN, of Trenton; J. BROWSKY, of Austin, Pa.; MRS. BRIDGET FLANNIGAN, MISS MOLLIE FLANNIGAN, and MRS. MARY KEANE, of Providence, R. I.; MISS MARY STEWART, of Brockton, Mass.; JAMES KELLY, of Philadelphia; and B. F. KOSLER, fireman.

The loss of life in the wreck would have been much heavier if the trainmen, knowing the Philadelphia express was due, had not notified most of the Pullman passengers to leave the cars. Flagmen rushed back to stop the oncoming train. Many of the passengers had not time to leave when the crash came. The engineer says his brakes failed to work.

The News, Frederick, MD 9 Oct 1902

Trenton Persons Injured in Bad Railroad Wreck on “Pennsy” at Menlo Park

MRS. CLARK FISHER Was Most Seriously Hurt of All Local Passengers, and She Not Dangerously.

ONE MAN WAS KILLED
Collision Between Two Express Trains, About Dozen Trenton Persons on Both Trains.

Two Pennsylvania express trains carrying a dozen or more Trenton passengers collided this morning at Menlo Park killing one person and seriously injuring several others.

The dead man is a Hungarian whom nobody knew and there was nothing in his clothing to identify him.

The injured from Trenton are:

MRS CLARK FISHER, serious injury to the back and cuts and bruises about the head, limbs and body.
CLARK FISHER, seriously shaken up and slightly cut and bruised.
MRS. FRANCIS C. LOWTHORP, ankle badly sprained.
MISS EMMA DARRAH, badly shocked, though not hurt.
JOSEPH WILLETS, cut over right eye and badly shaken up.

Others from Trenton in the colliding trains included City Clerk C. EDWARD MURRAY, RICHARD STOCKTON, JOSEPH WILLETS, MISS WILLETS, MRS. HENRY W. GREEN, FREDERICK YARD, ENOCH CASE, HENRY W. GREEN, HARRY ALLEN, GEORGE VOORHEES, and three or four others.

REAR END COLLISION
It was a rear end collision. One of the trains was a western express, going east. This was struck and the train that did the damage was the regular 9:05 out of Trenton.

The western express left Clinton street station about 9:03 o’clock and several travelers boarded it in the hope of making time. Among them besides MR. AND MRS. CLARK FISHER and MRS. LOWTHORP, were MISS EMMA DARRAH, JOSEPH WILLETS, MISS WILLETS, MRS. HENRY W. GREEN and two or three others whose names could not be learned.

They were all seated in an old-fashioned passenger coach, the third from the rear end of the western express.

MR. AND MRS. FISHER sat together on one of the rear seats directly in front of the killed Hungarian.

Three mail clerks in the rear car of the western train heard the warning whistle from the 9:05 as it bore down upon them and realizing the danger jumped and saved their lives.

ENGINE PLOUGHED THROUGH
MISS DARRAH bravely extricated herself and was outside the car when the men arrived. But MR. and MRS. FISHER and MR. WILLETS and the rest were helplessly covered by the tumbled-in top of the crumbled coach and pinned in their places by flying seats and doors and broken glass and timber.

With considerable difficulty the dead body was removed. Then MRS. FISHER was lifted out. She was taken to a parlor car and made as comfortable as possible.

Physicians were soon in attendance and they dressed her wounds and those of the others from Trenton and elsewhere.

It was advised that MRS. LOWTHORP return to her home. MR. MURRAY came back with her and with MR. WILLETS, whose injuries were less painful. MISS WILLETS and MISS DARRAH also returned with them, reaching here at 11:35. MRS. LOWTHORP had to be wheeled in a chair.

No one on the 9:05 train was hurt, everybody escaping without a scratch.

“But it was a most heart-rending scene,” said MR. MURRAY. “At first we didn’t know how many were killed or how the Trenton passengers had fared. It was undoubtedly the most serious predicament I was ever in.

RUMBLING FEELING
When the trains came together there was a feeling of rolling, rumbling floors and shaking seats, and for the second no one knew what to expect. The wheels under us were grinding along the rails and the car raised and lowered as the engine mashed its way into the cars ahead. The awfulness of the thing is beyond description.”

The western express was considerably behind its schedule time. The 9:05 train was to have had orders to pass it on the siding at Metuchen, but somehow there was a misunderstanding.

The signals were at danger on two blocks before the collision occurred, it is said though the 9:05 had gone beyond Metuchen. None of the officers of the road could account for the accident.

It was probably one hour and a quarter after the trains left Trenton that they came together.

BAD NEWS ABOUT MRS. FISHER

A despatch (sic) from New York just before going to press said that MRS. CLARK FISHER would probably die.

The Trenton Times, Trenton, NJ 8 Oct 1902

OUR WRECK VICTIMS
All Doing Well Except MRS. FISHER, Whose Exact Condition Has Not Been Determined.

MRS. CLARK FISHER, who was seriously injured in the wreck on the Pennsylvania road yesterday is resting comfortably in the Presbyterian Hospital, New York, today.

She is suffering mostly from shock. A thorough examination has not been made yet and her exact condition cannot be determined until such has been done.

CLARK FISHER, MRS. FRANCIS C. LOWTHORP, MISS EMMA DARRAH, JOSEPH WILLETS and MRS. T. B. WRENN, all of this city, and who besides MRS. CLARK FISHER were injured in the wreck are in no danger. Their injuries are bruises and strains. Most of the women are more or less ill today because of shock.

The Trenton Times, Trenton, NJ 9 Oct 1902

MRS. FISHER Out of Danger.

The condition of MRS. CLARK FISHER, who was injured Wednesday in the railroad wreck at Menlo Park, is so much improved that she has been reported by her physicians as out of danger.

The Trenton Times, Trenton, NJ 11 Oct 1902

Transcribed by Cheryl.  Thank you, Cheryl!

Search for more information on the Menlo Park Train Wreck and other disasters in the  Historic Newspapers Collection.  The number of newspapers on line has recently doubled - search over 1000 different newspapers. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.

Search for ancestors in Menlo Park, NJ among billions of names at ancestry.com. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.

History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920 Read it online at ancestry.com.  Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.