The Sun - New York, N. Y.
Sunday, July 5, 1908

N. Y. CENTRAL FLYER WRECKED

FOUR MEN KILLED AND MANY
    OTHERS INJURED

Mistake of a Woman Telegrapher Caused
  A Headon Collision With a Freight
  Train--All of the Killed Are Trainmen
  --Edward Dockstader Severely Injured

UTICA, N. Y., July 4. -- By the substitution of the numeral 5 for the figure 1 by a woman telegrapher on the Utica and Black River Division of the
New York Central when she wrote out a message for a train crew, four men were killed and many persons were injured in a wreck about
two miles north of Boonville at 5:32 this morning.

The collision was between a freight train, southbound, and the Thousand Island Special, drawn by two locomotives and travelling north toward
Clayton on the St Lawrence River.  This train leaves New York each evening during the summer season at 7:15 o'clock and to-day was crowded
with New Yorkers bound for the north country to enjoy a brief holiday.  They occupied seven Pullman sleepers, and with the exception of Edward
Dockstader, suffered no injuries worth mentioning.  Dockstader sustained severe injuries to his back and is at St. Luke's Hospital in this city, where
late to-night he was resting comfortably.  He will be out within a few days.  The other New Yorkers continued their journey to the St. Lawrence River
this eveing.  These four men were killed:

A. RIEBER, Utica, engineer.
S. G. O'BRIEN, Utica, engineer.
A. W. HAGAMAN, Utica, brakeman.
J. H. MICHAEL, Edison, fireman.

The injured are:

F. W. BURNETT of Watertown, fireman; left thigh and arm fractured,
  internal injuries; will die.
C. D. SCHALL (sic) of Watertown, compound fracture of left leg below the
    knee; will lose the limb.
GEORGE STOCKER of Utica, ankle broken and internal injuries.
GEORGE HUGHES, engineer, scalp wound, right arm fractured above
  and below elbow.
W. H. WOOD of Utica, back and hip injured.
J. W. CARNEY of Utica, right ankle broken.
E. DOCKSTADER of New York city, back severely injured.

George C. Boldt, proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria, New York city, was one of the passengers who escaped uninjured.  After the crash he jumped from his berth ad was one of the first to minister to the injured.  He opened his grip and provided whiskey to all those in need. It was of Mr. Boldt that one of the engineers, lying on the track and and in a dying condition asked:

"How did it happen?  Was it my fault?  Did I make a mistake in my orders?"

The New Yorker ran and sought out the conductor, who bent over the dying man and drew the order from his pocket.  Holding it where the dying man could see it he said:

"It wasn't your fault.  There's the order."  Then the engineer breathed his last.

Mr. Boldt helped to carry the body from the track and then went to the aid of others who were injured.

General Superintendent Christie of the R. and O. W. system, in discussing the accident with THE SUN reporter to-night, said that as far as invesigation had been made the crews of both trains had been exonerated of blame for the accident and that from all that could be ascertained the error had clearly been made at Lyons Falls. Mr. Christie said that the night operator there, Mrs. E. R. McLane, made a mistake of forty minutes in copying a message from the office of the Watertown despatcher to be given the engineer and conductor on the freight train out of Ogdensburg and then approaching "west," as all trains sent out of there are designated.  Mrs. McLane is 29 years old and had been employed at the Lyon Falls station only a short time.  The station at which she has ben operator is ten miles beyond Boonville and at night is the next "open station."

Passenger trains ordinarily as traffic of the first class have precedence over everything else,  but it was shown that train No. 55, or the Thousand Island special, was two hours late in starting from Utica on account of late connections from New York, and the despatcher's office in Watertown was aware of the time it had been making along the line.  This being the case, it was decided to let the freight have another ten minutes and send it along to Boonville, which apparently it was believed the train might reach just after the passenger got there.

Train Despatcher James O'Leary sent the order from Watertown to the Lyon Falls station  for the freight crew.  An order was also sent to Remsen to be given the passenger crew, directing it to wait at Boonville until 5:15, and news of the contents of the despatch was likewise sent to Boonville, where the Thousand Island special was to wait until 5:15, it being figured that it would get there before that hour.

The message that the Lyon Falls operator was directed to give the conductor on the freight train proceeding toward Boonville was, said Supt. Christie:

"No 55 will wait at Boonville until 5:15 for No. 90"

The message actually given to the freight conductor read:

"No 55 will wait at Boonville until 5:55 for No. 90."

A difference of one figure in a brief sentence.  The substitution of a 5 for a 1, according to the official explanation of the affair, cost four men their lives, painfully injured others and caused a big property damage.

The order given Train 55 at Remsen was worded as the Watertown despatcher intended it should be, and gave directions for it to remain at Boonville until quarter past 5.  But when the passenger reached there it was already twenty-five minutes past 5.  As the time at which he was told to wait had gone by, the crew was required to pay no more attention to the order, according to the established railroad custom, as officially explained.  So the Thousand Islands special passed Boonville and continued on its way, as it had a right to do with no orders referring to a wait later than 5:15.

A thorough investigation of all the circumstances attending the receipt and copying of the message from Watertown and Lyon Falls will be made.  During the movement of the troops to and from Pine Plains the work of despatching trains on the Black River division has been largely given to the Watertown office.  No mishap previous to the terrible accident to-day has occurred during the change.

Supt. Christie said to-night that it had been found that on every record except the copy said ot have been given from the Lyon Falls station to the freight conductor the time for the passenger train's wait at Boonville said "5:15."  It was believed that possibly the operator had missed the message or part of it as it came in and trusted to memory in transcribing it.  In regard to the copy actually handed over to the freight crew it was the understanding that it was in reality "copy" of the real order and was not a carbon tracing of the original despatch as taken down when its ticking caught the attention of the operator in the Lyon Falls office.  The original copy, Supt. Christie was informed by Mrs. McLane had been destroyed or thrown away.

Among those who were on the passenger train and who escaped with severe shaking up but no injuries was Charles R. Skinner, a former State Superintendent of  Schools and at present a resident of New York city.  Mr. Skinner formerly resided in Watertown and was en route to that city when the wreck occurred. 

"I awoke near Boonville," he said, "where the train stopped for a minute or so.  About a mile and a half beyond Boonville I was awakened by the sudden application of the air brakes.  The jolt awakened most every one in the train and there was a sudden scrambling from the berths, the passengers of both sexes getting out to see the cause of the trouble. The crash of glass followed.  We dressed as rapidly as possible after the crash occurred and piled from the coaches.

"When I got out of the coach I saw the extra baggage car turned bottom side up in the Black River Canal.  Thye combination car was half way down the canal bank on its side.  There were about twenty persons in this car and they were helped out through the windows as rapidly as possible.  The day coach was badly smashed and the men and women were scrambling from the coach.  In considering the terrible accident I think that those in the train acted with a marked degree of coolness, and there was not much shouting, though some of the women were inclined to be hysterical when they saw the dead and the wounded.  I found Engineer Rieber and Engineer O'Brien dead beside their engines."

"Among the New Yorkers who were on the train were George C. Boldt, the proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria; Thomas Wheeler, one of the directors of the Standard Oil Copany; Alexander Robb, a well known New Yorker, and Norris Oliphant, who is well known both in the metropolis and among the Thousand Islands, where the family has a beautiful summer residence.  Mr. Boldt and Mr. Oliphant were among the first to take off their coats and assist in the work of rescue.  Mr. Boldt especially was useful, plunging into the midst of the wreck and helping to extricate those who were the most injured."