RAILWAY SMASH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 142, 17 June 1899, Page 3 (Supplement)

RAILWAY SMASH.

A 'SHOW' COLLISION,

A railway collision as a public spectacle! The idea could have occurred to no human being but an enterprising Yankee showman, with an eye to business of the most collossal kind. A train wrecking scene, pre-arranged, and 'witnessed by forty thousand people, is a notion which beats Barnum on his own ground. Yet such a 'show' is an accomplished fact. The collision, wdiich was between two powerful railway locomotives, took place some time ago near Denver, Colorado.

The instigators of the scheme were a number of 'free silver' agitators, who represented the majority of the residents in the Western States. They were intrusted with the duty of raising funds to defray expenses. A suitable site was selected and inclosed with fencing, solid and high enough to prevent the 'show' from being witnessed by anyone not paying an entrance fee of fifty cents.

The engines were of great power, and though not new were by no means obsolete. A track over a mile in length was laid in the centre of the arena. On the day of .the great event the engines were decorated with flags and bunting. it was decided that one of the engines should be called 'Bill McKinley,' the other 'Mark Hanna.' Now, there is a deal of humour in the selection of these names. Por the namesake. of these doomed monsters were the tivo great statesmen whose political policy the 'free silver' organisers of the smash -were engaged in fighting.

The opposing engines saluted each Other with their whistles, then each was backed half a mile from the midway spot at which they were to meet in the colossal crash.

At a given signal the drivers again turned on the whistles, threw open the throttles, and jumped for thejr lives.

Away went 'Bill McKinley' and 'Mark Hanna,' slowly at first, but with ever-gathering speed. Puffing, snorting, their whistles screaming like two fiends in fury, the terriffic monsters bore down upon each other. There came a crash, a sound like, thunder, the sharp crackling of steel rods and iron plates, the fierce hiss of steam, and clouds of smoke that hung above, the ruins like a funeral pall, and the 'show' was at an end.

It was a scene that will never be forgotten' by the fortythousand silent and awe-struck witnesses, many of whom were heard to say that on no account would thay ever consent to witness such a sight again. The fact is that the show turned out to b"e by no means so free from danger as the spectators anticipated. It happened that the 'Bill McKinley' was much the better engine of the two, and starting earlier than bin opponent upset the careful calculations made as to the exact spot where the collision should take place. The faster engine reached a speed of forty miles per hour to the other's twenty-five or thirty. The consequence was that, the engines, instead of meeting in the open spaco left clear of spectators for the purpose collided at a point round which a great crowd was assembled, and only a panic-stricken stampede prevented a terrible disaster.

The 'crash' was voted perfect, however,'except by the spectators on the side nearest the unexpected meeting place, who at the moment were seeking shelter in flight. Indeed, the spectacle of twenty thousand souls rushing to safety was in itself an appalling one.

It is marvellous to record, however, that no one was seriously hurt.

The two rods projecting from the front of th locomotive on the right wTere each fastened to a pilot, the object being to pierce the antagonist's boiler. At the crash they were both driven into one bpiler, with the result that the other boiler had bhly the open whistle to exhaust the steam.

Everybody was satisfied; even the collision promoters, who had a balance over expenses of about ten thousand dollars, or in plain .-£ s d, something over £2000!—' Strand Magazine.'