London Evening Advertiser
- Freight trains crash head-on
- Street railway problem urgent
- Prime Minister Meighen resigns Monday
A freight collision in dense fog kills three London railway workers and injures two; the paper says the cause awaits investigation. Alongside it, a municipal deadline threatens to delay a choice between railway and bus arrangements, while Ottawa prepares for a new government with some appointments still uncertain.
Selected first-page body paragraphs from the collision, street railway and ministry reports; not complete articles. Gaps between selected accident paragraphs are preserved as separate paragraphs.
Translation
Freight trains crash head-on
Three London railroadmen lost their lives and two others were injured at 6:30 a.m. today when two C. P. R. freight trains crashed head-on in a heavy fog at Mileage 53, two miles east of Kent’s Bridge, near Chatham.
Officials stated that it would be impossible to account for the cause of the wreck until after an investigation had been made. This will be started today.
Art Williams, head brakeman of the westbound train, escaped death by inches when, unaware of the impending disaster, he left the engine cab in which he was riding and started for the rear end of the train just two minutes before the crash.
Street railway problem urgent
The City Council must make its decision, one way or the other, in regard to the city’s transportation problems before Nov. 8, or the whole street railway issue will be shelved for another year.
The bylaw to hold a plebiscite, asking the public to vote on three questions, a railway franchise extension, an out and out purchase of the road, or the institution of a complete bus system, must pass the council at its November meeting, according to City Clerk Samuel Baker. Otherwise, a vote cannot be taken at the December municipal elections.
City Clerk Baker points out that the vote must be advertised at least one month before the day of election.
Prime Minister Meighen resigns Monday
Ottawa, Sept. 18.—Liberals are foregathering in Ottawa for the formation of a new Government. Some of Mr. Mackenzie King’s ex-ministers are already here; others are expected over the week-end. On Monday, Premier Meighen will meet members of his Government and place his resignation in the hands of the governor-general.
In the formation of a new administration, Mr. King’s task should not be a difficult one and is not likely to occupy more than a few days. As a basis he has the members of his old Government returned at the polls. In these there is likely to be little change. Some new blood may be introduced. Whether Robert Forke, former leader of the Progressives, will accept a portfolio is not yet certain.
Context
A regional rail accident strikes a local community
The collision happened near Chatham, but the deaths were announced as the loss of London railwaymen. That framing connected a distant stretch of track to families and workplaces in the newspaper’s city. Williams’s movement away from the cab gives the disaster an intensely personal scale: a routine change of position became the difference between survival and death. The investigation would address the railway system; the front page first made the human loss local.
A transport choice with an electoral deadline
London’s options involved both technology and ownership: continue a private railway concession, purchase the line or replace the system with buses. The immediate obstacle was the timetable for a public vote. A month’s notice meant the council had to act well before the December election. This explains the urgency of a debate whose consequences would last much longer than a month: missing a procedural deadline would defer the whole choice for a year.
An election victory becomes a government
Winning seats did not itself complete the transfer of office. Meighen still had to resign to the governor general, and King had to assemble a ministry. Re-elected former ministers gave him experienced candidates, while the possible inclusion of Forke linked cabinet-making to relations with the Progressives. King’s next ministry formally began on September 25, after the steps anticipated in this dispatch.
Original
FREIGHTS PLUNGE HEAD-ON TOGETHER
Three London railroadmen lost their lives and two others were injured at 6:30 a.m. today when two C. P. R. freight trains crashed head-on in a heavy fog at Mileage 53, two miles east of Kent’s Bridge, near Chatham.
Officials stated that it would be impossible to account for the cause of the wreck until after an investigation had been made. This will be started today.
Art Williams, head brakeman of the westbound train, escaped death by inches when, unaware of the impending disaster, he left the engine cab in which he was riding and started for the rear end of the train just two minutes before the crash.
STREET RAILWAY PROBLEM URGENT
The City Council must make its decision, one way or the other, in regard to the city’s transportation problems before Nov. 8, or the whole street railway issue will be shelved for another year.
The bylaw to hold a plebiscite, asking the public to vote on three questions, a railway franchise extension, an out and out purchase of the road, or the institution of a complete bus system, must pass the council at its November meeting, according to City Clerk Samuel Baker. Otherwise, a vote cannot be taken at the December municipal elections.
City Clerk Baker points out that the vote must be advertised at least one month before the day of election.
PREMIER MEIGHEN RESIGNS MONDAY
Ottawa, Sept. 18.—Liberals are foregathering in Ottawa for the formation of a new Government. Some of Mr. Mackenzie King’s ex-ministers are already here; others are expected over the week-end. On Monday, Premier Meighen will meet members of his Government and place his resignation in the hands of the governor-general.
In the formation of a new administration, Mr. King’s task should not be a difficult one and is not likely to occupy more than a few days. As a basis he has the members of his old Government returned at the polls. In these there is likely to be little change. Some new blood may be introduced. Whether Robert Forke, former leader of the Progressives, will accept a portfolio is not yet certain.
Source: Holding institution