mental condition, and have had no illness within 25 or 30 years requiring the service of a doctor. There was nothing defective about the air brakes or other mechanism of the engine or train that I was operating, nor was there any defective condition of any of the signals or track upon which I was operating to the best of my knowledge. The accident was due solely to the fact that I accidentally fell asleep, and I had no intent to injure any person, nor was same done with malice, but solely through an accident, as aforesaid. The ICC report concluded, "This accident was caused by Engine-man Sargent being asleep, and from this cause, failing to observe the stop indication of automatic signal 2581, and the warnings of the flagman of the circus train, and to be governed by them." The report was also critical of the older wooden cars, whose oil lamps ignited the fire immediately after the collision. Although Sargent and his fireman, Gustave Klauss, were criminally charged in Lake County, Indiana, following a trial the jury found itself deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared. Prosecutors declined to re-try the case, and charges were dismissed on June 9, 1920. Aftermath The train wreck occurred on a Saturday, and its effects caused the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus's show in Hammond and another in Monroe, Wisconsin, on June 24 to be canceled. However, the circus performed on June 25 in Beloit, Wisconsin, with other circuses providing some of the acts. References Further reading External links Interstate Commerce Commission investigation report Hammond, Indiana history Danger Ahead! Railroad Disasters 1918 in Indiana Railway accidents and incidents in Indiana Railway accidents in 1918 Hammond, Indiana Circus disasters Accidents and incidents involving Michigan Central Railroad United States home front during World War I June 1918 events