Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-05-13

derneath, in the water. The tender turned
bottom upwards, and the roof of the cab wa
thrown thirty fest The fireman, Nicholas A.
,, Stohr, was found dead In the cab. The snok
ing-car and the next passenger car went ovel
on their sides. The three sleepers remained
on the track, the passengers being uninjured
but greatly frightened. Two or three pAssen
gers In the forward cars were hurt, but moi
seriously. Their names we're A. II. Hurley,
indianapolis; 7. Dannohor, Of Jacksonville;
and Joseph Polite, OF Blackwell. Mo.
A tramp named E. A. Walsh, who was steal.
ing q ride, was severely cut about the head
and face. He was taken to the st. Louis Dis
pensary and from there was sent to the City
hospital.
It was q most fortunate escape to the pass
engers, many Of whom arrived in st. Louis on
the train that reached that place about four
O'Clock Sunday afternoon.
MR. W. 8. cRoxToN,
who has been carrying on q branch factory at
Dallas, Texas, for Haydock & Bro, of St. Lou
is, was aboard the train. He stopped at the
where he was found aud interviewed by . Re-
PUBLICAN IcpOTtSIs nc Stdtco Iu6t uo 1clt
Dallas on the Texas Pacific ON Friday night.
en- O'Clock on the train for &c. Louis. About
four O'Clock Sunday morning. when about two
and one half miles north of Bismarck, the
wreck occurred. There had been the heaviest
fall of rain, it was stated, ever known In that
section, which washed out the gravel under
the track, causing 1t to slide sideways The
water had been over the track, which was on
. slight embankment, perhaps three feet in
height. The condition Of the wreck, as it ap-
peared to Mr.. Croxton, was that the tender
ran over the engine, and striking 1t twisted it
around. The mail car, which was next, was
thrown on its eide, abou: thirty feet to the
left OF the engine, aud about up even with 1t.
The baggage car and smoking car were thrown
of some ten or fifteen feet from the track and
lay ON their sides, about at right angles to each
other. still coupled together. Then came the
forward sleeper, which with the Others remain
ed on the track, none of the passengers inside
smoking car were slightly injured, but not Sc
riOusly. The engineer and fireman were killed
on the engine and tender. The train was rum
ming at a slow rate. No one attaches any blame
to the railroad company. They used great eau
ton. The opinion was expressed that the cars
were running at the time from ten to fifteen
miles an hour. The train was run back to
Bismarck for breakfast.
MR.. M. II A. ATKINS,
of Poplar Bluff, land agent At that place, who
was passenger on the train, states that the
engineer fell into four feet OF water, aud the
tender fell on top of him, and besides the
on him ard he was completely parboiled, so
that the skin peeled of. The fireman was
found in the cab and not scalded. Mr.. Atkins
states that the water was about three feet
deep and washed the track completely out.
The engine and tender had evidently passed
the washout. The mail, express and baggage,
smoking and next passenger cars went over
on their sides. The mail car shot thirty feet
from the track, twisting the tender round and
turning 1t bottom upward and breaking the
coupling. The locomotive was a comrlete
wreck. The root OF the cab was thrown thirty
feet. Death was doubtless instantaneous to
both the engineer and fireman. Mr.. Atkins
was in the second PASSENGER coach at the
time. 1t cantpd over on It's side. 1t was
about two thirds full Of passengers. The Ia
dies screamed out, but none was hurt In that
car. The engineer, he also says, was running
quite slowly and cautiously at the time.
There was an unprec tented fall of rain at the
time, and from all that MIR. Atkins could learn
it would indicate that q water-spout had
bursted in that locality. Nowhere else did it
seem that the water had risen SO high above
its ordinary level. The DAY was just dawning
when the accident occurred, and it was still
raining very hard. Two men in the smoking
car received slight cuts and the tramp, he says,
who was standing on the front plat Orm, was
thrown of and hurt about the head. 1t was
one of those accidents which no foresight
could prevent.
Conductor Pratt and all the officials did
in their power for the comfort of
the passengers. They were taken back to Bis
marck and provided with breakfast. The
culverts and waterways were, according to
Mr.. Atkins, amply sufficient for any or1in airy
rainfall. Conductor Pratt and Mr.. Walker
walked no to Irondale in the rain, three and u
half miles, for additional passenger cars, and
at the same time he sent his porter and brake
man back to Bismarck-three miies-for ar
engine.
Il is stated that the train from Belmont, on
the way up, passed the place where the wreck
occurred about an hour previously.
The bodies of the engineer, Mcpherson, and
The fireman, Stohr, we're taken up on the train
to Carondelet, where both leave families. Mr..
MCPHERSON leaves a wife and two children.
He came here from the New York Central
railroad, and was q good engineer and has
been In the habit of running the engine for
The pav-train. Mr.. Stohr came also from New
York. and his remains we're sent to that State
Tor interment. |