The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-10-29
Locomotive and Coaches Thrown from the
Rails by an Open Switch--A Car Takes Fire
and the Inmates Perish in Flames
Thirteen of the Passengers Lose Their
Lives in Their Blazing Prison.
Later Reports Place the Dead List at Twenty
Six-Scenes In and About the Wreck
Eight Lives Lost in Bnrning House.


A Passenger Train Nerailed and Thirteen
People Burned TO Death.
MILWAUKEE, Oct. 28-The limited passenger
train on the Chicago, milwaukee & st. Paul road
which left here last night at 10 o'clock, was de-.
| rallied at Ryocena when about three hours out.
| and thrown into an old srone-quarry. IL is ad-
! mitted at the general Offices Of the company in
this city that one coach and three sleepers were
| wrecked and Eve or six persons killed. Physi-
clans left this city early train for the
| of the disaster.
dispatch to the Evening Wisconsin from the
scene of the accident says the limited train ran
through an open switch and plunged into a sand
bank The mail, baggage and day coaches were
piled on top of it. In the day coach there were
twelve or fifteen persons One man asd two
children were the only saved. The others
were burned in the cars. The man who escaped
had an arm broken and was otherwise bruised
He is now at Columbus, and is doing we'll. A
woman whose home is in Winona handed her
two children out of the window and burned to
death in the car. Louis Brinker and Emil
| Woltersdorf, of Columbus, Wis, are among the
dead. The names and residences of the others
cannot now be ascertained. Coroner Allen is
bodies all that is left of the ill-fated travellers
The burning of the baggage obliterates the only
clew to the identity of the occupants of the
burned car, and it may never be known to GER
| tainty how many perished in the wreck.
| Assistant General Manager Tucker of the St
| Paul railway, made the following statement:
"Our limited express ran into an open switch fif-
teen miles this side of Portage. Wis, last night
The baggage and mail cars were demolished,
and, so far as we know, five people were killed
We do not know who they were. as yet. do not
think any more were killed. I don't know how
many were injured, or how badly. The demol-
ished cars caught fire and were burned. One
sleeper was also destroyed by fire. We have
sent out two special trains this morning with
physicians and help, and everything possible is
| being done. 1 don't know what the loss is
That is of consequence; the loss of life is the
| trouble"
| There is reason to believe the loss of life is
greater, although the widest stories are in cir
culation. 1t is said the most distressing and
| narrowing scenes took place after the wreck
The accideas is the first one to the new limited
express. which runs at very high rate of
| speed.
| The train did not carry its usual number of
| passengers from Chicago. From the Palmer
House, w. A. Sanders, of Brooklyn, and G. R.
| Fairbanks, of Florida. were on the train. From
the Grand Pacific the train took Right Reverend
and Mrs. Bishop Wbrple. of Faribault, Minn
G. Fl. Longley, of Winona and J. G. Boyden, of
st. Paul, who were. in all probability, in the
disaster. From the same hotel also went George
Stored and Cyrus Beckett, travelling men, from
New York, and Edward Peter Of London, Eng
land. Two or three passengers also went from
the Sherman and fremont houses, but the
| names could not be ascertained The passen-
gers named were very likely travelling in the
sleeping cars and, while it is reported that none
In the sleepers were killed. yet they may be
| among the injured.
| Engineer Searle, at first reported killed was
only slightly hurt He arrived at Milwaukee at
ii o'clock this morning He says that when the
crash came he was thrown down with two large
packing cases, which rested across his body. His
| lungs were filled with smoke, and he at first
| thought he injured internally, anc that he
was bleeding at the lungs He was taken from
the debris, however. without serious injury, and
able to render assistance to the other unfort-
unates-
B. Loewenbach, a job printer, of Milwaukee,
was on the wrecked train. He says the scenes
after the accident were narrowing The passen-
ger coach, which, he says, contained between
| fifteen and twenty persons, was telescoped at
both ends, and the fire and smoke that envel-
oped the wreck prevented tho imprisoned and
| injured passengers from escaping Passengers
| from c1o
cars. but they were poweress to render assistance.
Men and women could be seen tearing their
hair in the agony of the moment, and frightful
screams issued from the deash-trap. One
heavy woman, in particular, he saws, tore
up one OF the seats with almost superhuman
strength and endeavored to break her way out
of the flaming pyre, but her strength failed,
and she fell to the floor and met horrible
death. Only three persons escaped from the
passenger car, Mr.. Loewenbach says-a man
and two children. The man was observed as
he forced his way through ventilator on the
top OF the car with all his clothing on his body.
from his waist downward burned off, and his
flesh roasted and bleeding from cuts inflicted by
broken glass. Everyone of the wrecked cars
! was consumed, with the exception of the last
sIeeperi WHICH was cut away from the burning
wreck All of the bodies of the victims were
burned in the wreck.
There are two side-tracks at the place, and at
the time the train was due there, last night, both
were occupied by freights, one by a wild train
and the other by train No IA, conductor Fl. P.
Hankey, of Milwaukee, which had just pulled in
from the west to allow the limited to- pass. No.
IA was very long, and the conductor was at the
head of the train, relying upon the brakeman to
attend to the switch. One report says the rea. :
brakeman, whose business it was to close the
switch after the train, for some reason neglected
to do so. The other, and the more probable,
story is that he started back to close the switch.
but before he could reach it the limited, which
does not stop at any except large places, came
tearing down grade at fifty miles an hour, and
left the rails at the open switch. The sidings
are in @cut, where the road curves SO thar the
switch light cannot be seen from the east until
2train is within few rods, SO that tho engineer
OF the limited could not see the switch light
turned wrong until too late 10 stop Tho engine
y'ft the track, ran short distance and brought
hp against she side of the cut, foppine over.