The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-09-28
A Collision West of Sedalia
with Terrible Re.
suits.
Stupid Telegraph Operator Must
Shoulder the Entire
Blame.
Engineers James DOwler and j. 3
Light, of SedaIia, Give up
Their Lives.
Fifty-TwO Head of Cattle Killed
and Burned to
Crisp,
Statement.

Statement.
Al 4:15 a. m. yesterday two trains
collided sixty-six miles west of this
city with terrible and fatal effect. The
engineers, James Dowler and j. S.
Light, both residents Of this city,
were killed instantly and their bodies
were not recovered for severa! hours
after the accident. The loss to the
railroad company will not fall short of
$4,000.
THE DETAILS.
A regular freight coming east, con-
sisting of locomotive and eighteen
cars of merchandise and three empty
cars, in charge of Frank Mount, con-
ductor, and j. S. Light, engineer, and
an extra freight going west, consisting
Of % cars of live stock, in charge
of Conductor j. III. ROdecker and
Engineer Jas. Dowlen collided three
miles west of Lees Summit.
ABOUT THE ORDERS.
The extra going west had orders to
meet the freight coming east at Little
Blue station, three miles west of the
scene of the accident. When the
east bound freight was ready to leave
Little Blue. the dispatcher at Sedalia
asked the operator at Greenwood,
which is east of Lees Sum-
NIT, if the extra freight going west
had passed there. He answered
promptly, "Not yet"
The dispatcher then changed the
orders to have the two trains meet at
Lees Summit. The operator at
Greenwood took this last order to be
delivered to the extra freight going
west, and when it was repeated back,
he gave the usual o. K, and that,
too, after the extra had passed his
station.
THE CRASH.
1t was dark when the two trains
came together in a deep rock cut.
The engines locked in each others
embrace with grip of iron and steel,
and the cars piled ON top of each
other, reaching to the top of the cut.
The seething hot steam poured from
each boiler in fearful rapidity. This
noise, mingled with the agonizing
believing of the dumb brutes made
scene terrible to witness and to hear of.
The voices of Dowler and Light
were hushed. They were prob
ably killed at the first shock.
1t is thought that they both
jumped from their cabs and were in
stantly covered with the debris of the
broken cars.
SIX CARS
and the two LOGON olives were burned,
and fifty-two head of cattle were killed
and burned.
The fire department of Kansas
City sent couple of steamers on
special train and they played streams
of water on the fire from noon until
FIVE o'clock last night before the fire
was extinguished.
THE OPERATOR
At Greenwood is named d G.. Jami.
son and is aged about thirty years.
He has been considered a careful,
cautious and unusually reliable man.
He telegraphed his resignation yester-
day morning to the chief dispatcher
and would not then admit that the
extra had passed Greenwood. His
acts remain unexplained and he will
probably be prosecuted under the
criminal law.
THE DEAD ENGINEERS.
James Dowler is an old employee
of the company and one of their most
trusted and reliable men and a thorough
gentleman. He was about 40 years
of age and leaves widow with three
or four children. The family reside
at 622 south Engineer street.
j. S. Light, resided 1851 east
18th. street He wos uidowar