Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-05-31
DOUBLE WRECK.
wreck OF Two Freight Trains Near Kansas
Cfty-FIve Men Killed and Several In
t,r~d-Gnused by Heavy RaiaA

wreck occurred this morning Il Q small |
creek one mile east Of the Milwaukee |
bridge at Randolph and Eve miles from |
This civ. The accident was caused by the |
irving way Of the bridge spanning the |
creek. Many cars and two engines wero |
orecipitated into the water. !
A little before three O'Clock this morning !
an east bound freight train on the Rock
Island approached the creek at high rate
Of speed IN order to clear the way for the
east bound freight on the Hannibal railroad.
The Rock Island uses the Hannibal track
between Kansas City and Cameron. just be-
fore the engine reached the bridge Engip-
eer Pete weltzer noticed the structure
swaggiug nearly to the water, which was
running like q torrent undern cath He
shouted to Fireman Snyder to jump Be-
fore they had time to do SO the train
dashed on to the bridge and both W sl,zer
and Snyder were thrown into the creek.
They escaped with slight injuries. Five
freight cars loaded to their utmost capa-
city then piled into the creek in an indis-
crinlnate mass, spltntering aud smashing
the cars and throwing their contents into
the water and on the banks.
The engine, No. 533. got over the bridge
safely, but was pulled back by the teRdsr
Y. Royston, brakeman, " "a on top OF ono
of the freight cars which went into the
creex, and was instantly killed. being
mashed beyond recognition. Royston was
a married man and lived at Edgsrton, Kan.
Brakeman Edward c. Armstrong was
sent ahead to flag the Hannibal freight.
He mistook the tracks, and alkod along
oc the Wabash tracks in the direction OF
the Milwaukee bridge. Armstrong dad not
carry a lantern, and as the moon was shin
ing brightly he relied upon being able
TO stop the train before IL got
to the bridge. Just below the Milwaukee
bridge both the Ham bal and Wabash
tracks make a sudden curve TO the right
so that a coming ira n can not BE- seen IN
til it is we'll out from under the bridge.
Both sides of the track arc heavily wooded
so that it would be impossible for any one
to see headlight until it had passed The
curve Armstrong, II is supposed, walked
down tue track near the bridge and
turned to r, trace his steps when he
was struck by we>tbound freight train
on the Wabash railroad. The Rock Island
men claim that the Wabash train
had No headlight and thai Arnstr0ng was
run over and killed before he had time TO
| e, t off the track.
1t was Just tel minutes after the wreck
| ing of the Rock Island train when the w a.
bash freight, cong osed of an engine and
| twelve box cars, heavily laden, came thun-
dering along. Tue wreck was not discov-
cred by the engineer, lamin Mcclellan,
until 1t was too late TO stop his train. He
sounded the whistle and the engineer, fire.
man and brakeman jumped from the train.
In jumIirg Engineer Mcclellan was
thrown against pile Of ties HIS scalp
was torn in several places aud one OF his
| legs broken. ~
At this time the men about the WIRE OK
heard heartrending shrieks and ssw two
men standing on top of the approaching
train. They were gestic Hating and shoul /
| ing for help. Their cries were drowned by
the horrible crash which followed. Tue
Wabash bridge was parallel to that OF the
| Hannibal and distant from it only about
two feet. They were brAced together, and
| the breaking Of the former destroyed the
braces. Instead of this bridge breaking
| it turned to one side, throwing the engine
into the creek and piing eleven cars on
top of it The engine is completely demol-
| ished and the cars are broken into spin
| tiers.
The wreck of the Wabash train was more
disaslr ous than that of the ROCK Islam !.
The bodies of two men were found, terrib y
| cut and mangled. From their dress it IS
| supposed that they were tramps Steall 6
their last ride on the top o! the train. tbs
noise of the escaping steam from both en-
gines, an the possibility of an explosion,
p cvented the train hands from attempting
| to res cue any one who might be IN the
wreck. Alter the turmoil had ceased
faint groans were heard from the Wa
bash wrecd. Willing hands at once
set 10 work to find the unfortunate. After
working half an hour the men pulled ou
Ben Norris, a colored youth, who was
pinned down by heavy beams with his
face and head neHrly submerged In the
water which had been damned Up by the
wreck and now was beginning t. run ovel
| il. Norris was roustabout and WAS In 1
box Car when the wreck o, CARED. Nearly
every bone in his body was broken and hs
is not expected 10 1--we.
Brakeman John H Legion Of the Wabas 81
train sustained internal injuries.
The spot where the accident occurred j:
low ground, lying between the foot of the
bluffs and about 10I yards from the Mis-
souri, river. The bridges spanned a ravint
hich is forty feet wide and twenty fee
deep. They were the common wooden
railroads to cross ravineS and small
streams. The heavy rains Of last nigh
washed away the piers and left nothing e
support the bridge bit the soft clayeJ
earth on ell her side, which was being con
tinually washed away By the incrcasin:
volume of water.
Later-At $50 this evening the body o.
James Taylor, another tramp, was taker
from the wreck. He Was found beneath ;
pair of freight car tracks and his dealt
| must have been instantaneous. The work
| men ialso discovered the remains OF an
OH r. man later, who is supposed to be an
| other tramp, lnasmUch as the tralnmel
have ali been accounted for. He was held
down under mass OF heavy t:mbers, ant
as it would have required much time to ex
tricate the toly the wOrknen turned theii
attention to repairing the track.
The list of killed AMI injured is now as
follows: Kilei-E. &. Armstrong, Roch
Island brakeman, Belleville, o.; Y. Royston
Rock Island brakeman, Edgerton Junction
Kan; Emil Strohan. tramp, Allegheny
Pa; James Taylor, tramp, residence IN
known; unknown tramp. Injured-Ber
McClenand, Rock Island engineer; Michae
Hatt, tramp; Elmer Norris, colored tramp;
c. j. Snyder, Rock Island fireman.
The Rock Island places its loss at $50, 0o(
and the Wabash at 5000, but these esti
mates are thought to be under the mark
1t is thought That early tomorrow the
tracks will be cleared and the bridges re
paired so that traffic can De resumed
--Life-Insurance Madam.
our company has never failed to pay a
single claim. and when you consider
that nnc.sixtll of our holders die everY