Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-05-25
Wreck on a Western Railroad.

The west bound train on tbs st Louis and
San Francisco Railroad Uhicb e st. Louis
Thursday night at e:15 W.: wicked at 8
point three milo, west of Sullivan, No.,
which place is sixty. eight mil west of ST..
Louis. Not pr -senger escaped unhurt.
and forty five are known to have been ser
iously injured, though no deaths yet are
reported, The train was running at q
high rate of speed when suddenly, without
warning, the track gave way, and the loco
motive, baggage car and five coaches went
over the embankment. The train men and
those only slightly injured at once set to
work to prevent the additional horror OF
fire, in which they succeeded, and then
turned their attention to the mora unfor-
tuuate injured, and in a very short time
torty-fve passengers, all BADLY hurt, had
been released from the debris. A tempor.
ary hospital was improvised st Sullivan,
and the most seriously Injured were taken
there, while others were conveyed to st.
Louis on the relief train, which was hurried
to the scene of the disaster. It was 1l:25
D. m. when the accident occurred. The
train was travelling at a high rate of speed,
and most Of the passengers had already
gone to sleep, while the few remaining
awake we're about to do 30. There ia q
curve in the road ebout three miles west of
Sullivan, and when the this point was reaoh-
ed sudden jolt and jar was felt all over the
train. Everybody felt it, and the people In
the rear cars could hear the forward coaches
ratting and rumbling over the ties and the
crushing noise of cars being demolished. A
creek is crossed by the road at that point
and there is steep embankment thirty feet
high. Most of the passengers thought The
train was going through 8 bridge, and feel
ING of horror chilled their blood. In an in
stant all the coaches except the two sleeping
cars had been thrown from the rails. Peo-
ple were thrown about in the cars in all di.
rections and some of them were thrown from
the coaches and down the embankment.
One man was thrown right out of window
on the opposite side of the coach from which
be was sitting and sent rolling down the
emban kment to the edge Of the creek. His
feet we're in the water. Another passenger
on the same coach was tossed from the rear
end of the car to the forward end, and, In
fact, men, women and children were thrown
about promiscuously. The train proper Was
made up of a mailing and express car, bag
gage car, smoker, a ladies' car q reclining
chair Car and two Pullman seepers. Back
of these sleepers were hitcheG five empty
coaches of the San Antonio and
Aranzas Pass road, which had been
picked up at some way station. The
front truck of the first sleeper jumped the
track, but the rest of the car remained on
and the rear sleeper and empty coaches be-
hind it never left the track. Fortunately,
there were no fires in any of the cars, and
the jolt extinguished the lights Immediate
| ly. Otherwise o confsgration would have
been caused, and there is no telling how
many lives might have been lost. AS it
was, most of the forward cars were smashed
into smithereens. The explanation given
! of il BY the trainmen to the passengers was
that the spikes and fsh-plates had been re.
| moved from the rail at the curve, thus lesv.
| ing the rail loose on the ties. The forward
portion of the locomotive passed the place
all right, but the tender jumped the track
and was thrown part of the way down an
embsnkment. Who removed the spikes
and plates ia not known, but the supposi.
ton is the work was done by train robbers
who wanted to hold up the train. Still no
robbers put in an appearance, and If the &C.
cIdent was caused by them, they must have
either weakened in their purpose or have
thrown the wrong train. The road officials
oaiu 1t is clear case of train-wrecking.
| On the train was large body OF physicians
returning from Springfield, where the State
Medical Convention is being held, and they
also rendered valuable assistance in caring
| for the injured.