Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-12-31
SANTA FE WRECK.
The Chicago Express Ditched Near
Newcomb, Mo.
FIFTEEN PERSONS RECEIVE INJURY.
Tho Conductor Probably Fatally Hurt
Conjectures to the Cause of the
AccIdent-Perhaps Due to
Rails Spreading.

KANSAS CITY, Mo-, Dec. 2S.-The San
Ia Fe vestibule limited train. due here
at $3.50 a NJ, met with a serious acct
dent on an embankment between Bos-
worth and Newcomb, Mo-, about seven
ty-five miles east of Kansas City at
o'clock Yesterday morning Five coaches
were derailed and fifteen persons were
injured, some very painfully Conduc-
tor Woodwork was badly hurt inter
nally and will probably die. Mrs De
Forrest, of Great Bend Kan, was also
| injured internally but it is thought not
fatally. They are the most seriously
| injured and were brought to Kansas
| City, as were also Mrs. Toomey, of
| Marion, Kan, and Mrs. De FORESTS
sister.
1t is supposed that the accident was
caused by a draw bar falling down in
| such a way as to be caught by the
trucks of the head chair car, throwing
it from the track. The other dragged
after it down the embankment An
other theory is that the. mishap was
| caused by the spreading of the rails
The train left Chicago at o'clock
| Saturday night The embankment
where the accident occurred is sixteen
| feet high and is just west of a Howe
| truss bridge over small stream called
Bear creek. The engine, baggage and
| express cars had passed in safety when
the head chair car suddenly plunged
from the track, dragging after it the
second chair car, two Pullman sleepers
and the dining car.
| The cars were overturned, but all the
occupants escaped uninjured except
those in the first chair car This car
| was turned about and hurled from the
track with great force. It was lifted
from its trucks and turned completely
over but reached the bottom of the
embankment in an upright position
| A complete list of the injured is as
follows:
Conductor Woodwork, badly hurt
internally; will probably die.
| Mrs. De Forrest, Great Bend, Kan.
badly injured internally.
| William Kaston, 3SS Cleburne street,
Chicago, head cook dining car, scalded.
Charles Dempsey, Mansfield, O., sec
ond cook dining car, sea ded.
| Mrs Eliza Toomey, Marion, Kan.
scalp wound and sprained ankle.
c. W. Scott, ISL Belden avenue, Chi
| cago, scalp wound.
| j. r. Whiteford. enploye Atchison,
| Topeka 81 Santa Fe, Topeka, scalp
| wound.
William w. Decker, clerk, Topeka,
shoulder slightly injured.
Two children of Mr.. and Mrs. Decker,
small scalp wounds
w j. Kruss, Pullman conductor, back
slightly sprained
j. c. Boleu, Servia, Kan. arm broken.
Miss Nellie A. Watson, 314 Tyler
street. Topeka, badly bruised
b. d. Smith, Chicago, slightly injured.
| While the cause of the accident is
only conjecture it is claimed that it is
hardly possible anything could have
been the matter with the track as only
few miautes previously a heavy
freight train passed over the embank-
ment safely. 1t is stated that the speed
| of the Inflated train was not excessive.
Engineer Prescott, who was at the
| throttle, says that the first intimat1on
he had that nything was wrong was
when the air brake was set by the
chair car being broken loose from the
train.
Three of the injured passengers and
Conductor Woodwork were brought
to Kansas City and are now being cared
fer at the Union Depot hotel They
are Mrs. De Forest and her sister Mrs.
| Toomev. Only one of the fifteen in
jured had any bones broken. Conduc
tor Woodwork, who is the most Sc
riously injured, was walking through
the chair car at the time of the acct.
dent. He was caught between the
chairs Mrs. De Forrest was also
badly hurt.
Mr.. A. w. Brown, travelling man OF
New York, was a passenger in one OF
the sleeping cars He was seen at the
Midland hotel last night. Mr.. Brown
says that when the cars left the track
they turned completely over and the
front chair car, in which were the PEG
pie who were injured, left its truck;
and alighted right side up at the bottom
of the embankment Mr.. Brown says
that he crawled through window OF
the sleeper and was about the first &c
be extricated from the wreck From
what he could learn he thought that the
rails had spread and that it was due te
the passing of a heavy freight train q
few minutes before the passenger.
| Actor Seaman Hopelessly Insane.
4 oO