Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-10-29
BIG WRECK ON THE 20"
FOUR PEOPLE KILLED ANu
MANY INJURED.
Ran Into an Open switch-Omaha and
Denver Express, Heavily Loaded, Hurled
Into the Ditch-Names OF the Victims.

CnlcagO, burlington ana quincy main
line two miles from Monmouth, Ill. /,
when the Omaha and Denver fast express
crashed into an open switch, instant ly
killing four persons and seriously injur.
Ing score or more of others The fol-
lowing are the killed:
George Courtney, foreman OF engineers.
A. A. Emery, engineer
Mrs George Allen, of Lamont, Iowa
4. A Johnson, OF Avon, Ill
The following persons were seriously
injured:
w. p. Anderson. engine fireman, of Gales
burg, ILL.,. scalded and bruised.
John Burner, aged 40, Forreston, ILL.,,
married lost left arm.
7. ]. Kirby, "a years OF age unmarried,
stock dealer of Lenox, Iowa; left arm OF.
5. W. Cooper, aged 80, Corning, Iowa;
scalp wound and hand injured.
Louis Wigers, OF Oakland, Neb., aged So;
bruised on left side.
Agnes Miller. aged 90, Brook6eld, Ohio;
cut over left eye.
The following persons were slightly
injured:
James Miller. Brookfeld, Ohio, aged a.;
right arm slightly bruised.
Catherine Miller, BrookAeld; arm bruised.
Mrs. Catherine Corus, aged go, Murray,
Iowa; left eye and face slightly bruised.
E. &. Mcdonald, aged AZ, South Milford,
Ind. clavicle fractured.
Elizabeth j. Mcdonald, his mother, aged
"a; injury TO left shoulder.
E. Rowe, Shenandoah, Iowa, aged so;
hand cut and leg hurt
Forest Rowe, his son, aged 10; head
slightly hurt
jeremiah Canty, Glenlyon, Pa; shoulder
and head slightly cut
Nate Peters, 1923 Heklin avenue, Chica-
go; shoulder slightly bruised.
Oscar Zimmerman, aged SO, Monmouth,
ILL.,; hand cut by glass.
L. s Bricher. aged 25, High Creek, Iowa;
scalp wound.
Mrs. A. @ swope. aged A, Harrisburg,
Pa; slight leg bruise.
A. c. swope, aged AZ, Harrisburg, Pa. F;
slightly bruised.
George Allen, Lamont. Iowa; slight
bruise.
E. d. Evans, Genesee, Wis; right shoul-
der injured.
James Farrell, New London, Iowa; slight
cut In head.
James Scarborough, aged As. Monmouth T;
slight cut
p E Nelson. Anacortes. Wash; head
badly cut
The wonder is that hundred lives
were not lost. for the train Of ten cars
was heavily loaded and the destruction
of the coaches, with the exception OF
two sleepers, is complete.
No. 5, the ill-fated train, was made up
of two sleepers, three chair cars, one
smoker, one baggage car, one express
and two mail cars. Many OF the passen-
\ say not one eeriously injured Is from
| that city.
The train had been running at high
rate of speed when, without a moments
| warning, il was hurled off the rails and
| into the empty freight cars standing on
| the side track. All the cars except two
| sleeepers were overturned and com
pletely ruined. Those passengers who
were not injured were scared out OF
| their senses. Women screamed and
tainted, and the cries from among the
| debris were frightfuL
Shortly after the accident Superin
tendent Wilson and Superintendent Rice
with q force of assistants arrived and
began caring for the hurt, All those
who were able to be moved were takeI
| by Mr.. Wilson TO Burlington, where ht
will have them cared for.
The company states that the ca1se ol
| the accident was the malicious displace-
ment of the switch leading to the pottery
works Certain IL is the open switch
caused the disaster. Nobody knows how
t.s -~~. .es~~"~sa. 4ss--Y'---""ussns W."
i cOn says SSNOu PaooCu ONCl
the line since the switch wa.
used Yet after the crash one
OF the train officials ran to the switch
and found IL partly thrown, with the
lock gone and the pin out The Super
intendent says the switch could aot have
been partly turned and a train pass oveI
II without being derailed. He declares
that to be an lmpossibility, and states that
the switch was turned between the time
the seventh train passed the switch and
the hour when the express was due. lie
believes that some malicious scoundrel
purDosely turned the switch
George Courtney. the travelling engi.
neer. was on of the oldest employees OF
the road. He boarded the engine and
took seat by the engineer to see how
tn locomotive, which was brand ne "
one, was working. His first work for
the road was done long before the war,
and probably no man on the division
was more popular among the men or
honor.d with more confidence by the
company.
When the train left the main track
and started on the siding Engineer
Emery reverse his engine and stuck to
his post, but the engine left the trac X
after running few feet on the siding,
and all OF the seven cars, with the ex-
ception of the rear one, Pullman sleep
er, went into the ditch. Engineer Emery,
Trave ing Engineer Courtney and Fire
man Peter Anderson went down with
the engine. The two engineers were
killed instantly and the fireman is prob
ably fatally injured. Those I'm the
smoking car escaped with their lives.
Standing on the steps OF the next car
were two students of Hedding College,
Frank l.. johnson, OF Avon, and W. K
Harding, OF Abingdon They jumped.
and Johnson was killed by bow on the
head from flying timber. Few on the
train escaped without being cut by broken
glass or badly bruised by being thrown
against seats when the shock came
As the train was running behind time
when it reached Galesburg, Conductor
Hughes laughingly blamed the engineer.
~Ali right: hold on to your hats this
time, " replied Emery, as he pulled the
throttle aud started on the ride to his
death. Az the time the train ran onto
the open switch IL wa running at the
rate of fifty miles an hour.
AS far as the matter has thus far been
investigated II looks as II the wrecking
of the train was the result of well-laid
plan. The target light had been extin-
guished, and everything tends to show
that the wreck was prearranged, The
roads officials are looking for the per-
son or porsons who turned the switch