The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-09-29
DITCHED BY ROBBERS.
TERRIBLE PASSENGER TRAIN WRECK
ON A KANSAS RAILROAD.
Baggage and Express Cars Buried in
Debris-Four Persons Killed and About
Twenty-Five Wounded-Robbery the
Motive for the Heartless Deed.

strove today. An appalling loss of
human life was the price they were
willing to pay. Passenger train No.
8 on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa
Fe railway, east-bound, was wrecked
early this morning three miles west
OF OsageCity by train robbers, who
hoped by that means to plumber the
express car of $1,0O0,OO0 being trans
ferred from the City of Mexico to Bos-
ton. A wrecked train; four men
killed and thirty.five men,
women and children injured are
the only results of the attempted
robbery, for the robbers secured not
penny of the treasure to secure which
they emperiled 80 many lives. The
wreck and attempted robbery was de-
liberately planned. To avoid the pos
sibility of leaving clue behind them
the robbers stole the tools with which
they did the dreadful work instead of
purchasing them. They stole crow
bar, wrench and sledge hammer from
the tool house at Barkley, three miles
west OF the wreck, and with them
moved the fish plate which joined
the rails together which would neces-
sarily derail the train. The robbers
evidently selected with care the spot
at which to wreck the train, the top
of the grade up which
train was obliged to ascend, thus les
SEEMING it's speed and at the same time
lessening the chances of so badly
wrecking the train as to bury beneath
the debris the treasure they were
seeking. Their precautions were un-
availing and the very thing they
sought to evade thwarted their ef-
forts. When the train passed over
the weakened track the entire train
was wrecked with the exception of
the rear car and most of the cars were
piled one on top of another above the
express car, burying it and the treas
ure so deep as to require several hours
Ndigging to reach it. The engine, when
it passed over the loosened rails left
the track, swayed to and
fro for second, and then toppled over
with dreadful crash. The engineer
and fireman had no warning of their
dreadful fate and no chance for their
lives. They must have been killed
outright when the engine was
wrecked. The express messenger and
the express guardsman were equally
lnprepared, and were killed in their
ar. There were two hundred an fifty
passengers on the train, but not one
was killed. How they escaped seems
miraculous. The cars were piled one
on top of another and composed a
mass of timber and twisted iron in
which it seemed impossible for any
one to have escaped death. When the
work of rescue was completed, how
ever, all the victims were found alive
and several were badly injured and a
few may die.
A million dollars belonging to the
Mexican Central Railway company
was being forwarded to the company's
headquarters at Boston. 1t was res
,cued from the wreck and turned over
to the Wells, Fargo company here to
DE forwarded to it's destination. Adj
vices from Usage City and Barclay
state that intense excitement and in
,dignation prevail among the people
who declare boldly that the wreckers
will be lynchcd when caught.
ANOTHER ACCOUNI.
Passenger train No. on the Atchi-
son, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad
was wrecked by robbers three miles
west of Usage City at 3 o'clock this
morning. The train consisted of q
baggage. express and mail car, two
day coaches, two chair cars and three
sleepers. 1t was thrown over an EN-
bankment three feet high the first 81
cars were telescoped. Four passeng
ers were killed outright and twenty
five seriously injured.
Killed-Frank Baxter, express mes
senger, Kansas City; Blumenthal
express gardsmaD, Mexico; James
Chadricks, fireman, Topeka;
Ed. Mayer, engineer, Topeka.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS in number
will probably recover, except 5. u.
Kelley of Kansas City, postal clerk,
who is probably fatally hurt; me
wreck occurred at small bridge
which crosses a ravine. There is
heavy down grade and the train was
running fully forty miles an hour. liz
was impossible for the engineer to see
the misplaced rails, and the coaches
we q piled one over the other, until
the baggage and express cars were
completely hidden from view. Three
Pullman sleepers remained on the
track, but the other cars telescoped
and we're demolished. Examination
of the track was made, and it was
found that the fish plates had been
carefully removed, the bolts taken out
and the spikes drawn from ten ties
and the rail bent over to the inside.
Robbery was unquestionably the OBJ
iect. The train carried ST 100000 In
currency, en- route from the Mexican
Central railroad to its headquarters IN
Boston. In examining the ground
about the wreck spot was found
where three men had lain the grass,
and tracks were found leading from
the spot to the train. A: A. ROBIN
son, general manager of the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. offers
reward of $1,000 for the arrest of each OF
the men implicated in wrecklng the
train. 60. NJ
Mai. w. Fl. Llewellyn, santa re
live stock agent, who was on the tram,
saws: 81 was awake when the wreck
occurred. 1t was the worst wreck l