The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-05-10
MET AWFUL DEATHS.
Frightful Wreck On the Big -Four
Road In Indiana.
An Express Train Jumps the Track, killing
Ten Persons and In1uring Many 9th
ers-A Rear End Collision Near
Dayton, o., Kills Five Tramps
Who Were Stealing a
Rlda.

LAFAYETTE, Ind, May s.-Ten lives
K crushed out in the worst railway acci-
lent known in the history of Lafayette
both in fatalities and in damage to
property, which occurred Sunday morn
ing at the South Side depot. The Big
Four train No 10 from Chicago came in
on time and its engine, baggage car,
postal cars and one express car were
totally wrecked, Immediately at the
south end of the passenger station. The
accident was caused by failure of the
air brakes to work properly.
The train came dashing along at a
high rate of speed and when it reached
point about one hundred yards from
South street the engine left the track
and dragged the mentioned cars with
1t. The engine was dashed to pieces,
the baggage car reduced to splinters,
the mail cars were overturned and Lett
ters, papers, etc., scattered far and near.
The trucks of the first passenger
coach were dragged out, and the left
rear side of the coach was knocked
into fragments. The escape of any
passengers in the cars was almost mi
| raculous. The crash tore away the
covered portion of the platform, extin-
gushing the lights, leaving the scene
in utter darkness and operating against
immediate work of rescuing the VIC
TINS The police force and fire depart
ment were called, the latter to extin-
guish fire which started in the wreck,
which it did with little trouble. Will
ling hands set to work lifting the un-
fortunate from beneath the awful mass
of wreckage. Every victim was dead
when found and the majority were
frightfully mangled
The killed are: Engineer Michael
Walsh, of indianapolis. He stuck
to his post and was found under
meath his engine. His head was split
open and his body terribly mangled;
Sterling McInnes, Urbana, ILL.,; fire.
man, Thomas Mcmahon, Bellevue, O.;
A. R. Chadwick, postal clerk, Shelby
vile, Ind; Jesse II. Long, postal clerk,
Lebanon, Ind; E. b. Myers, postal
clerk, Walton, Ind; John Lennon,
mail wagon driver, Lafayette; Charles
Cahill, molder, indianapolis; Charles
Myers, baggage handler, Lafayette;
otto Gerrelson, theatrical agent, Chi
cago.
The injured: Charles Rouse, Lafay-
cite, right leg broken; William Glace,
Frankfort, Ind, head cut; S. Bergen
haus, Milwaukee, head and arms cut;
jefferson Reese, Kempton, Ind, ia
tally bruised; Richard Johns, Pontiac,
Ill, bruised; Lewis Weffier, Fowler,
Ind, badly bruised; ]. N. Vickery,
Cincinnati, postal clerk, spinal in
juries; c. w. Carnahan, Oxford, o.,
postal clerk, internal injuries.
John Lennon and Charles Meyers
were at the depot waiting for the train.
They were killed by the engine strik-
ing them in its mad rush.
Otto Gerrelson was about to take the
train for indianapolis when he met his
death. The train tore away a portion
Of the handsome Union depot and was
piled in confused mass in the yards.
The train was a runaway. Engineer
Walsh, 1t is said, applied brakes, but
they did not work properly and the
impetus given on the heavy down grade
approaches to the station, sent the
doomed train off the track on the sharp
curve. Railway officials place their loss
at about $4,000.
DAYTON, o., May s.-A rear end col
lision between two sections Of c. Ii.
& D. railroad freight, causing the
death Of five men, occurred on the ID.
& M. division midway between Tadmor
and Tippecanoe about o'clock Satur-
day morning. The train was north
bound and the sections were running
ten minutes apart The first section
lost time by stopping at johnson sta
tion for orders, and again lost precious
moments by stopping at an emergency
tank, two miles beyond, for water.
The tank is at the summit OF ascend
ing and descending grades and at re-
verse curve. In the meantime section
No. was rounding the curve as the
fagman was leaving No. to signal.
The warning signal was seen too late
by the approaching train, which was
speeding along at express rate TO climb
the grade. Engineer Tautken sounded
down brakes, shut off steam, reversed
his engine, and then he and his fireman
jumped for their lives
In an instant the engine plowed into
the caboose Of section No. and in its
course scattered the wreclage of oars
right and left. The third car from the
caboose was box car filed with rail-
road ties and contained six tramps,
who had embarked at various points
between Dayton and Cincinnati. The
trainmen were ignorant Of the occu-
pancy Of the car by human freight un-
til their attention was attracted by the
heartrending cries Of man who was
buried beneath mass Of wrecltage.
When the trainmen reached him he
was q corpse II was found that all the
men, except one, Ward Green, OF Broc-
ton, MasG had been crushed 10 death
bv the ,tioa 0rean will recrverl " lni