Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-10-20
CRASH OF TRAINS.
Wreck on the Illinois Central
Near kankakee.
A REPORT THAT SEVEN ARE KILLED.

Names Given of That Many Who Are Sc
verely Injured-A Coal Train Crashes
into Passenger at Crossing Through
Somebody's Blunder-Confiicting State
ments of How 1t Happened and Very
Neagre Details of the Disaster.
KANKAKEE, Ills, Oct. 2O.-Another hor
rible wreck on the Illinois Central is re-
ported from Otto Junction, four miles
south Of this city. 1t is reported that
seven persons were killed and about as
many badly injured. The fast mail north
bound crashed into the Pontiac district
freight as the latter was rounding the
"Y'' from the kankakce and Southwest
ern railway preparatory to coming to this
city on the main line Of the Central The
location of the wreck IS desolate stretch
of prairie by night, being quite low and
very fat There Is nothing at the june
ton but the railway station, and the
night operator and 4 swjtchman are all
that are usually there,
Facts Very Hard to Get.
Owing to the location of the disaster and
the alleged ignorance of the Illinois Cen
trail officials as to the facts ii is impossible
to find out the names OF the killed, if any.
aud only few of the injured can be named
at this writing Following are those
names: Mrs X. r. Stayton, Wichita Falls,
Tex, side and hip hurt; Mrs c. F. Brown
Newton, Ills, hip and anAle d;slocated;
J. w. Brown, baGgas emau, Chicago, foot
mashed; J. NJ Marley. Plano, legs badly
injured, = b. Safer. Fisher, His Internal
injuries; Mr., {. T. Little, Chicago, back
and hips injured badly; J. d. Davis, Flip
per, Ga, head and side injured.
/ saw the Danger Too Late.
! From the most authentic sources the
following account Of The wreck has been
: obtained: A. the fast mail came rumb.Ing
/ into OTTO there was 40 sign of danger at
the station. Lights about the station and
ut the side tracks snour out clear and true.
/ 1t was clear night, and away on ahead
/ the rails glisteaed in the light Of the in
coming train. The main track ahead was
4 clear. just as the mail train approached
the curve Engineer Smith saw the black
string of coal cars, heavily loaded and
drawn by a ponderous freight engine,
round the curve, speeding toward the
main line. Both trans were converging
| toward the same point. TWAS too late for
either of the trains to be stopped.
Conflicting stories of the Disaster.
| There are discordaut stones of the kind
of efforts put forth by the engineers. Some
insist that Engineer Smith, seeing his
only salvation in getting 10y the union Of
tracks before the great freight could pile
upon him, increased his speed to the
greatest power. The same ones insist that
the freight engineer tried to stop, but
could not. Tue trains hurried on toward
each other. The engine of .he mail had
passed the junction point and drawn sew
eral cars ahead when the great freight en-
CINE crashed into ii. Striking the mail
train at the angle the effect was an I'm.
| usual one.
Flowed Its Way into the Car.
The freight engine not only plowed its
! way ahead into the car, whose side il
smashed open, but H. momentum and di-
rectiou sent III own ugly iron sides well
1 as head crashing against the coach length
wise, smashing them together until they
seemed like one distorted frame. Then
the force of the collision and movement
ahead threw tuem again apart, the coach
| being mangled oaI of form.