Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1896-10-05
SEVEN LIVES LOST.
Continued From First Page.

the car humping along on the ties and
swaying from side to side. Every one rec
ognized that we were Off the track and
waited breathlessly for the climax which
We felt was coming The car tipped over
to one side and stopped. For a moment
all was still and it was moment of hor-
ror. We crawled out of the car and by
der OF the conductor put out all Of the
lights to prevent fire.
Passengers Behaved Well.
''There was some screaming by the women
but the passengers behaved splendidly, and
by direction of the conductor went to work
to find the engineer and fireman. We found
the engineer in few minutes and hunted
for several hours for the body of the fire.
man and did not find it until after daylight.
when we found 1t in the tender, covered
with coal. He had evidently been shovel
ing coal when the explosion took place
We found some tramps caught under the
everything We could. The trainmen acted
finely and the passengers did everything in
their power to aid in the affair.
The Scene Was Frightful.
.The scene of the wreck was something
frightfui when We saw 1t at daylight, and
same character. At the point where the
explosion took place the track was literally
torn away. The rails were spread out on
ties forced from their places The engine
had torn away about sixty feet of the
track and then jumped for fifty
had tossed It that fsr Il the sea, air. he
struck the earth pilot first and made deep
hole. and then bumped about and landed
under the coal chute at Peterton. lying on
its side. The tender lay Just behind where
the engine struck when it came down. The
a;I Da;ggags Gear car lay lay on its side just at the
left the track, unharmed. Just outside
and alongside it lay the mail car: back of
them lay the smoker. and outside II lay the
express car. They were partly telescoped
and nearly all were off the trucks. The
chair car lay partly on its side in the dirt
the track away and the first tourist sleep
er was just behind 1t, the front trucks
having just passed off the rails.
Engine Was Completely Wrecked.
"The engine was completely wrecked,
nothing being left except the wheels and
though they had been in the grasp OF a
cyclone. 1t was the most complete picture
of destruction / ever saw. and the train
they had never seen 1t equaled in the West.
1.-The Santa Fe people did handsomely by
us. and gave the passengers every care
possible under the circumstances, and got
us past the wreck as quickly as possible.
A Passenger Commits Suicide.
zone of the strangest features of the
affair was the suicide of one of the pas
seLgers in the first sleeper half an hour
after the wreck eek He was was William Beeklsr
his health. He had been drinking dur
ing the night, the other passengers said,
He went out, viewed the wreck and after
being seated in the car. handed his purse
and ticket to a man from Newton who
was near him. and said he wanted them
sent to the address given; that he intended
to shoot himself. The man took the arti-
cles. thinking the fellow was joking, but
he was mistaken. as the man shot himself
in the temple almost instantly. and fell
over dying on the seat. Tho shooting Gre
ated almost a panic. but it was soon qui-
eted and the remains were cared for when
was in poor health and had been contem-
plating suicide anyway. and the scene Of
,ne %IeeR s'mpiy ahseft,ea @ ms nind ana
scene with the wrecking crew. and they
agreed on the point of the awful jump the
engine made when the explosion took
place"