The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-10-06
ENDED IN A HORROR.
Eventful Run Of Train on the
Santa Fe Road.
WAS HELD UP IN NEW MEXICO

And When Near Usage City, Kan, the
Boiler OF the Locomotive Exploded XIII.
ing Six People-ons of the Injured Pas.
scngers Shoots Himself In the Head and
Dies sInstantIy-wnd Plunge of the Lo-
comot.ve.
Usage City. Kan. oct. 6.-Santa Fe
train No 2. which was held UP in New
mexico Friday night, was wrecked a.
Peterton, two miles east OF this city.
at 4:i5 o'clock Sunday morning, and
the engineer. fireman, and four tramps
were killed. -Four other persons were
injured. and as a result OF the accident
one passenger shot and killed himself
an hour after the wreck. The engine.
baggage car, mail car. express car and
one passenger car were totally wrecked.
Following is the list Of killed and in
tured:
Olmstead HOLSTER fireman. Topeka:
| William McAdams. coal miner. of OF
| tumwa; George Strunk, engineer OF
Topeka: tramp. supposed from papers
on him 10 be Louis Werner OF Odin.
Kan, $3.50 was found in his pockets:
| tramp. In pocket were found papers
| bearing the name of w. J. Davis and
cabinet photograph of a little boy
| taken by f. l.. Lord, Milwaukee ave-
nue.. Chicago; boy. l3 years old. prob
ably from Topeka. Kan. name un-
known.
The Injured.
Wilfred Bursen. son OF Conductor
| Bursen Of Great Bend, Kan. both legs
cut and bruised. not dangerously;
| James Coleman. colored. of Usage City.
| right leg cut: Mrs. Edna Maxwell an
| editor of The Evening Telegram Colo
| rado Springs. hand cut trying to break
| open a window after the wreck: Louis
| Neff boy of Usage City. hand cut
i nlghtly. All these were beating their
way except the engineer. fireman and
| Mrs. Maxwell. Besides these there lies
dead at the undertaker's in this city
William Becker. who was a passenger
I'm one of the day coaches. and who
shot himself an hour after the wreck.
The passengers in the day coaches were
taken into a Pullman after the acct
dent. Soon Becker began TO say that
he was badly hurt. but examination
failed to show any hurt He then
handed his purse TO one of the passen-
gers. telling him TO send il to s. S. Rog-
ers of some town in California. the
name of which the passenger could not
| catch. The man then lay down in the
car. 1t was noticed that he had a small
single -barreled 22-caliber pistol in his
hand. He placed IL 10 his right temple
and fired. killing himself instantly In
his hat was paper bearing the name
of William Becker. Sioux Falls
The Injured Exploded.
| reporter went 10 the scene OF the
disaster early in the morning. The
mail and express cars were telescoped
and lying over on their sides by the
| track, while near them and on the
track were the baggage car and pas
senger car badly wrecked and another
passenger car only slightly injured
| Underneath the hindmost Of these
passenger cars was evidence OF ter.
rife explosion. Here the boiler of the
engine had exploded. The engine had
been blown into the air and had come
down head first 200 feet farther on Al
this point there was a hole, five fee
deep and eight or ten feet across. where
the nose of the engine dived through
rails and ties. breaking the heavy stee
rails as though they had been splinters
Then the engine must have turned Z
somersault. for il righted itself anC
was found about 100 feet farther on
where il had struck a building useC
for coal chute and knocked a corne
out of it, The building had been strucl
near the top. showing that the engin
. had turned after il had first struck tn
| ground. There was some talk that tn
. | accident had been caused by dynamite
J but the boiler Of the engine shove,
that IL had exploded