Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-10
A FATAL WRECK
. sr15e- ff5T q
Another Terribles RailSad Accident
With Great Loss Of Life.
FIRE ADDS TO TEE .SCEEE'S HORROR
Head-End Collision Between Pas
senger and SpckTrains.
NEAR NEWCASTLE, COLORADO

NEAR NEWCASTLE, COLORADO
| NEWCASTLE, Col, September 1O-The
most disastrous railway wreck that has
ever happened In Colorado occurred at 1915
o'clock this morning. mile and a half east
of this town. Denver and Rio Grande pas
| senger train No. 1, west bound collided
| with Colorado Midland stock train, going
| east, wrecking both engines and several
cars of both trains.
| Shortly after the collision fire broke out
in the ruins. The mail, baggage and ex-
| press cars, smoker, day coach and a tourist
| sleeper were burned.
| A number of passengers who were not
killed outright, but who were pinned in the
| wreckage and could not be extricated per-
| ished in the flames. There were about 200
passengers. 1t is estimated that twenty
| five persons were killed and as many more
bruised, scalded and burned, of whom over
six are likely to die of their injuries.
AS yet 1t has not been possible to obtain
| full list of the dead and injured. Fol-
lowing is a partial list:
Dead:-Mrs.' Alex. Hartman and two
| children, Hersher. ILL.,; Engineer Ostrander,
Robert Holland. fireman; Chas. Leiper
Leiper. Pa: Jas. Keenan,. postal clerk.
Injured Alex. Hartman, Hersher ILL.,.
both legs broken, will die; Robert Gordon,
engineer. ruptured and terribly bruised,
may die; Fireman Hines. terribly burned,
cannot recover; Miss Pearl Cornell, Oregon,
leg broken: John H. Standard, Blackfoot,
Idaho, cut and bruised, both legs broken;
j. H. Sheets, Iowa, right hand cut: r. J..
Sheets. Leiper, Pa, slightly hurt; Jas. c.
Foley, express messenger, Denver, bruised;
VIM. MESSENGER, express messenger, Denver,
bruised; w. L. Hawthorne, conductor.
bruised; P. H. McAvoy, Victor, Col, burned
about head back bruised; Frank p Man
nix, Victor, Col, slightly bruised.
Occurred ON n Curve.
The accident occurred at the worst pos
sible point Two minutes more time and
the trains would have avoided the wreck,
as each engineer could have seen the ap-
proach Of the other train. The trains COL
lided on curve round a mountain, and
there WAS no opportunity to avoid the
wreck. or even to slacken their speed. The
surviving traipmen say the trains were not
running fast but the facts seem to be that
both the passenger and freight were going
at full speed-about twenty miles an hour
for the passenger and ten or twelve for the
freight.
The Rio Grande Junction road, on which
the wreck occurred. is Joint track oper-
ated by the Denver and Rio Grande and
Colorado Midland companiesr 1t is a single,
standard gauge track, Sevefity- seven miles
long, running from Newcastle to Grand
Junction, connecting the two roads with the
Grand river, and nearly all the way. has
high bluffs on one sid" of ethe track and
the stream on the othef, 1t being from fif-
teen to twenty feet below the surface OF
the track. ~"
The Rio Grarde passs1gegftrain was due
at Newcastle at 1105a PIP, and should
have reached the point, one and one-half
miles beyond Newcastle, Where the acct
1Ay,t rnrlh xN n III Uk,A@
therefore. have been at2ieast one hour late,
as the accident occurrea atI2:15 am.
Conductor Burbank Responsible.
One report as to thea cause of the acct
dent Is 10 the effect that Conductor Bur-
bank of the Co1oraie Midland stock train
made a mistake or ten minutes in figuring
on the time when the Rig, Grande. -passen-
ger train passed Newcastle, and that there
fore he was chiefly responsible for the dis
aster. Engineer Ustfander of the stock
train could either confirm OF deny this re-
port If he were alive, but 1t Is believed he
is under the debris.
w. L. Hawthorne conductor of the pas
senger train. was in the smoking car at
the time of the collision, and was thrown
down and severely bruised by the concus-
sion He says the gas cylinder under one
of the wrecked cars exploded, and every
thing appeared to be in flames within
short time. He says he does not think
more Cuan TWO OF InTee passengers IN the
smoker were burned to death. but will not
say there were not more than this num-
Der.
The passengers in the day coach Jared
the worst. Out of twenty-nine people in
that coach. only six are now known to
have escaped injury. All was confusion,
and some may have escaped unnoticed.
Engine Men Killed.
AS in all similar accidents. the engine
men are the first to lose their lives. En-
gineer Ostrander went down with his
hands on the lever.
Robert Holland, fireman ON the passen-
ger train, was so badly hurt''that he died
at 5 O'Clock. Engineer Gordon Of the pas
senger train may live although he is badly
injured and at first was thought to be
fatally hurt He suffered great pain from
a rupture. in addition to his other injuries.
He was thrown over barb wire fence by
the force of the collision.
Hines. the Midland fireman, was so badly
hurt that the doctors who examined him at
He was shockingly burned. but bore his
pain bravely. James Keenan,, the postal
clerk, will not live until noon, the doctors
say. He is terribly scalded. "
Two express messengers on the Rio
Grande train saved their lives, but their
escape was thrilling one. They were
James c. Foley and William 8. Messegar,
both of Denver.
They had piled up the. through baggage
In one end Of the car and were busy with
the egg cases In the other end when the
shock came. They were pitched headlOng
about the car, and when 1t toppled over
they were stunned and bruised by the loose
baggage. 1t was several minutes before
they were able to aid themselves. Then the
car commenced to fill with smoke, and
death by burning or suffocation seemed
their fate. They realized their position and
began a battle with an az to liberate them
selves. Finally. as the car burst into
flames they saw, light through the hole they
were cutting. and with the aid of some men
outside. were able to pull themselves
through. though badly bruised and bleed
ing. - ~, ~ o,ss
Hard to Get Deaaiis.
1t is difficult to get particulars about the
dead and injured. so great IL the confusion
In addition to the above named, It is known
that Alex. Hartman ii Hsfsner, ILL.,. has
both legs broken and cannot live. His wife
and two children were tie fist of the dead
to be removed from the swrsskage.
Miss Pearl Cornell Of Oregon had her leg
broken. This lady wag returning from a
at Glen Falls, Idaho, while ON her way
east.
T. F. Daniels the r,lkaeo0,Sar hraka