Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1897-09-18
CRASH At night.
Thirty Persons Killed Near
New Castle, Col.
TRAINS MET OEA CURVE.
The Injured Numbered rsy-Some Met
Fearful Death I'm the Flames I'm
sight OF Persons who Were Powericss
To Help Then-Track strewn with Dead
Animals.

A despatch from New Castle. Col. SAYS
The most disastrous railway wreck that has
ever happened In Colorado occurred at 1915
O'Clock Friday morning "A mile and a half
east Of this town.
A west-bound Denver aud Rio Grande
passenger train was IN collision with Col
oradc Midland stock train going east. The
locomotives and number OF cars in both
trains Were wrecked.
A short time after the collision IRE broke
out IN the ruins. The mail. baggage and
express cars. smoker. day coach aud a tour
isi sleeping car were burned.
number Of passengers were killed out
right. OshcrS We're pinned ia the wreckage.
and could tot be extricated. perisbing In
Tue hames. There were about two hun
drcd passengers. At least TWENTY-FIVE were
KILLED and A. many more were bruised
Scaided or burned OF the injured over six
are likely 10 die OF their wounds
Helpless. They Burned IL Death.
The sides Of the cars Jinned down the
passengers. many q whom were burned to
death IA plain sight 81 those who wanted 10
help them The passenger locomotive ex-
l4oted, and the ears were abaze in two
minutes afterward. Little baggage and no
mail was saved
In two minutes more both trains would
have avoided the wreck. az each engine
man could have seen the approach Of the
other train. The collision occurred on "A
curve or bend around "a mountain and there
Was 80 opportunity 20 Slacken speed The
surviving trainnen say the trains were not
running fast. The facts seem 10 be that
both the passenger and freight were going
AZ the usual speci-about twenty miles an
hour Tor the passenger and ten or twelve
Tor the freight
The Rio Graute Junction road. on which
the wreck occurred. T. joint track opernt-
81 ny tho Denver aud Rio Grande and Colo
RADIO Midland Companies. j, Is a single
s'"ata rc-gunge tack twenty-seven miles
opg running from New Castle 70 Grand
Junction and connecting the two roads with
The Rio Gfande Western. The road il west
90 ne Grand RIVER, and nearly ali the way
along :; are high bluffs on one side Of the
tracA ana tue stream on the other. the river
being from aftecn 10 twenty feet below the
surface 81 the track.
Conductor Burbank Arrested
The Flo Graude passenger train was due
az New Castle AZ HOS L. NJ. and should
have arriN Ell one and a half miles beyond
New Castle. where the accidcn; occurred.
10y lilo This train must. therefore. have
becn one hour late. A. the accident occurred
al ie.lj A NJ.
The most generally accepted theory a. u
the cause 81 the wreck seems 20 be tina. Con-
ductor Bursark. 81 the Midland train. autic-
ipatinS the time Of tie passenger train. IN
teriook 70 steal "a station" and beat the
passenger into New Castle. Burbaak escap-
81 uninJured. AID upon orders from Coro-
ner Clark has been put under arrest by the
sheriff
W. l. Hawthorne. conductor Of the pas
seagcr train was Ia the smokins-rar al ths
time Of the collision aud was thrown about
and severely bruised. He says gas cvlin-
der under one 81 the wrecked cars exploded
ana everything appeared TO De ia flames
within a short time.
The passengers in the day coach Jared the
worst. Out % - Ia the coach. six are known
= have escaped. Al was confusion. and
some may have escaped unnoticcd
Engineman stuck TO Ills Post
A. ia many similar accidents the engine
men were the nrsi 10 suffer. EDgineman
Ostrander went down with his hand on tho
lever.
Robert Holland. fireman or the passen-
ger train. was 80 severely hurt that he died
~ five O'Clock. Engineman Gordon. Of the
passenger train, may live. although he Is in
jared, and was at hrst believed 10 Dee fatally
hurt. be vas thrown over a barb wire fence.
ty the force OF the collision.
sMr. Hines. the Midland fireman. was so
severely hurt that the doctors who exam
ined him said be could not recover. lie was
shockingiy burned, but bore his pain brave
ly.
Lives Saved with an Axe
Two express messengers on the Ric
1rNnde train saved the!r lives. but their U.s.
cape was a thrilling one. They were James
{. Foley and William MESSENGER, both OF
Denver.
Ihey had piled up the through baggage
In one end Of the car and were busy with
egg cases Ia the other end when the shock
came. Both Were pitched headlong about
the car, hut when II toppled over they were
stunned and bruised by the loose baggage.