Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-03
DOWN TO DEATH.
Train on the, Wabash Piunges into .
Raging Stream Near Kansas City.
Death List Number Seven, Five Being Postal
CIerks-Thirty Are NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Occurred During Terrific
Downpour of Rain.


New York fast mail and express train
On the Wabash railway, which left the
Union depot at $40 o'clock Saturday
night, went through a bridge IL miles
west of Missouri City, 81 miles from
Kansas City, shortly after seven
o'clock. The train was well filed
with passengers and carried one more
car than usual. As the train crossed
the Hannibal bridge the rain began to
fall heavily and the lightning was in
cessant in its play. At Randolph the
water poured down from the heavens in
torrents and at Liberty landing it was
almost like a cloud burst. The train had
been running about 40 miles an hour,
but the engineer cut down the speed
to about 90 miles as a precaution.
About 20 miles from Kansas City the
track crosses a creek on a trestle work
Is feet high. The trestle work is
about so feet long and the creek be-
meath it is dry except in wet weather.
Saturday night the water rushed
through it like mill race. 1t carried
away a wagon bridge a short distance
above the trestle and dashed its timbers
against the wooden supports of the
trestle. Many of them were snapped off
like pipe stems and, when the Wabash
fast express came along, the iron rails,
which cleaned in the flashes of light
ming, were held up by very fimsy sup
ports. The speed of the engine car
ried it across before the crash came.
The tender broke loose and fell back
into the stream and the baggage car,
mail car, chair car and sleeper fol-
lowed, one after another. The cars
were piled up in confusion and the
baggage and mail cars We're
smashed into splinters. The pas
sengers were thrown from their
seats, and in a moment those who sur
vived were struggling to extricate
themselves from the wreckage. The
wreck resulted in seven deaths. It is
practically certain that this is all the
loss of life, unless some of those in
jured, but not fatally, as now believed,
should die. The list of injured num-
bers about 80, but only ten We're badly
hurt. The following are the dead:
Edward Grindrod, of st. Louis, bag
gageman; o. NJ. Smith, of ST. Louis,
postal clerk; Frank w. Brink, of ST.
Louis, postal clerk; w. S. Mills, of ST.
Louis, postal clerk; Gus Smith, of ST.
Louis, postal clerk; Saul Winters, of
ST. Louis, postal clerk; Charles Greas-
ley, of st. Louis, brakeman.
Conductor Charles Copeland was
taken from the wreck unconscious.
Soon after, it was believed the vital
spark had fed, and the body was ten
derby laid out. Luckily, when the
physicians and surgeons arrived from
Moberly, an examination of the sup
posed dead body showed that life was
not extinct, and Mr.. Copeland finally
was restored to consciousness. The
chances for his recovery are thought
to be fair, although he is badly in
jured internally. He is now in the
Wabash hospital at Moberly.
r.
seemed to realize the extent of the
catastrophe. Everyone made a dash
to get out of the cars, and when they
clam ered out into the storm, with the
rain falling in sheets and the light
ming flashing, there was a Wild break
to get back into the cars. For time
the passengers sat there nursing their
own bruises, but finally some of the
men recovered their self-possession and
went forward to attempt to rescue
those who had been caught beneath
the broken cars. Others started back
to Liberty landing to telegraph the
news of the wreck to Kansas City.
It is said that Manager Blood, of the
Films hotel, Excelsior Springs, ran all
the way to Liberty landing through
the driving storm In the storm and
darkness it was some time before the
rescuers could accomplish anything.
The flood was carrying everything
down stream, and some of the bodies
were found some distance from the
scene of the accident. A glance at the
wreck was all that was neces-
sary to convince anyone that
all the men who were in the
mail car were dead. At first there
seemed to be several voices rising from
the mass of broken cars and bridge
timbers in screams of agony, but soon
the voices died down to the cries of
two men-the mail clerk, who was aft
erward taken out alive, and the in
jured conductor. This was from those
who had gone down into the stream.
A PLAGUE OF FLIES.