The Topeka state journal., 1897-09-10
WORSE
Than the Collision Near EN-
pOria Occurs in Colorado.
Number of Dead Estimated at
Twenty Five.
CRUSHED AND BURNED
Cars We're Ignited and Many
Perished in the Flames.
Accident Took Place ON the
Denver & Rio Grande.
FREIGHT AND EXPRESS
Running at a Rapid Rate Meet
ON a Curve.
Out of the Day Coach Contain
ing 80 Passengers
But Six Are Known to Have
Escaped Injury.
FREIGHT AND EXPRESS
Running at a Rapid Rate Meet
ON a Curve.
Out of the Day Coach Contain
ing 80 Passengers
But Six Are Known to Have
Escaped Injury.

New Castle, Colo, Sept. 10.-The most
disastrous railroad accident that has
ever happened in Colorado. occurred at
1915 o'clock this morning, mile and
a half west of this town.
Denver & Rio Grande passenger train
No. 1. west bound, collided with Col
orado Midland stock train going east,
wrecking both engines and several cars
in both trains. Shortly after the COLI
sion fire broke out in the ruins. The
mail, baggage and express cars, smoker
and day coach, and a tourist sleeper,
were burned.
A number of passengers, who, were
not killed outright, but who were pin
ned in the wreckage and could not be
eXtr:cated, perished in the f1ames.There
We're about 200 passengers 1t is esti-
mated that 25 persons were killed and
as many more bruised, scalded and
burned, of whom five or six are likely
TO die of their injuries.
AS yet it has not been possible to OBJ
tain a full list of the dead and injured.
The following is partial list;
DEAD.
MRS ALEX HARTMAN and two
children, Hersher. Ill.
ENGINEER OSTRANDER
ROBERT HOLLAND, fireman.
CHAS LEIPER, Leiper, Pa.
JAMES 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; can
not recover.
Miss Pearl Cornell, Oregon, leg bro
ken. -tt
John H. STANDARD, Black Foot. Ida,
cut and burned; both legs broken.
J. H Sheets. Iowa, right hand cut
hurt.
James c. Foley, express messenger,
Denver, bruised.
VIM S. Mesmer, express messenger,
Denver; bruised.
w. L. Hawthorne, conductor; bruis-
ed.
P. H. McAvery, Victor Col; burned
about the head, back bruised.
Frank p Mannix, Victor, Col, slight
ly bruised.
The accident occurred at the worst
possible point. Two minutes running
time either way would have avoided the
wreck, as each engineer could have
seen the approach of the other train.
The trains collided on a curve or bend
around mountain. and there was no
opportunity to avoid the wreck or eV-
en- to slacken the speed. The surviving
trainmen say the trains We're not run
ming fast, but the facts seem to be that
both the passenger and the freight
were going at full sDeed-about 20
miles an hour for the passenger and the
freight ten or twelve.
The Rio Grande Junction road. on
which the wreck occurred, is a joint
track operated by the Denver & Rio
Grande and Colorado Midland compa-
MES.
1t is a single standard gauge track
q miles long, running from New Cas-
tie to Grand Junction. connecting the
two roads with the Rio Grande West
ern. The road follows the Grand river
and nearly all the way there are high
bluffs one side of the track and the
stream on the other, it being from Is to
20 feet below the surface of the track.
The Rio Grande passenger train was
due at New Castle at HOS p. m, and
should have reached the point one and
a half miles beyond New Castle, where
the accident occurred, at 11:10 The
train must therefore have been at least
one hour late, as the accident occurred
at 1915 8. m.
One report as to the cause of the ac-
cident is to the effect that C@ductor
Burbank of the Colorado Midland stock
train, made a mistake of ten minutes in
figuring on the time when the Rio
Castle and that therefore he was chiefly
responsible for the disaster
Engineer Ostrander of the stock train
could either confirm or deny this report
If he were alive, but it is believed he is
dead under the debris.
w. L. Hawthorne, conductor OF the
passenger train, was in the smoking car
at the time of the collision, and was
thrown about and severely bruised He
says that the gas cylinder under one of
the wrecked cars exploded and every
thing appeared to be in flames in
short time. He says he does not
think that more than two or three pas
sengers in the smoker were burned to
death but will not say there were not
more than that number.
The passengers in the day coach fared
the worst Out of 90 people in that
coach, only six are now known to have
escaped All was confusion. and some
may have escaped unnot1ced-
AS in all similar accidents, the en-
e1nenen We're first to lose their lives.
Engineer Ostrander went down with his
hand on the lever.
Robert Holland fireman on the pas
senger, was so badly hurt that he died
at 5 O'Clock.
Engineer Gordon of the passenger