The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-06-28
SEVEN WE'RE KILLED
By the Plunge Of an Express Train
Through a Trestle.
WEAKENED BY A OLOUDBURST,

All of the Occupants of the Mail Car
Carried Down to Speedy Death-A
Farmers Futile Efforts TO Prevent
the Accident.
Kansas City, Mo-, June 2S.-Seven
coriiins We're forwarded to st. Louis
yesterday from Missouri City. They
contained the remains of victims of
Saturday nights wreck on the Wabash
road. A correct list of the dead fol-
lows: w. s. Mills, postal clerk; o. M.
Smith, postal clerk; Gustav A. Smith,
postal clerk: Charles Winters, postal
clerk; +. W. Brink, postal clerk; Ed
ward Grlnerod. baggageman; Charles
p. Greasley, brakeman. All resided in
St. Louis.
The conductor Of the train, G. C.
Copeland, of st. Louis who was re-
ported among the dead is still alive.
He was removed yesterday to the rail-
road hospital at Moberly. With a frac-
tured skull and several broken ribs, he
fingers between life and death, but the
surgeons express a hope that he will
recover. Conductor Copeland was sup
posed to be dead when taken from the
wreck, and his body was laid in row
with the seven dead. A few minutes
later some one observed a sign Of life,
and he was transferred to a stretcher
and given every possible attention.
Of the 10 others injured not one is in
a critical condition. Among them all
there is not one broken limb, though
pf
quarters of the length of the coaches
in which they were riding.
Mrs. w. II. Wilkinson, of Kansas
City is the most seriously hurt. Two
small bones of her left hand are broken,
and she suffered severe laceration of
the thigh, as well as bruises about the
face and neck The wounds of most Of
the others are trivial
The indications are that death came
to at least four of the mail clerks al
most instantly. Their car pitched end
first through the break in the trestle
and they must have been drowned in
the raging stream while in an uncon-
scious condition. The remains of the
four were swept from the wreck and
were recovered some distance down
the stream. There were signs of life in
the body of the fifth mail clerk when
rescuers dragged him from the wreck,
but he died a few minutes later.
The accident happened at Missouri
City, Mo-, the train plunging through
trestle without moments warning.
The gorge, which a few hours pre-
vtously was practically empty, had be-
come raging torrent because Of a
tremendous downpour of rain, and the
structure weakened. Yesterday but a
small stream was flowing beneath the
trestle where the wreck occurred. In
ordinary weather it is a dry creek bed.
The storm, which was almost cloud
burst, had swollen the little stream to
a torrent. The flood carried away
wagon bridge short distance above
the Wabash trestle. The wreck of this
bridge was hurled down upon the rail-
road trestle, and carried away a row
of wooden supports in the center.
A neighbOring farmer noticed the
perilous condition of the trestle and re-
solved to flag the passenger train,
which he knew to be about due For
nearly an hour he stood in the terrific
downpour of rain. only to fail at last
in his good intentions, for when the
fast mail came laundering on the
storm was almost binding, and the en-
gineer evidently could not see the
signal which the farmer so frantically
waved across the track.
The locomotive struck the trestle
The engine passed over, but the tender
went through with the crumbling
bridge. The baggage car toppled off
on its side, while the mail car, which
followed, pitched into the stream.
Every life in this car was lost. The
smoker, next behind, followed. It was
in this car that Conductor COPELAND
was riding. The other occupants es-
capped serious injury. The chair car,
next behind, also plunged in upon the
mass of wreckage, end first, and all
its passengers were thrown to the for
ward end in a heap. The front end of |
the sleeper, next in the rear, jammed |
into the protrudng end of the chair |
car. and was thus prevented from fol- |
lowing the others into the chasm.