The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1897-09-17

KANSAS CITY. Mo-. Sept. "a special
to the Times from Emporia, kas-,
says:
One OF the worst wrecks in the his
tory of the Santa Fee railroad oc-
curred three miles east OF here at
about 1880 o'clock last night. Twelve
Or fifteen persons were killed and as
many more were badly hurt The fast
mail train going east and the Mexico
A. California express, west bound,
collided head on.
The Mexico and California express
wa pulled by two locomotives, and
when they struck the engine drawing
the fast mail the boilers of all three
engines exploded and tore a hole in the
ground SO deep that the smoking car
OF the west-bound train went in on
top of the three engines and two mail
cars and balanced there, without turn
ing over.
The passengers in the smoking car
escaped through the windows The
front end Of this car was enveloped in
q volume of sitting smoke and steam
-belching up from the wreck below
and the rear door was damned tight in
the wreck of the car behind. The
wreck caught fire from the engines.
The cars in the hole and the smoking
car were burned to ashes in no time.
In climbing out of the smoking car
several men fell through the riffs in
the wreck below, and it is impossible
TO tell whether they escaped or were
burned TO death.
The w~est-bound train carried seven
or eight coaches. and its passengers.
included many excursionists who had
been to lear Hon. w. j. Bryan speak
mt the county fair at Burlingame. Mr..
Bryan himself was on the train, but
was riding in the rear Pullman, some
800 feet from the cars which were
wrecked. He states hat moth ing but
y heavy jolt was experienced by the
passengers in his coach.
Mr.. Bryan was one of the noblest
men in the crowd of rescucrs. He
helped to carry out the dead and
wounded and gave the greatest atten-
tion to their care. One poor fellow,
Bryan and said:
II went to hear you to-day; | am dy-
ing now, and want to shake your hand
aud say God bless you. If you posi-
bly, can, Mr.. Bryan, get me II drink OF
water"
Mr.. BRYAN went into the last mail
car, one end of which was burning,
and came out with "A drink of water
which he gave to the suffering passen-
ger. He brought out cushions for 9TH
ers of the injured, and was every where
present to minister to the wants of he
suffering.
The engineer Of the west bound
train had received orders TO meet the
fast mail at Emporia and was making
up lost time. These two are the fastest
rains in the Santa Fee system. and
the west-bound train must nave been
running at a speed of at least 40 miles
an hour.
OF the seven or eight cars making up
the Mexico and California express only
the mail, baggage and express and
smoking cars were destroyed. The
loach following the smoker was badly
intered. There were not more than
gen passengers on the fast mail,
lone cOdcu. anu Wnllt nOuc ol
we're seriously injured, their
up was terrible. Every seat
sch was torn from the floor,
floor planks came up with
ohm Sweeney, was thrown
keats and through a win
capped with only scratches
*. The other ears of the
train, a baggage and an ex'
re totally wrecked.
I1night il became apparent thai
,rlier estimates Of the number 81
Were exaggerated, aud it is now
aren't that the number Of dead will
exceed ten or eleven. During the
kcitcinent early in the evening il was
reported that nearly all of the six
. postal clerks on the two trans wer,
killed or missing. Two Of the clerks
were killed. All of the others, save
one. are more or less seriously injured
The dead were brought TO Emporia.
At midnight a special train left En-
poria bearing 1, of the injured to To
peka, where they will be cared for il
a. --sI-A.l l-..~