The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-27
First Section of the Train Carrying
the Troopers Partly Run Into by
the Second Section.
FIVE OF THE MEN KILLED
ONE FATALLY HURT AND THIRTEEN
MANNED OR BRUISED.
Narrow Escape of Col. TOrrey and
STAFF, Whose Car Was Demolished
An Engineer Blamed.

TUPELO, Miss, June GA railway ac-
cident occurred at this place at $40 this
afternoon in which four soldiers and a por-
ter lost their lives and others received seri-
GUS injuries Everything was done to re-
lieve the wounded by the local physicians
and citizens who were soon upon the scene.
list of the casualties follows:
Killed
WILLIE B WALLACE, Troop c.
SAM JOHNSON, Troop C.
- GORDON. colored porter.
CORNELIUS LENIHAN Troop c.,
PRIVATE GIMMER, Troop l., head
crushed.
Fatally Injured
HENRY S. MAPES, Troop C, both legs
cut off; puncture in abdomen.
injured
r. D. STANLEY. Troop M, elbow dislo-
Gated.
E. PERKINS. Troop L. both hips
damned.
WALLACE HODGE. Troop G. ankle
broken.
GEORGE GARDNER, Troop C, hip hurt.
RUDOLPH 'WIDEMAR, officers mess
cook back sprained.
HIRAM F. DAVIS. Troop C. ankle
sprained.
HENRY STELTZ, Troop c, leg broken
WILL GROVENER, Troop C, leg bruised.
JOSEPH AARON, Troop C, back
sprained.
W. H. ROBBINS, Troop A, ankle dislo-
Gated.
ARTHUR EVANS, Troop E, hip dislo-
Gated.
JOSEPH WILKINS. Troop l., slightly in
jured.
- SCHENCK. Troop C, leg badly
bruised.
This afternoon Colonel Torrey's regiment
of Rough Riders from Cheyenne. Wyo.
reached this place via the Kansas City
Memphis & Birmingham Railroad. The
first section had stopped to take water and
had whstled to start on when the second
section rounded the sharp curve in the track
just before the town is reached and dashed
into it. In the of the first section was
the sleeper Seville, containing Colonel
Torrey and his regimental staff. This car
was completely demolished; yet, strange to-
say, every inmate escaped unscathed ex-
cept the colonel, who is injured though rot
seriously.
The chief fatalities occurred in coach
which stood in the center of the first Sec
ton, which carried Troop c, from Laramie
Wyo. This coach was completely tele-
scoped, and the soldiers within were jammed
and bruised beneath masses of timbers,
broken car seats and other debris. In the
second section one baggage car was thrown
into the ditch, but in this train few were
hurt, and none dangerously. Action on the
part of the soldiers was immediate to save
their imperiled comrades, and with axes.
and h,,a1
worked like demons, tearing away the
wreckage to get at the wounded and dead,
and quench the fires which had started in
the sleeper Seville, which was a mass of
broken wreckage, covering a steaming,
Missing engine. The wounded were removed
to a vacant building in the town.
The sections contained Troops A. c. E L.
G and M, forming part of a regiment being
transported to Jacksonville Fla. 1t is the
Second United States Volunteer Cavalry.
and was raised by Colonel Torrey, it's COM
mander, in the Rocky mountain region, in
Guiding the States of Wyoming, Colorado,
Idaho, Nevada and Utah. Those soldiers
killed and mortally injured are from the
f1rst-named State. The regiment had the
misfortune to meet with a wreck in the
yards at st. Joseph Mo-, Friday, in which
st. Louis Saturday one of the soldiers was
accidentally killed by being suffocated and
falling from the train in the long tunnel at
that place.
The fault Of this accident probably lies
with the engineer of the second section, who
was running too fast and near the first Sec
ton. The name of the engineer is Rawls,
and he has disappeared. The soldiers have
threatened to lynch him if found. Not
horse was injured, although several of the
stock cars were badly smashed.
Colonel Torrey was in the stateroom of
the sleeping car, which was separated from
the engine of the section by a short caboose.
The force of the impact carried the first
section forward 300 yards. When the train
stopped Colonel Torrey found himself out
side beneath the wreckage, and although
his feet were badly bruised he managed to
Chamber up the embankment. His other in
juries are several bruises about the head.
The wounded are receiving all possible at
tention.
Later-Private Mapes is now in dying
condition. The engineer, who was reported
missing, was seen tonight, but was unable
to talk. He received internal injuries that
have caused several hemorrhages. He is
completely overcome on account of the de-
plorable affair