The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1901-12-30
TRAINS COLLIDE
At OPEN SWITCH
Four People Are Killed
and Eighteen Badly
\ Injured.

CHICAGO, Dec. 29.-Four persons were
killed and twenty nine injured, several Of
them possibly fatally, in q collision on
the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad
to-day at Malta, ILL.,, sixty miles west Of
Chicago. The trains in collision were
''the Omaha flyer" an eastbound passen-
ger train, and an eastbound freight train.
The wreck caught fire and two passenger
coaches, one sleeping car and eight
freight cars were burned and another
sleeping car was partly burned.
GEORGE GEO RICE RUD1o, Western agent Kirk
Soap Company, residence 1a North Thir-
ty-second avenue, Omaha.
MRS. GEORGE w. RUDIO, Omaha.
d. 0. NICHOLS, Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Chicago.
The injured: Bert Carr, Wilett. N: Y.
Chicago; George w. Fox, Boulder, Colo;
II. D. Gray, Evanston, H.; Edward
Hinckley, Surprise, Nebr.; Mrs. j. L..
Kali, Chicago; Clarence Lauzer, Chicago;
Wilkes, FREMONT, Nebr,; mrs. Eva Hail,
Chicago; Lincoln Taft, Chicago; Veronica
Rorrmoser, Millard, Nebr.; r. Larrabee,
passenger engineer, leg fractured; F. p.
western Railroad; John W. Wilson,
civil engineer, Northwestern Railroad;
r.. W. Dawes. Pullman conductor;
i
race and hanas badly cut and bruised
a tf,g body H. L L Miller. brakeman.
Jameson and wife, Plat, Neb; c. 3.
| Fifer, Racine. Wis, face and body bad
| ly cut by falling glass; Miss Mamie Ell
1ngwood, Omaha, badly bruised; A.. E.
badly lacerated by falling glass; j. ".
| Woodruff, Chicago, internal injuries; w.
Hickman, sleeping car porter, face
burned; ]. NJ Wilson, Boone, Iowa,
! dc Mt II Aud Gt,-iyo
Creek, Colo, burned; F. w. Rise1ey, Chi
| cago.
George W. Rudio, in the rear Pullman,
| from Omaha, with his wife, was fearful
/ ly. burned by steam, and in spite of all
medical aid died half an hour after in
| great agony. Mrs. Rudio, who was
| was so badly bUrned that she died a few
minutes after her arrival at st. Luke S
! Hospital.
An hour before the arrival of the train
| B. o. Nichols of Council Bluffs, Ohio,
! succumbed to his injuries. Mr. Nichols
was coming to Chicago to be married on
| New Year day to Miss Grace Stewart
! of Council Bluffs. Iowa. Nichols tele-
| graphed for his, sweetheart to come to
! him, but he died few minutes after the
! message had been sent.
! The injured passengers were attended
| Immediately by surgeons from De Kalb
and Rochelle and later were removed 10
St. Lukes Hospital in Chicago by special
train
/ The freight train had taken siding
at Malta, but the train was longer than
the switch and the freight locomotive
protruded upon the main track beyond
! the sidetrack. The incoming passenger
! train from the West was not stopped un-
! til the two locomotives "cornered'' at the
! switch, the passenger engine being
! thrown into the ditch and several coaches
were. piled upon the wreck. The cars
! caught fire from the locomotives.
7 A statement given out by railroad off
/ Gals explains that the switch at the east
/ end of the siding oh fe.
/ take ard that the responsibility lies with
| some member Of the crew of the freight
/ train: The statement places the COM
pany's property loss at about 100000.
Engineer Larribee Of the passenger
| train said tonight that he found it inn
/ possible to check his train till it was too
I late He stuck to his engine. although he
could have jumped before the collision oc-
John Schoentgen of Council Bluffs, one
4 of the injured, speaking of the accident
I said:
( was asleep in my berth when the crash
[ meath pile of wreckage on the track. 1 was
/ in my night flcthes After great difficulty
! The car caught fire, but had time to crawl
/ back TO where l saw my vallse lying and
The inhabitants Of the village turned out at
: once and began the work Of rescue hauling
! passengers out OF the wreckage and fighting
the fire, which spread rapidly all over the
I pfled M tracks.
4 The railroad officials will hold an inves-
i tigation tomorrow in an effort to find
/ out who was. responsible for the accident
7 INDIANAPOLIS Dee 29-Ben a Mich
| OILS of CeGncil Bluffs, Iowa, who was
I killed in the wreck, was manager of the
/ Council Bluffs electric light plant and
was a SON of Edwin Nichols, a commits
/ sion merchant at the Indianapolis Union
| Stockyards. He was engaged to be mar
! ried to Miss Elizabeth Stuart of Council
| Bluffs, Iowa