The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1901-09-04
THIRTY SEVEN DEAD
and MANY INJURED
Runaway Freight Train Crashes Into
Passenger Train.
SUPT, DOWNS and SON ARE KILLED
Thrty-Fou Laborers Killed and Their Bodies Burned
The Injured Number Foureen--No Regular
Passengers Were Hurt.

From Saturdays Daily.
The most frightful wreck in the his.
tory of the Great Northern railroad
and one of the worst in railroad his
tory of the United States occurred
near Nyack about s o'clock last night
resulting in an appalling loss of life
and destruction OF property. At the
present five dead bodies of victims OF
this city while thirteen others burned
and bruised in every conceivable
way are in the hospital. At the scene
OF the wreck, amidst the ashes of the
wreckage, search is being made for
the bodies of 26 others who persisted
in the flames of the burning coaches.
Among the dead are Assistant Gener-
al Superintendent Downs of the Great
Northern, and his son who were in
their private car at the rear end of
the Inflated train.
Passenger train No. 3, west bound,
while passing Nyack about 60 miles
east from Kalispell, was struck by
freight train No. 10, east bound, that
had broken loose at Essex, and com
ing down the steep mountain grade,
like meteor crashed into the rear
end of the passenger train, smashing
the three last cars to splinters and
the flames started from the overturn-
ed lamps, literally roasted the i'm
prisoned passengers to death.
The passenger was made up, count
ing from the rear end, Of General Su-
perintendent Downs special car and
next to that car load of laborers
that had been shipped from Duluth
and were bound for jennings where
they were to be employed on the new
branch of the Great Northern. The
next car was the sleeper.
1t was in the special car and the
one containing the laborers that the
great loss of life occurred.
The Inflated train was passing Ny
ack at speed of from 20 to 30 miles
an hour, the passengers laughing and
joking, entirely unsuspicious of their
approaching doom, when without
warning of any kind the crash came.
The heavy freight train, made up of
% cars, the majority of them loaded,
came down the IA miles of grade be-
tween Essex and Nyack at an ever in
creasing speed, and at the time the
wreck occurred, was making fully rs
miles an hour.
The trucks on the car of Superin-
tendent Downs were knocked from
under ii and several freight cars
loaded with shingles were thrown by
the force of the collision on top of it
and the car containing the laborers.
Immediately following the shock the
wreckage caught fire and drove the
rescuers away, the intense heat
making it impossible to render any
assistance. In the Downs special car
containing three persons, Mr.. Downs
his son, and their cook, all were kill
ed, but the body of the cook was TAX
en- from the ruins by means of long
pieces of wire that were looped around
his limbs. The bodies of the father
and son were seen pinned under the
burning wreckage, but they were be.
yond earthly help, and they were
soon lost to sight. 1t is not known
whether they We're killed or met their
death in the flames, but at any rate
their bodies were cremated, not the
slightest trace being found of them
uAlCA lAC CaI WdS UuIuSu.
1t was in the laborers car that the
loss of life was the greatest, only II
out of the AZ men who had left Du
luth for Jennings being accounted
for. The freight cars were piled OF
top of the coach and being filed will
dry pine shingles, the entire mass o
wreckage was soon burning fiercel,
and the unfortunate inmates of tn,
car were pinned down and burned, be
ing unable to escape themselves an,
outside assistance being cut off b,
the burning debris. OF the forty
seven occupants but twelve wer