The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-11-28
WABASH PASSENGER TRAINS IN
FRIGHTFUL COLLISION.
NEARLY ONE HUNDRED KILLED
Misleading of Orders Causes Horrible
Wreck-Coaches Reduced to Splin-
tiers Take Fire-Many Persons
Incinerated.
(By Associated Press.)

Detroit Mich, Nov. 2S.-Two paSsen-
ger trains on the Wabash railroad. one
going west, the other east, met i'll
frightful collision, while going at almost
full speed, one mile east of Seneca,
Mich. village II miles west OF Adrian,
shortly after o'clock last night.
Both trains We're wrecked in the
dreadful impact. entailing a tremendous
loss of life, estimated from so to 100.
rhe list of injured will probably reach
125.
The westbound train was known as
No. Is, and was regular, which, be-
sides it's regular coaches. had several
coaches filled with Italian immigrants,
going west from New York.
The eastbound train was known as
No. l. the Continental limited. 1t was
vestibuled train, consisting of bag
gage car combination coach and sleep
erS.
Misread Train Orders.
The cause of the wreck was mis-
reading of orders by Engineer Strong
of the Continental limited. The order,
it is claimed, read. Pass at Seneca"
but Strong understood it to read Sand
Creek"
The conductor did not know the en-
Eineer misread the order and supposed
his train was going on siding. Find
ing that the train was running rapidly,
the conductor put on the air brakes
himself. but it was too late. The two
train crashed together and the cars on
the westbound train We're crumpled up
in heap Of ruins.
Engineer Strong stated, in an inter-
view with an Associated Press reporter
that his order read to pass trains No.
13 and (the latter closely following No.
Is, from Detroit) at Sand Creek Strong
said
Il saw the headlight Of No. IS, four or
ave miles before the collision occurre)l,
but supposed the train was sidetracked
at Sand Creek, waiting for us to pass.
The glare of the powerful electric head
light made it impossible to see the eX-
act location of the other train My
fireman and ] both jumped for the right
hand gangway."
Crushed Between Cars.
Strong and the firemen were both
hurled 800 feet, but although scratched
cut and terribly Jared, they were not
seriously injured.
The immigrants and other passenger:
on train No. 10, We're crushed between
she splintered cars. If any escaped
49,
most miracle.
To add to the horror the wreckagt
caught fire instantly and in a short time
the bodies of the dead and those of the
injured who We're pinned down We're be
ing burned.
The scene which followed was heart
rending in the extreme. The spot wher
the wreck occurred was in the open, witt
but one house near by and facilities 20
Hiding the injured were extremely mad
equate
AS soon as the news of the disaste
reached Superintendent Burns, here.
relief train was dispatched to the seen
with a score or more surgeons on boarc
Farmers from nearby and those VIII
escaped from the wreck made heroi
efforts to rescue the less fortunate.
Wreckage Takes Fire.
The condition of the wreck was sue
that in the darkness it was impossibl
to render immediate aid. After the col
lision the coaches of the westboun
train broke out in flames. The unfor
tunates fought madly in their attemr
10 crawl out of doors and windows thu
findering each other so that the bull
of them were unable to escape.
The immigrant train was made up {
nine cars behind two engines. Six {
these cars We're damned together. Yer
soon the wreckage began burnin
hercely and those in the cars were SLOW
~ roasted to death. There was n
means at hand with which to fight tn
fire and the agonized shrieks of the poe
unfortunates were appalling.
"It was a veritable hell of fire." sal
Victor C. Greenbaum of New York Cit.
who escaped with slight injuries. "Pee
pie who came hurrying to the seen
from farm houses in that localit,