The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1901-09-06
TERRIBLE WRECK OF c. \.
Loaded Freight Trnta. without En-
giaes Men Csms over the Noun
~ Passenger rrAis-swperia-
tesdens Dewss Ansoax the Killed.

"nH ~ Hh.ic VI irea sSiiousif nun &hHt
IL the result Of the terrible train wreck
and holocaust on the Great Northern rail
May at Ayaek. Mont, Friday evening.
The sreekage instantly took fiis and
burned herceiy for over two hours and
a hah before reaching the passenger
coaches In which over two seofe human
beings lay buried. Some we're manglei,
some we're dying and many wefe dead.
Their muiiisted remains were never re-
covered, but sere esemated in the awful
furnace heat which consumed every fessige
OF The wrecked ears except the ifon and
steel.
la this fearful holocaust the bodies OF
Assistant General Superintendent /. !.
Do~ns and son, T. Kirk Do9ns. asfr
consumed, together with the remains Of IS
Iabofsfs hose names could NOT be learn
I'd
Ten freight ears loaded With shingles
and ian1sef, one boNcaf loaded With
canned salmon. and sAree coaches ON the
passenger train, Including a standard
sleeper. day coach and the private ear
OF Superintendent Do~ns, sels burned IN
the canhagfatiun
The wreck occurred at Nsaek, 81 miles
eass OF kalispsii, Mont. at $50 O'Clock
In the evening, The passenger had just
passed eaboose and day passenger
eoseh. standing On sidstrark, and ~ss
running about SIX miles ana hour, hen the
rear snd Of oar train Mas crashed into
by A runaway fright train Of y cars.
which had sssrsrd from siding near the
summit Of steep grade. Ilsess esrs sefe
heavily loasisxi aud ~hen the crash came
were running fully 20 miles an hour.
Eysa illnesses say that The freight ears
came down the mountains With q roar like
a tornado. carrying great clouds Of q
aud aishrssd vegetation 10 their saAe.
The rear ni the runaway train Nas beard
'Ssess the nol-e Of tho passenger train
hy man asso aas ia shr detached rahsoese.
The point at aIich the collision oocufred
~as just beyond sharp curve. shieh. To-
eviissr wish sbr moving passenger train,
prevented any attempt At warning. had
ssieh thing is~n possible.
To tho.~ on the train not a single mo
msnts wafning MAS Eisen- Ihe first we
knew was a fearful crash followed by
sieksning. erunehing grinding. srarsng,
jolsing sound. This sas io..osed By the
violent oscillation ~ the coaches, sud
den jerk and all ~as siiIl.
The Gauss u the eondagraiinn ~ss not
from The STOVE 81 the suprsinsrndeuts
private car, ~ At hrst announced. but
.rum a hghisi OIL Lamp IN the cabco~r
which Was standing on the sidetrack and
W ieh wAs overturned when The collision
Thr point from ~herr the ca
lreo>r sss overturned 10 where the vic
Tins werr buried beneath the ~recksgr
Mas at least Eve car lengths distant. That
lime before the sleeper and other wr~ckci
raf. wess burned No iirr originated in (,
he passenger train al all.
The wrrek vas not csueed from a
Irvtghs train breaking in two. az first re-
ported. but in ths following manner East
rvund fright train No. Ia had taken the
.idIng near the summit Of the grade near
Essex. 10 miles from where the collision
occurred. II consisted 81 - loaded cars.
wo engines and cabeo-e. A helper en-.
fint IL u.csi At the rear Of fright trains
'ver the E.@cx grade. The caboosc fol-
ows the helper engine.
After the train passed both engines Of
he fright we're detached and taken tol
sseex for water and coal. lcving The %
arr on the siding. II IL supposed the air
rakcs which had been set leaked. thus
*. with the result that the - cars began
0 90 down the hill. gathering momentum
/ every mile. until the point Of collision
18th the passenger train. when II l. vsri.
u.y estimated that the runaway cars
INST have been going at the rtc Of 20 to
~ miles an hour.
The real io.s Of life !. variousiy esti-
sted. The conductor In his report to the
hysician- said that the day coach carry
~ the laborers left Hayre with 81 men on
ard Between Iisvre and Nyack four
II the train, leaving ~ on board in the
ach when the collision occurred. OF the
rescued, three were dead and one died
ortIy afterwards, making a total Of 81
ad and missing. These, with the three
rscngefs in the private coach. make
tai of "a who are known to have lost
q conductor was mistaken about four
N leaving tho coach between HavrcI
d Nynck, then there was : total Of -
n killed.
The laborcrs were being taken 10 Jen.
ngs by Guthrie 4 Co., contractors.
.mb~r u the Arm was on board the train.
4 HE Of this man whose name was not
rned was aAved BY simple game of
d..
~ u believed that nothing further
I'D have bsrn accomplished toward the
'inw u Iife, - al indications Of any one
remaining IN the Wreckaee Alive had