The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1901-12-10
HERD END COLLISION
Freights Run Together In Selah Gap
With Fatal ResuIts--Two
Killed, Six Wounded.
misunderstood ORDERS
Engineer Cooper and Fireman Can
tOnwine Meet Instant Death.
Scene at the Wreck.
misunderstood ORDERS

Two freight trains on the Northern
Pacific railway running at the rate Of
about 30 miles an hour colided head on
in the gap two miles north of this city
at IL 80 o'clock Sunday night. Two
trainmcn were instantly killed, three
dangerously wounded, one seriously and
one slightly. Thirty-three freight cars
were demolished and three engines were
badly smashed.
The dead are:
7. K. Cooper OF Huron, \. d. engineer.
Fred l.. Cantonwine OF Waia Walla,
fireman.
The wounded are:
Joseph J. Chase, conductor, of star
buck, Wash. left wrist scalded, head
cut and bruised.
B. B. Stodd, brakeman, OF Spokane;
right leg broken in two places and badly
crushed, head and hands burned.
John j. Peters, brakeman, OF Boone,
Iowa right arm crushed and amputated,
condition serious.
Matthew Darcy, brakeman, of OF
tawa, Canada; burned and soalded on
head and hands.
Alfred Schanno, fireman; cut about
head and bruised.
Budd Anderson, conductor cut about
head and bruised
i CAUSE OF TIE ACCIDENT.
The cause of the accident was mis-
understanding Of the location OF trains
on the part OF the engineer and conduc-
tor. The east bound train was second
81 in charge Of Conductor Chase and En-
ble-header with 80 empties and one load
ed car with orders to pass extra No. 1902
at Wenas, four miles north OF here. No.
1902 was in charge of Conductor Ander-
son and Engineer Dan Smith and was
sent out OF North Yakima with orders to
take the siding at Wenas for No. 81.
Prior to this, extra No. 164 had been
sent out OF this place and took the siding
at Wenas to wait for second 81 to pass.
When No. "a reached Wenas Conductor
Chase was in the cab of the front engine
with Engineer Cooper. The train was
slowed down slightly to ascertain if the
train on the siding was 1902. Engineer
Cooper and Conductor Chase both took
l No 164 to be 1902, without stopping to
ascertain the correctness of the number.
They came on through at 30-mile gait,
thinking the way was clear. AT the
first sharp curve 400 feet or more north
of the Natchez bridge No. 81 met 1902
coming north with p loaded cars OF
wheat running at about the same rate
OF speed with a single engine. The noise
OF each train drowned that OF the other
and without warning they were upon
each other in an indescribable mass.
THE COLLISION.
4 The two trains came together with ter
OF an earthquake. The first engine OF
the east bound train exploded, letting
out kissing steam to add to the crashing
noise of breaking freight cars, which
piled one upon the other in space about
L 800 feet long. The second engine OF the
eastbound train plowed through the ten
der of the first engine, grinding it into
a mass of splinters and twisted iron and
rested with its nose up in the space
where the fireman, engineer and con-
ductor had been but a moment before.
The cab OF the second engine was crushed
and torn into splinters and the tender
Jared no better. The engine OF the west
bound train had been partly telescoped
by the forward engine of the east bound
train. Its cab was smashed into splinters
and behind it the cars piled up and
were crushed into mass like SO much
glass.
The ruin wrought was terrible. 1t was
all done in moment, and when the de-
hris OF the onslaught settled back into a