The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-07-29
FAST PENNSYLVANIA PASSEN-
GER TRAIN WRECKED,
WOMEN BURNED TO DEATH
Gas Tank Exploded and Wreckage
Soon a Mass Of FIames-Eight
Known to Be Dead.

Indianapolis, July 25.-A special to
the Sentinel from Treben, o., says:
One Of the most appalling wrecks in
the history ct the Pennsylvania rail
road occurred here at 1880 O'Clock
last night when the limited from st.
Louis to New York, with a heavy train
composed of an engine, two mail cars,
day coach and four Pullman sleepers,
while running at 20 miles an hour,
crashed into a wild fiat car loaded
with coal coming down grade toward
it at a rate of Is miles an hour. Three
dead bodies have been taken from the
wreck, the engineers body will never
be recovered, being burned to- aches.
Four others are known to be burned
to death and several are missing The
train was totally consumed by fire
with the exception of two rear Pull
mans. Sixteen persons were injured.
Two postal clerks are dead, two 9th
ers are badly scalded and a dozen o.
more persons are more or less hurt.
The crash came in the darkness. The
clouds hid the moon and to add to the
horror a gas tank under a coach ex-
ploded and the entire wreck was a
mass of flames in three minutes after
the collision with the runaway coal
car. rL
The Dead.
CHARLES MCGOWAN, Greenfield,
Ind, railway postal clerk.
M. M. PETERS, Columbus, O., rail
way postal clerk.
WILLIAM CLARK, Columbus. O.,
engineer.
WILLIAM DWYER, Columbus, O.,
fireman. -m.
TWO UNKNOWN WOMEN, burned
to death in forward pullman.
ONE UNKNOWN MAN, burned to
death in second Pullman.
FOUR PERSONS. missing and may
be burned in the wreck.
The Injured.
George A. Clifford, Indianapolis,
scalded about face and hands; will
recover. w 4
William G. Forsuthe. Indianapolis,
scalded about face and hands and in
jured internally.
James McFadden, Indianapolis, bad
ly cut on the head; will recover.
Fred Carpenter, Indianapolis, cut
about head; will GOV
Twelve others whose James could
not be learned.
The little town is three miles west
of Xenia. There is a heavy down
grade from that city here. While
switching coal cars there last night
a loaded flatcar became detached and
shot down the heavy grade toward
this hamlet. The limited express on
the Pennsylvania was speeding on
the same track in the opposite direc-
ton at the rate Of 70 miles an hour.
It was late and Engineer Clark was
trying to make up lost time. In the
darkness he evidently did not see the
coal car coming. or saw it too late.
His train crashed into the a and an
instant later the entire mass was a
buring pile of wreckage. In it were
nearly so human beings. Ten min
utes later all had been taken out of
the burning mass but seven.
Passengers escaped without colth.
ing except the seven in the day coach.
The survivors stood helpless and
| heard the scream of two women and
! one man pinned in the wreckage for
whom aid was impossible. For three
| hours the wreck burned. The Xenia
| and Dayton fire departments went
to the rescue. They could save no
lives. - INV 4
Wllll3m DWyef. Ine' Hfetudil. was
taken out alive. but lived only 30 min
utes. -Four postal clerks were in the
mail cars. They were Clifford and
Forsuthe of indianapolis, Peters of
| Columbus, o., and MCGOWAN of Green
field. Ind.
The bodies of Peters and MCGOWAN
were recovered badly scalded and
mangled. VI
It was an hour before help arrived
from Xenia. The survivors were TAX
en- there and the injured cared for.
Later in the night a special took the
people uniniured to Columbus. Many
OF them will continue on their jour-
| ney. ..
Three wrecking crews arrived and
the track is heing put in shane. 1t is
torn I'M fer 200 wards. E. B. Hutchin-
son. claim agent of the road. is pre-
pairing a list of the injured as &C
c~urately as the confusion will allow.
It will be days before the exact list
l 1, r. = - ---. A l- ..... TO-