Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-09-24
FIFTEEN FREIGHT CARS DERAIL-
ED AND BURNED LAST EVEN
ING NEAR WEBSTER.
EXPLODESa
Four Tank Cars Laden With Explos.
i've Start Fire Which Destroys Fif-
teen cars-FIames Lighted Heavens
for Many Miles Around Scene.

Hayesville, Sept 24-(SpeciaL)
The derailing of a Milwaukee freight
train, the explosion of four tanks OF
OIL and the burning of Is freight cars,
caused CONSERVATION among the peo-
pie within radius of from ten to
| fifteen miles from the scene of the
| catastrophe, which occurred in a cut
| between Webster and North English
| at $50 o'clock last evening. Just
as darkness was settling down over
keohtk county the people were
amazed to see a bright light in the
! heavens, and many were the specula-
tons as to it's c>use. AT Hayesville,
| fully fifteen miles from the scene Of
the wreck the light was so easily seen
that it seemed that the fire could
be no more lthan three or four miles
away and many people started in
the direction of the light, only to trav-
ell several miles without coming any
nearer, apparently, than when they
started
The first section of Milwaukee
freight train, No. 161, west bound,
was nearing Webster when the wreck
occurred 1t is thought to have been
caused by the breaking of an axle
on one of the cars, which resulted in
the ditching of seventeen of the heavy
cars, among them being four tank cars
full of oil.
These cars caught fire and the
oil exploded and almost before
4 the startled trainmen realized that
there had been a wreck several of the
cars We're in flames. No one was in
iured, fortunately. and the crew set to
work in hopeless attempt to save the
train from destruction. Under the di-
rection OF Conductor Bingham and
Engineer c. D. Mitchell the men
worked like beavers and succeeded in
getting some OF the cars far enough
away from the burning mass to save
them from destruction.
Many See the Fire.
People from the farms for miles
around the scene of the wreck hasten
ed to the place and while some stood
and looked on others aided the train
men in getting part of the train to a
place of safety. The work was danger
: Gus, however, and volunteers We're few.
The burning cars made hot FIRE and
the heat was all the more intense as
the wreck occurred III a cut between
hills, which served to confine the heat
to certain extent. The track was
blocked and there was nc way of get
: ting aid from either division point,
: Marion or Ottumwa in time to save
:, the cars.
4 Meanwhile the wires We're busy
e along the line OIL the railroad and the
i. farmers and citizens for miles around
+ the scene of the wreck were busily tel
g ephoning to learn the cause of the
e bright light, which could be seen for a
long distance. At Sigourney the fire
seemed to be only short distance
away, while it was in reality ten miles
to the northwest.
Traffic Delayed.
Traffic was delayed several
n hours by the wreck and the track
f was not cleared until early
t this morning. The debris was
L so hot that even after the flames
l. had burned themselves out it was i'm.
= possible to work owing to the heat OK
;. the metal parts of the wrecked cars.
n BY daylight. however, the track was in
/ condition so that trains could be run
e over it slowly and with care During
l. the night the Milwaukee
trains used the Rock Island
tracks between Cedar Rapids
and Webster, coming from the latter
place through Hayesyille to Ottumwa
d on the Milwaukee line. The lose wsss
amount to several thousand dollars,
), the railroad officials being unable to at
> present give any exact amount
t People who CHANGED to be on the
e high ground north of Ottumwa last ev,
e ening saw the reflection of the flames
~, ~ hA Nf