The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-02-06
TWENTY killed IN
AN ARIZONA. WRECK
Sunset Limited Collides With
Eastbound Passenger Near
Tucson, Ariz.
DID NOT GET THE ORDER
Night Operator at Walls Station FAILED
to Deliver Order to the West
bound Train Casualties
Will Reach Thirty.

Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 3O.-The failure Of
Night Operator George Clough at Walls
station to deliver orders to ~weStbound
train No. 8, known as the Sunset Lin
tied. caused a headend collision yester-
day between trains No. 8 and No. 8,
fourteen miles east of, Tucson and six
miles from Walls station, with fatal re-
suits.
At last accounts twenty bodies had
been taken from the mass of burned
and charred wreckage, INC it is be-
lieved that several more are buried In
h twisted inc tangled mass Of iron
and steel.
1t appears that both trains were run
ming at full speed, inc came together
with a terrific crash. The engines and
cars piled up in a mass and Immediate
ly took fire from the exploding oil
tanks Of the engines. The flames were
communicated to the cars, eleven Of
which were quickly consumed.
AS soon as the news of the wreck
reached Tucson a relief train was made
ready and sent to the scene of the dis
aster. This train has just returned,
bringing seventeen Of the injured. A
number We're taken to Benzon, Ariz.
The first news of the wreck had here
was when q tourist car, which had
broken away from the eastbound train,
ran into Tucson station, where 1t was
stopped. .i
Many Unidentified.
Following is a list OF dead so far az
obtainable at this hour:
j. M. HILTON Of Cambridge, Mass.
]. w. BRUCE, engineer.
r. r. WILKEY, engineer.
GEORGE M'GRATH, fireman.
SIXTEEN UNIDENTIFIED.
Seriously injured:
TT w Hartman IF So oipa w Mitch ~
Frederick Donahue of Battle Creek
Mich.
Ben Sawyer, mail clerk.
A. B. SilVerton of New York.
G. S. Gilbert, fireman.
Ben Bradford of May Hill, N. Y.
Ben Merryhill of New Hampshire.
The painfully injured:
M. M. Boehm, baggagcman.
s. r. Glidden of Cambridge.
FREDERICK Romero Of Jurez, Mex.
-Mtchaelson of Tucson.
A large number Of others We're Slight
ly injured by broke glass.
Both engineers, Bruce and Wilkey,
n Fireman McGrath, were burned to
death in the wrecks Of their engines.
The son Of j. M. Hilton, who was
among the list Of killed, ESCAPED in
jury.
Cause of the Disaster.
Train No. s, which originally was No.
", Dl'."oo ~ AAooAo loIC dllu w as
running as No. 8, stopped at Walls sta
ton at 2:40 o'clock this morning. It
was in charge of Conductor G. w. Par
ker and Engineer Jack Bruce, one Of
the Oldest and best known engineers in
Arizona.
The conductor and engineer were fur
nished with orders to pass an east
bound train at Wilnot station. There
was an order at Walls ~station-one to
meet train No. 8, known as the Crescent
City express, eastbound, at Edmont.
This order, which was an important
one. the operator failed to deliver, and
the limited passed out without the right
Of way and with nc orders concerning
No. s. When six miles west Of Walls,
running at a speed Of fifty miles an
hour, rounding a sharp curve No. 8
crashed into No. 8, running forty-five
miles an hour.
The crash and the scenes Immediate
ly following were beyond description.
So great was the impact that the two
engines reared up like two animals en-
gagged in combat and crushed the boil
ers like shells. The cars Immediately
in the rear rushed upon the mass Of
heated iron and piled up in an inde.l
scribable n frightfully tangled
mass.