The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-01
ELEVEN FOOTBALL
PLAYERS KILLED
Sixteen and Perhaps Twenty
Lives Are Lost in an indiana
Train Wreck.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind, Oct. 3l.-olx-
teen persons were killed and over fifty
injured, some fatally, this morning by
a collision between a special passen-
ger train on the Big Four railroad and
a freight engine with string OF coal
cars. The accident happened in the
edge of this city. The passenger train
of twelve coaches was carrying 954
persons, nearly all of whom were stu
dents of Purdue university and their
friends, from Lafayette to indianapolis
for the annual football game between
the Purdue team and the Indiana uni
versity squad for the state champion
ship, which was to have been fought
this afternoon.
In the first coach back of the en-
CINE were the Purdue football team,
substitute players and managers. Three
players, the assistant coach, trainer
and seven substitute players of the
university team were killed and every
one of the fifty three other persons in
the car was either fatally or seriously
injured. Following is the list of the
dead:
CHARLES CRUDE, Butler, Ind;
substitute player
CHARLES FURR, Veedersburg. Ind;
E. G. ROBERTSON, Indianapolis;
assistant coach and captain of team
two years ago.
WALTER L. RoUSH. Pittsburg,
Pa; substitute.
r. J. POWELL, Corpus Christi,
Texas; end player.
w. D. HAMILTON, Lafayette; CEN
ter rush.
GABRIEL S. DROLLINGER, Lafa-
yette, Ind; substitute.
SAMUEL SQUIBB, Lawrenceburg,
Ind; substitute.
JAY HAMILTON, Huntington, Ind;
substitute.
N. HOWARD, Lafayette; president
of the Indiana Laundrymen's associa-
ton.
PATRICK MCLAIR. Chicago, ILL.,;
SAMUEL TRUITT, Noblesville, Ind;
G. L. SHAW, Lafayette. Ind.
BERT PRICE, Spencer, Ind; substi-
tute.
]. C. COATES, Berwin, Pa.
From the twelve coaches were COM
ing the joyous cries of a thousand
rooters for Purdue, while in the front
coach sat twenty great, muscular fell
lows, trained to the hour, on whom the
hopes of a brilliant victory on the
gridiron were confidently placed
Around a curve at the Eighteenth
street cut Engineer Schumacher found
directly in front of him the freight en-
CINE and coal cars moving slowly from
a switch leading to gravel pit. He
reversed his engine and jumped
The crash hurled the passenger en-
CINE and three front coaches against
the steel cars loaded with coal that
plowed their way through and buried
under a pile of wreckage weighing
many tons fully sixty human beings.
The first car, in which were the foot
ball players, was completely demol-
ished, the roof being torn away and
landing across a car of coal, while the
body of the car was reduced to kindling
wood against the side of the steel
freight car. The second coach, con-
tanning the band musicians, was part
ly telescoped, while the third coach
was overturned and hurled down a
fifteen foot embankment. The other
coaches did not leave the track.
Immediately after the shock the
passengers, men and women, began
the frantic work of tearing away the
wreckage and pulling out dead and dy-
ing classmates and fraternity broth
erS. The young women performed he
roic work. Though the bodies were in
several instances horribly mangled, one
completely and one partially beheaded,
they took upon their laps the heads of
the dying and injured and soothed
their sufferings as best they could I'M
til the surgeons arrived.
A general alarm was sounded and
every assistance the city could af-
ford was rushed to the wreck, which
was three miles from the business CEN
ter. Surgeons are still working over
the injured and it is believed the death
list will be swelled to twenty