The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-01-29
ANOTHER RAILWAY HORROR
Southern Pacific'S Sunset Limited and Crescent City
Express Trains Wrecked at Walls, A. I.

tank The only means of identification was
his watch. His fireman, Joe McGrath, was
found with his head under Bruce's body.
Bruce's right hand clutched that of Nc
Grath. Engineer wilkie, of the Crescent
City express, was found under his cab, his
body burned to a crisp.
One body pulled out OF the burning
wreckage held in the charred hand pock-
ct knife with the name of Morris P. Will
lard on the handle.
Two burned women were taken from the
wreck. but they could not be identified.
One had the hands clasped as If in prayer.
The body of a man. evidently soldier.
was found crushed on the trucks of the
smoking car.
Twenty cofiins were taken to the scene
of the wreck and by 2 o'clock. fourteen
had been filled with charred bodies. These
were taken to Tucson. The searching party
continued its work. The bodies of four
tramps were found later under the wreck
age.
F. s. Glidden and H. NJ. Hilton, a
capitalist of Cambridge, Mass, were sit
ting together in the smoking car when the
threw Glidden through a window and two
feet from the car When he recovered his
ha in nf
and found him pinned in the burning
wreckage with no possible way of escap-
ing. Efforts at rescue were unavailng and
Glidden was forced to stand by and see his
companion perish in the flames.
One victim of the wreck was found with
only a f.zor on his body by which he may
be identified.
1t is impossible TO secure the names of
all the dead passengers because there are
Eight cars of the Crescent City express
and three of the limited were destroyed.
Most of the bodies were found in the smok-
ing car, which was telescoped by the loco
motive.
Bruce, the dead engineer. was a veteran
in the service, and hauled President Nc
Kinley's train across Arizona on the late
Presidents trip to the Pacific coast.
Superintendent stoufe and the railroad
surgeons have done everything possible to
relieve the injured.
The loss to the railroad in rolling stock
laid around the wreckage and traffic pro-
ceeds.
The locomotives of the wrecked trains
burned OIL and the oil from the tanks
added it is said, to the casualties. The
passengers who survived say the fire that
followed the collision was so fierce that
the metallic parts of the demolished cars
and locomotives were heated white.
The oil from the big fuel tanks ran in
streams along the track and rushes OF
flame veritably trickled down the embank-
ment. endangering the lives of the
wounded, who had been rescued from the
debris. 1t is said that IL the oil had not
caught fire the death list would not have
been so large.
Division Manager Agler said tonight
"Our reports say the collision was caused
by the negligence of the telegraph operator
at Esmond, station between Walls and
Tucson The west-bound train. called the
Iafa ax,1 G
travelling on the time of the train known as
No. z. The east-bound train, named the
Crescent City express, left Oakland, Cal.
at 10 o'clock Monday morning. The opera
tor at Esmond should have stopped the
west-bound train and delivered orders to
the engineer to take sidetrack."