Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-08-11
CIRCUS TRAINS COLLIDE.
Extras Carrying Wallace Brothers
Shows Wrecked.

Extras Carrying Wallace Brothers
Shows Wrecked.
Durand, Mich, Aug. 1.-THE Wallace
Brothers circus trains were wrecked
in the Grand Trunk yards here early
today, twenty-five men, mostly employ
es of the circus, were killed,and about
twelve more were injured, seven fatal.
ly. The show was travelling in two
sections over the Grand Trunk from
Lansing to Lapeer. The accident, it is
said, was caused by the failure of the
second section of, the train to stop on
time and it ran into the first at full
speed. The engine of the second sec.
ton and four cars of the first section
were completely demolished and much
valuable property was destroyed.
The Dead.
The dead are:
JAMES M'CARTY, Trainmaster OF
the Grand Trunk Road.
A. w. LARGE of Battle Creek, spe.
cial officer of the Grand Trunk.
JOHN PURCELL, OF Peru, Ind.
LAFE LARSON, of Cambridge, Ohio.
G. THOMAS.
HARRY ST. CLAIR.
JOHN LEARY of Springfield, Ill.
ANDREW ROWLAND Of New York
FRANK THORP of Dundee, Mich.
ROBERT RICE, Peru, Ind.
GEORGE SMITH, Peru, Ind.
CHARLES SANDS, Peru Ind.
JOE WILSON of Pittstburg.
w. j. MCCOY of Columbus, Ohio.
EDWARD YORK of Terre Haute
Indiana.
SEVEN UNIDENTIFIED.
The Injured.
Among the injured are:
w. Cone, Dubuque Iowa, and JOSEPH
Patterson. Grand Prairie, Ill.
James Coffelmire, Orio, Iowa.
John Collins, Des Moines, Iowa.
Joseph Monks, Vassar, Mich.
Fifteen of the injured were taken tt
Detroit on a special train for treat
ment.
Brakes Fail to Work.
The wreck, according to the statement
of the engineer of the second section
was caused by the failure of the all
brakes to work.
Crash AWakens Residents.
1t was .3:45 a. M, when the first sec
ton pulled into. the west end of thu
Grand Trunk yards here. Enginee
Propst of Battle Greek who was run
ming the engine of the rear train say!
he saw a light and applied the ali
brakes but to his horror they refused
to work. He reversed the engine il
a moment but the trains speed wa'
too great and with a crash tina
aroused all the town near the yards
the two trains met.
Cars Demolished.
Three of the cars of the first section
were telescoped and the engine ant
five cars of the moving train were de
molished. The rear car of the frs
section was a caboose in which the
trainmen were sleeping and the mex
two We're filled with circus employees
The greatest loss OF life was in the ca
boose.
Animals Are Killed.
One of the wrecked cars of the sec
ond section was occupied by five ele
plants and several camels. One ele
plant and two caThels were killed out
Light, WllllS thC OllCk dAlAldlS anu LII
trainer escaped. With the exception
of this car, none of the menagerie wa
wrecked, the other demolished car
containing canvas and wagons an,
there was comparatively little excite
ment among the wild animals.
An Awful Spectacle.
The escaping steam and the screams
and cries Of those pinned in the wrecl
made the affair horrifying, when tn,
trainmen in the yards and the arous
ed townspeople first reached the scene
The wrecking crew was on the scene il
a few minutes. The hotel Richelieu wa
converted into a temporary hospita
and scores of volunteers with stretch
ers were in readiness to carry the in
jured there as fast as the rescuer,
could extricate the dead. Many O
them SO terribly mangled tina
Identification seemed well nigh impos
sible. were CAREFUL laid on the green
sward a short distance from the scene
By 6 o'clock corps of twelve physi
clans were operating on the injured
and dressing their wounds in the TEN
porary hospital.
wallace Brothers circus exhibite,
in Ottumwa June 81. Several Of tn
men prominent in the company ar
we'll known in this city. Ed.
Blame Engineer.
An official statement issued by th,
Grand Trunk road says the air brake
We're not applied by the engineer o
the second train.
d. q
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS