The Oskaloosa herald., 1903-08-13
RAIL WAY WRECK
KILLS A SCORE
Circus Trains Collide in Railroad
Yards at Durand, Mich.
AIR BRAKE FAILED TO WORK
Wild scenes Follow the Crash, the
Believing of Wild Animals
sIingIins with Cries of In
jured and Dying Men.

Durand, Mich, Aug. S.-Twenty-three
men are dead, several others probably
will die of their injuries, dozen are
seriously hurt and the bodies. of an ele-
plant and two camels lie mangled as a
result Of collision here Friday morn
ing between the trains carrying Wallace
Brothers circus. The dead were men
connected with the show and employees
OF the Grand Trunk railroad, on which
| the terrible wreck occurred. Failure of
| the air brakes on the rear train to work
| caused the collision.
| The scene in the Grand Trunk yards
after the collision was an appalling one.
The wreckage of the engine and four cars
was strewn about, while the shrieks of
the injured victims and the believing of
the frightened animals could be heard
above the hiss of escaping steam and the
excited shouts of the rescuers.
List of the Dead.
The dead are: James Mccarthy,
trainmaster Grand Trunk road between
| Port Huron and Battle Creek; A. w.
Large, special officer Grand Trunk, Bat
tie Creek; John Purcell, Peru, Ind, boss
canvasman; LATE Larson, Cambridge, O.,
six-horse team driver; G. Thomas, res
| idence unknown, member Of stake and
| chain gang; Harry St. Clair, residence
unknown, reserved seat man; John
Leary, Springfield, Ill, boss of ring
| stock; Andrew Rowland, New York
| state, canvasman; Frank Thorp, Dun
| dee, Mich, trainmaster of circus train;
| Robert Rice, residence unknown, har-
| nessmaker; George Smith, residence I'M
| known, blacksmith; Charles Sands,
Peru, Ind, driver; Joe Wilson, Pitts
burg; w J. Mccoy, Columbus, O.,
| canyasman with side show; unknown
man, driver of band wagon; unknown
man, home said to be in Indianapolis,
rider in circus races; unknown man,
home said to be Louisville, four-hcTse
| driver; unknown man, four-horse
driver; unknown man, suffocated to
death; two unidentified men are also
dead at the hospital; Edward York, of
Terre Haute, Ind; James Toffelmire, Of
Orient, Ia.
| story of the Catastrophe.
The circus travels in two trains OF
about So cars each. After last nights
exhibition at Charlotte the two trains
left for Lapeer over the Grand Trunk
road, the second section leaving half
hour after the first. 1t was 3:45 o'clock
when the first section pulled into the
west end of the Grand Trunk yards
here. A red light was hung on the
rear car to stop the second section.
| Engineer Propst, of Battle Creek, who
| was running the engine of the rear
| train, says he saw this light and APP
piled the air brake. To his horror it
refused to work. He reversed his en-
| CINE, but the momentum Of the train
behind was too great and with a crash
that aroused all of the town near the
yards, the two trains met Three cars
of the stationary first section were tel
| escoped and the engine and five cars
of the moving train were demolished.
The rear car of the first section was a
caboose in which the trainmen were
sleeping, and the next two were filled
with sleeping circus employees. The
greatest loss of life was in the caboose.
One of the wrecked cars of the sec
ond section was occupied by five ele-
plants and several camels. One Of
the elephants and two camels were
| killed outright
HOrrifyinE Spectacle.
The escaping steam and screams and
cries of those pinned in the wreck
made a horrifyirg spectacle in the
gray of the early morning, when the
| trainmen in the yards and the aroused
| townspeople first reached the scene)
The rescuers could see unfortunates
| through the tangled wreckage and
went furiously to work without wait
ing for tools to extricate them. A
wrecking crew is kept in the yards
here, and it was on the scene in a very
few minutes, bringing tools and eqnip-
! ment in plenty. All the phvcicians
and trained nurses IN town were sent
for and those in nearby places were
rushed to the scene on hand cars.
| Taken Ont Dead.
Four of the injured died at the hos
pital before $50 o'clock. When the
wrecking train crews had finished pull
ing to pieces the tangled and broken cars,
II dead men were lying on the gross
awaiting removal to the morgue. A ma
jority of them were Killed while asleep.
The circus performers were on the rear
of the moving train and escaped injury.
Wallace Brothers, say that their loss will
be very heavy, but have given no esti-
mate of it as yet This is the second
wreck the Wallace shows have expert
enced within a mohth.
Send Bodies Home.
The bodies of the dead have been
placed in caskets and are being shipped
to their homes as rapidly as possible.
The injured who are still here at the
! temporary hospital in the Hotel Richie
lieu are those suffering from lesser hurts.
the seriously wounded being removed to
Detroit this afternoon.
/ The Grand Trunk tracks have been
cleared and the officials OF the road place
their loss at $4,700.
i River StilI Falling.
| KanSaa CITY Mo Aup 2-Tha Kap