Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-21
NINE KILLED IN WRECK
Terrible Railway Disaster
Near Fort Scott, Kansas.
'FRISCO'S BEST TRAIN
PRECEDING FREIGHT CREW
LEFT THE SWITCH OPEN.
Smoking Car Turns Over - Baggage
Cars Wrecked-Four Persons In
stantly Killed, Many injured.
BEST TRAIN

KANSAS CITY, Mo, December 21.-The
Meteor, the fast train on the st. Louis ana
San Francisco railway. was wrecked at
Godfrey, fifteen miles south of Fort Scott,
Kan, today.
The train ran into switch, and all ex-
cept the sleeper was derailed and turned
over Nine persons were killed and over
twenty injured.
The dead and injured were taken to Fort
Scott.
The wrecked train was one of the finest
and fastest in the service. 1t was made up
of two baggage and one mall car a smoker.
two chair cars and sleeper. When tho
train reached Godfrey 1t was running at
full speed to make up time. The crew OF q
freight train that had preceded the Meteor
left the switch open and the passenger train
Jumped the track and rolled down slight
embankment.
Passengers in Sleeper Uninjured.
The smoker turned over, and so fast was
the train running that the engine and the
forward baggage car landed nearly sixty
feet off the roadbed before 1t stopped. The
sleeper remained upright and none OF the
passengers in this car was injured
The keggage cars were completely wreck.
ed and the smoker was badly damaged.
Five of those killed were In the forward
killed instantly. news agent who was
badly mangled died on the relief train that
carried the dead and injured to Fort Scott.
Sometime Before injured Were Aided.
Engineer B. A. Devices of Fort Scott,
Conductor Roy of Topeka and Fireman
Bishard of Fort Scott were all instantly
killed and Express Messenger John Bell OF
Kansas City was seriously injured. Others
OF the crew and almost every passenger on
the train except those in the sleeper, who
escaped with a severe shake-up, were IN
jured, some of them seriously.
1t was some time before those of the crew
who had escaped injury We're able, with the
help of the passengers who were unhurt.
to aid the injured. A wrecking crew car
rying physicians did not leave Fort Scott
for the scene until several hours after the
wreck occurred.
Freight Crew Brakeman Responsible.
The dead are all western men. One man.
whose body has not been identified, was
thrown sixty feet into neighboring corn
field Two men. one from Oklahoma and
the other from Arkansas. were fatally in
jured Sixteen persons. including Henry NJ
Mcdonnell of Lodi. Ohio, were seriously
hurt, and fifteen others were slightly inJur-
ed Most Of the injured were badly burned
as well as being manned.
The responsibility for the wreck is laid at
the door Of a brakeman of the freight crew
who failed to flag the passenger train. He
has disappeared.
Chair Cars Took Fire.
The engine on the freight had become
dead" and the crew ordered to remain
on the main track and to turn the switch
for the passenger train, then about due.
the brakeman ordered to flag the Meteor.
This he neglected to do. In the crash the
baggage car telescoped the engine and
landed in a cornfeld while the smoker ana
the two chair cars were piled in a mass on
top of the engine. Most of the injured were
in the chair cars. which took fire soon after
the wreck occurred.