Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1903-11-20
DISREGARl)ED ORDERS
And Thirty One Human Lives
Are Sacrificed in Fright
full Wreck.
CONDUCTOR CAUSE OF COLLISION
Victims So Horribly Maneled tdenti-
fication Is lmposslbie-Enaine Crews
Save Their Lives by jumping
Sound Of Crash Heard for Miles.

PEORIA ILL.,, Nov 20-Thirty-o men
were killed and at least Is injured IN
a head-end collision between a freight
train and work train on the Big
Four railroad between Mackinaw AMI
fremont. Bodies OF 26 Of the victims
have been taken from the wreck,
which is piled 80 feet high on the
tracks. Five bodies yet remain buried
under the huge pile of broken timber
and twisted and distorted iron and
steel
On a bank ar the side of the track
lie the bodies of the victims. cut.
bruised and mangled in a horrible
manner. So far II only have been
identified, the remaining being unrec-
ognizable even by those who knew
them and are aware of the fact that
they are among the dead.
Victims Members of Work Train.
All the dead and most of the in
jured were members of the work train,
the crews on both engines jumping ia
time to save their lives. The col
lision occurred in a deep cut, at the
beginning of a sharp curve, neither
train being visible to the crew of the
other until they were within so feet
of each other The engineers set the
brakes, sounded the whistles and then
leaped from their cabs, the two traits
striking with such force that the
sound was heard for miles.
A second afte the collision the
boiler of the work train engine ex-
ploded, throwing heavy iron bars and
splinters of wood 200 feet.
Conductor John w Judge, of In
dianapolis, who had charge of the
freight train, received orders at Ur-
bana to wait at Mackinaw for the
work train Instead of doing this lie
failed to stop. The engineer of the
work train, George Becker. had also
received orders to pass the freight It
Mackinaw, and was on the way to that
station. The work train was perhaps
five minutes late and was running at
full speed
Boy Witnessed Collision.
The collision was witnessed by Rus
sell Noonan, farmers boy, ID years
old, who FASTENED to nearby houss
and telephoned to fremont A spe-
eial train with four physicians was
made up in a few minutes and in less
than half an hour was on the scene.
At the same time another train ar
rived from Pekin bearing Superintend-
ent C. H. Barnard, Of the Big Four,
and three physicians. The secoa1
train bore lot of rugs and these were
utilized to carry out the mangled
corpses of the victims.
The workmen had been engaged in
laying steel rails at different points
along the track and three of the
freight cars were heavily loaded
The injured were taken to the two
eabooses of the relief train, where
temporary hospitals were improvised.
and their wounds taken care Of
One caboose was taken to Morton,
while the other was taken to fremont.
The dead will lie on the bank until
the arrival Of the coroner of Tazewe,l
county They were all residents of
neighboring towns, and the scenes
about the wreck were beyond descrip-
ton. Wives and children of men who
were missing thronged around, asking
If their husbands or fathers had been
killed. Out of 35 men who constitut-
ed the crew of the work train only
four are living and two of these arc
seriously injured.