Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-11-04
MANY KILLED
AND MANNED
Terrible Wreck Of Excursion Train
on Big Four Railway Results
Most Fatally.
FOOT BALL TEAM WIPED OUT
Ten Players and Assistant Coach o.
Purdue University Were Kill
ed Outright

persons were killed and over fifty in
jured, some fatally, this morning by
collision between a special passen-
ger train on the Big Four railroad
and a freight engine with coal cars.
The accident happened on the edge
of this city. The passenger train of
twelve coaches was carryinw 594 per-
sons, nearly all of whom were stu
dents of Purdue University and their
friends from Lafayette to Indianapo-
lis, for the annual foot ball game be-
tween the Purdue team and the In
diana university squad for the state
championship, which was 20 have
been fought this afternoon. In the
first coach back of the engine were
the Purdue football team, substitute
players and managers. Three play
ers, the assistant coacher, the train
er and the seven substitute players
of the university team were killed,
and every one of fifty-three other per-
sons in the car was either fatally or
seriously injured.
Following is the list of dead:
w. II. CRUDE, Butler Ind, substi-
tute player.
CHARLES FURR, veedersburg.
Ind, guard.
E. c. ROBERTSON. indianapolis,
assistant coach and captain of team
two years ago.
WALTER L. ROUSH, Pittsburg,
Pa, substitute.
r. j. POWELL, Corpus Christi,
Texas, end player.
w. d. Hamilton, Lafayette, Ind,
center rush.
GABRIEL S. DROLLINGER, Lafay-
ette. Ind, substitute.
SAMUEL SQUIBB, Lawrenceburg,
Ind, substitute.
JAY HAMILTON, Huntington, Ind.
substitute.
N. r. HOWARD Lafayette, pres
ident of Indiana Laundrymens asso-
citation.
PATRICK McCLAIR, Chicago, H.,
trainer.
SAMUEL TRUITT. NobIesville, In.
diana. substitute.
G. l.. SHAW. Lafayette, Ind.
BERT PRICE, Spencer, Ind, substi-
tute.
j. c. COATES, Berwin, Pa.
w. S. MCMILLAN. Indianapolis. In
diana, formerly of Chicago.
From the tweleve coaches were
coming joyous cries of a thousand
rooters for Purdue, clad in gala
dress, with colors streaming, while in
the front coach sat 20 great. muscu-
lar fellows trained to the hour, on
whom the hopes of brilliant victory
on the gridiron were confidently plac-
ed Around the curve at the Eight
eenth street cut Engineer Schumak-
freight engine and coal cars moving
slowly from a switch leading to a
gravel pit. He reversed his engine
and jumped. The crash hurled the
passenger engine and the three front
coaches against the steel cars loaded
with coal that ploughed their way
through, and buried under a pile of
wreckage, weighing many tons, fully
so human beings. The first car, in
which were the foot ball players, was
completely demolished, the roof being
torn away and landing across the car
of coal, while the body of the car was
reduced to kindling wood against the
side of steel freight car. The sec.
ond coach, containing the band musi
clans, was partly telescoped, while
the third coach was overturned and
hurled down a 15-foot embankment
The other coaches did not leave the
track. President Stone. of the uni
versity, with his family, was in the
fifth coach and was not injured. I'm
mediately after the shock, passengers
men and women, began frantically
the work of tearing away the wreck
age and pulling out the dead and dy
ing classmates and fraternity broth
ers. Young women performed heroic
work. Though the bodies were In
several instances horribly mangled
one completely and one partially be
headed, they took upon their laps the
heads of dying and injured, and sooth
ed their sufferings as best they could
until surgeons arrived. Their blood
stained and grimy garments were
gloomy witnesses of their heroism. A
general alarm was sounded and every
assistance the city could afford was
rushed to the wreck, which was thret
miles from the business center.
Surgeons in automobiles, fire wag
ons, express wagons, undertakers' We
hicles, private conveyances and ever
delivery wagons were sent to carr,
away the dead and injured. While
these we're being carried to the NOR
CUES and hospitals, the work OF tear
ing away the wreckage and reviyinl
those pinned beneath the wreckag'
went on. Big, muscular students
wept aloud as they stood over tn,
bodies of their dead friends and fel
low workers, or gazed helplessly upol
the sufferings of their college mates
writhing in pain. To add to the hoI
ror the wreckage caught fire, but tn
flames were extinguished by the stu
] dents after a hard fight.
There were many thrilling escape
and experiences. Among those VIII
: had almost miraculous escapes wer
Robert Wilson. Asbury Park, N. j.
w. l.. Robinson, Danville, Va:
, Thixton, Louisville; d. Hanson, Fail
bury, Neb., and W. ]. o'Brien. He
ena, Ark.
The injured are at least in 20 case
in very serious condition. A doze
: or more have broken bones and 1
, several cases there are compoun
fractures of two and even thre
, limbs. The death list is expected {
| grow. Two Of the injured died afte
being taken to hospitals.