Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-01-30
WITH TERRIFIC FORCE
PASSENGER TRAINS COLl,UE ON
THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC ROAD
NEAR TUCSON, ARIZ.
TWENTY PERSONS KILLED

TWENTY PERSONS KILLED
Several More Bodies Are Believed to
Be in the Mass of Burned Wreckage.
Large Number Of People injured.
Failure of an Operator to Deliver an
Order Was the Cause of the Cisas-
trous Wreck.
Tucson, Ariz.. Jan. 29.-The failure
of Night Operator George Clough at
Walls station to deliver orders to west
bound traiI No. y, known as the Sun
set Limited" caused a headend col
lision at o'clock, a. m. between trains
No. and Nc fourteen miles cast of
Tuscon and six miles from Walls sta
tion with fatal results.
At last accounts twenty bodies had
been taken from the mass of burned
/ and CSarred wreckage, and it is be-
lieved that several more are buried in
the twisted and tangled mass Of iron
and steel.
The dead are: John Bruce, r.. Will
kie. George McGrath, j. M. Hilton and
sixteen unidentified persons.
Train No. s. which originally was No.
8. but which was several> hours late
and running as No 8, stopped at Walls
station at 40 a. m
1t was in charge of Conductor G. w.
Parker and Engineer Jack Bruce, one
of the Oldest ana best known engine
men in Arizona. The conductor and
engineer We're furnished with orders
to pass an eastbound freight train at
Wilmot station. There was another
order at Walls station-one to meet
train No s, known as the Crescent
City Express" eastbound. at Edmond
This order. which was the important
one. the operator failed to deliver, and
, the limited passed out without the
right of way and with no orders con-
cerning No. 6. When six miles west
of Walls. running at speed of fifty
miles an hour and
Rounding Sharp Curve,
No. 8 crashed into No s. running forty
y five miles an hour. The crash and the
: scenes Immediately following We're be-
/ yond description. So great was the
2 impact from the two flying trains that
the two engines reared up like two
I animals engaged in combat and
4 crushed the boilers like shells. The
5 cars Immediately in the rear rushed
upon the mass of heated iron and piled
: up in an indescribable and frightfully
. tangled mass.
: Fire broke out at once. The flames,
: followed by the oil from the broken
. tanks of the engines. quickly eOmmu-
nicated to the cars and the whole mass
;. was soon in flames. Those who were
'. able to escape from the cars in the
rear of the trains quickly came to
the rescue But all their efforts went
for little, as the pile of debris was
; heated to such degree that the work
| ers could not approach near enough
to do any good. Smoke from the
burning oil and cars, as well as escap-
ing steam. blinded all those who got
near the flames. Even in the face OF
o all these obstacles the passengers and
trainmen who were able to be Of any
: service whatever rendered noble aid
l. to the wounded Many of these were
n quickly removed and taken to places
:. of safety at the sides of the tracks
= 1t is declared by passengers who were
a brought to Tucson on the relief train
II that oil from broken tanks ran in
streams down each side of the track
When this infammable fluid took fire
it rendered efforts at rescue very diff
l. ficult and dangerous. 1t is declared
O that the mass of wreckage was heat
ed to a white heat by the intensity of
the fire.
! Pullman sleeper on the rear OF
train No. s was detached by the tre
:, mendous force of the collision and
: Ran Down the Grade
Il into Tucson crashing into a switch
- engine Both the engine and sleeper
were damaged to a considerable eX-
n tent The arrival of the runaway
V sleeper was the first news of the wreck
: to reach Tucson, although it had been
q unauthoritatively stated that Operator
: Clough, at Walls. learning of his fatal
y error when No. 8 departed, told the dis
9 patcher's Office at Tucson that wreck
would occur. Soon after the Pullman
car ran into Tucson brakeman ar
rived from Walls bringing news Of the
@ wreck
l. A relief train was quickly made
d ready and DR.. Fenner, the railroad sur
V geon at this point. with two assistants
was hurried to the scene. They found
. a terrible state of confusion existing
about the wreck.
I. Men and women were running to and
II fro in a panic some clad only in their
night clothes. others III different stages
q Of undress The cries of the seriously
injured are said 70 have been dreadful
The surgeons rendered every aid possi
BILE under the circumstances. SiXteeI
J., of the worst injured were put aboart
: the relief train and brought to Tucson
- where they We're made as comfortable
as possible at the railroad hospital
Six Of these are not expected to re
'h cover.
> The work of searching for the dea
VI began as soon as the fire subsideI
az Engineer Bruces charre1 remain