Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-11-05
TWO DIE IN WRECK
ROCK ISLAND WORK TRAIN AND
FREIGHT COLLIDE AT LADDs-
DALE TODAY.
Victims of Accident Were Members of
Pile Driver crew-Ensine Breaks
Away From Work Train and Runs
Wild Into EIdon Yards.

Two men were killed, one probably IA
tally injured and eight others more
or less seriously hurt this morning
| when a west bound construction train
and an east bound freight train on the
Rock Island collided just west of
Laddsdale All the dead and injured
| were members of the pile driver crew
on the work train
The Dead.
The dead are:
ZIBE GLASHEN, laborer, Mercer.
Mo.
TACK JACKSON. laborer, Selma.
Fatally Injured.
G. 7. Fox, foreman of the pile driver
gang, was probably fatally injured. A
large splinter tore it's way clear
through his skull.
The Injured.
The names of the other injured men
follow:
Ed. Bayron. laborer, Washington;
condition serious.
Al Conner. laborer, Washington;
condition serious.
John Wood. pile driver fireman,
Graniteville, Mo-; left ankle broken
and left arm sprained
VIM. Whitfield, pile driver engineer,
Stone City; Slightly injured.
George Burkholder, laborer. Eldon;
slightly injured.
Charles Yancy, laborer, Columbus
Junction; slightly injured.
Fred Simmons. laborer, Columbus
Junction; slightly injured.
Henry Pickens, laborer, Ainsworth;
slightly injured.
Second Wreck Narrowly Averted.
A second wreck was narrowly
averted by the watchfulness of the
operator at Laddsdale When the two
trains collided the engineers and fire.
men jumped after reversing their 10.
comotives. The engine on the con.
struction train freed itself from it's de.
rallied train and ran wild all the way
to Eldon distance of more than five
miles. When the locomotive passed
Laddsdale the operator saw it and
knowing something was wrong, tele.
graphed to the division offices at Ell.
don. The yards were quickly cleared
and when the runaway dashed across
the bridge it was given a clear track
and soon stopped without damage
Had not the warning been given, how
ever, it would surely have made trou'
BILE at Eldon for the yards there are
usually congested with the work OF
switching.
Mistake in Orders.
The wreck is said to have been
pa1cld hyy q toll ;,, ho
given the two trains The story as it
was told here Immediately after the
occurrence is that the two trains
we're ordered TO meet at Ladds.
dale but the work train crew
ran through Laddsdale with the
intention of meeting the freight at
F1oris. the first station west
of Laddsdale. The work train with the
engine pushing and the pile driver
car ahead started west from Eldon at
Z o'clock to go to the Soap Creek
bridge, between Laddsdale and Floris
where the pile driver gang was to
make repairs. Henry Gobel of Eldon
was the conductor of the work train
Whatever the cause, for the respon,
sibility is not yet known, the work
train did not stop at Laddsdale, but ran
on at high rate of speed until it had
almost reached the Soap Creek bridge
when it collided with the freight train
which was coming at a good speed
toward Laddsdale
Work Train Derailed.
The pile driver cars and tool cars
were thrown from the train by the
force of the collision but the freight
engine was not derailed nor damaged
to any extent. The members of the
pile driver gang were unable to save