The Dickinson press., 1904-08-13
CLoUDRURsT CAUSES TERRIBLE
DISASTER ON THE DENVER
AND RIO GRANDE.
HIGH WATER WEAkENS BRIDGE
AND 1T GIVES WAY UNDER
WEIGHT OF TRAIN.
ENGINE AND THREE COACHES
PREClPlTATED INTO THE
RAGING TORRENT.

Pueblo, Colo, Aug. Strain No. II,
the Missouri Pacific flyer, crashed
through a bridge over Dry creek, near
Eden, on the Denver and Rio Grande
railroad. It is estimated that of the
125 passengers on board the i'll fated
train more than 100 lost their lives
either under the watersqpf the raging
torrent or beneath the wreckage. Many
Of the bodies were carried down Foun'
tain creek by the wall of water, which
had force enough to carry several
coaches nearly four miles away from
the point where they went through
the bridge. A cloudburst had filled the
creek and water was flowing over the
trestle when the train started across.
The bridge went down under the
weight of the train and the baggage
car, smoker and chair car were pre-
cipitated into the torrent. The engine
got almost across, but fell back into
the water.
The body of Engineer Hinman was
found 200 feet down the river. The
express car was found four miles away
with the safe open and its contents
gone. The chair car was nearby, half
filled with sand, in which were buried
the bouies of many passengers. The
smoker was washed still further down
stream and was not located until sew
eral hours after the accident.
So far seventy bodies have been re.
covered from the scene of the disas'
ter and thousands Of persons are pa,
trolling the banks Of the Fountain
river in search of the victims.
Coaches Filled With Bodies.
When Division Superintendent Bow
ren reached the scene of the wreck
the missing cars had not been located
and the passengers and train hands
who accompanied him organized
searching parties to follow the course
Of the river. The three cars were
found close to the shore in Foun-
tain creek, of which Dry creek is a
tributary, and which in turn flows into
the Arkansas river.
Most of the dead were In the cars
buried under the debris. The bodies
Of three young women were washed
up on the bank of the river three
quarters Of a mile below the scene of
the wreck. j. M. Killen, a Pueblo
hardware merchant, was swept down
stream, but crawled out from the
wreckage a mile below the scene of
the accident. He was SO badly In
jured and so exhausted from his strug.
gle in the water that he was unable
to talk.
The disaster was the worst that has
ever occurred on the Denver and Rio
Grande railroad. Dry creek, where the
accident happened, is one Of the most
dangerous points on the road. 1t is
close to the foothills, which, by reason
of repeated cloudbursts and washouts
have been slowly closing in, the bed
Of the creek continually becoming
deeper until it has reached depth OF
about twenty-five feet.
Trains Numbers and Is, preceding
No. IL, passed over the bridge and
reached Pueblo safely. The rains had
been severe, but officials did not ap.
prehend any danger at Dry creek, as
recent inspection showed that the
bridge was in first class condition.
No lntimation Of Danger
Just prior to the time of the acci.
dent there were reports that heavy
rainfall was in progress in the vicin-
ity Of Eden, but there was no intima-
tion Of cloudburst. So far as the
officials Of the road can determine the
engineer evidently did not see the
trouble until it was too late to stop
the train, which was going at a high
rate Of speed.
Whether the engine and the torrent
of water from the cloudburst struck
the bridge simultaneously or the tor
rent had already undermined the struc-
ture is not known, but the reports at
the Denver Office say that the air was
turned on and that this saved the
diner and sleepers from being precipi-
tated into the creek.
When the baggage car, smoker and
chair car left the tracks and plunged
into the stream they were swept down
by the current and the trucks torn off.
This lightened them and the volume
Of water can be understood when it
was reported by Superintendent Bow
rem that they were carried four miles
before they ran ashore. The three
cars were found near each other.
The i'll fated train is the fastest sent
out Of Denver by the Denver and Rio
Grande and usually carried a heavy
passenger list. 1t makes the run to
Colorado Springs in two hours and
five minutes and one hour and ten
minutes is the schedule time from
Colorado Springs to Pueblo and the
heavy train was whirling along
through the storm to make this fast
time when it dropped into the stream.
The length of the bridge, with ap-
proaches, is ninety-six feet. Fifteen
hundred feet Of track was washed out
IT. tho scene ~ tho disasfer