The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-01-06

took place. The shock drove the smo-
ker, which was occupied by only two
or three men, completely over and
through the car behind it, which was
crowded with passengers, some stand
ing in the aisle when the shock came.
The passengers in the car where the
numerous deaths occurred did not feel
any serious shock. They were first
warned by the total darkness following
the sudden setting of the air brakes.
Then, those who were left alive saw a
mass of splintered wood and iron
crowding down upon them. No one
was thrown out of his seat by the
shock but people were crushed where
they sat. The smoker actually backed
up over and through the passenger
coach, totally wiping out the passen-
gers in the front half of the car. Out
of the possible 100 people in the car,
about 80 escaped without injury. They
got out hurriedly by the rear door
which was still unobstructed.
No one from the front half of the
car escaped. They were crushed down
between the seats by the smoker. Only
three living people We're taken out by
the rescuers, who chopped holes in the
side, floor and top of the wrecked cars
in a frenzied attempt to rescue a man,
a small girl and a middle aged woman,
who were moaning and begging to be
taken out. The rest of the passengers
in the forward half were all dead.
One man was taken out of rear door
within five minutes after the collision,
and died almost instantly from internal
injuries.
Died While Giving Name.
A woman died two hours later while
vainly trying to tell physician her
name. A dozen men had worked on the
place where she seemed to be before
she was extricated. A little girl named
Bonnie Martin, about II years of age,
was pinned down between the two cars,
heavy stove resting on one foot Her
cries attracted the rescuers, and men,
many of them bleeding from a number
of wounds about the face and arms,
worked manfully to get her out. 1t took
two hours of steady work to relieve her.
When she was taken out she ad-
dressed a doctor who was bending over
her as Papa" The physician did not
nave the heart to tell her that she was
an orphan, her father and mother hav-
ms DCCI hl41Su MI MdfIln was Killed
instantly, and Mrs. Martin died ten
minutes after being taken out of the
wreck. The child was suffering with
broken ankle, where the heavy stove
fell on her, and severe scalp eontusions.
She was put to sleep by a hypodermic
injection to relieve her pain.
A dozen or more Topeka physicians
came out to the scene of the wreck
on the relief train which was sent from
Topeka as soon as a brakeman could
run to Willard. The physicians went TO
work relieving the injured. The force
Of men engaged in the rescue work
paid attention to the injured and made
no attempt to remove the crushed and
dlshgured bodies from the debris.
Removing the Bodies.
After daylight this morning the work
of removing the bodies began.
The engine which brought out the
physicians, a number of policemen and
a wreckfng gang about 3:30 o'clock,
coupled onto the two cars, sleeper and
chair, which were uninjured, and haul
ed them slowly back to Topeka All
the ambulanees in town were in waiting
at the depot when the train arrived at
$50, and the injured were at once taken
to hospitals.
Some Of the bodies found in the
wreekage were so badly crushed as to
be unrecognizable. Through a hole
chopped On the left side of the cars the