Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1904-01-13
KILLED AND INJURED
Many Suffer In Another Terrible
Railroad Wreck
CONDUCTOR AND ENGINEER ERR
A FriGhtful Mistake That Resulted
In the Loss of Many Lives and Pro-
duoed r1uch Suffering.

Topeka. Kan. Special - Seventeen
persons Were killed and thirty-seven
| injured in 4 head-on collision between
| the Rock Island. California & Mexico
| express and freight at Willard We'd
| neSdav morning. Most Of the injured
are in hospitals in Topeka. The doe
/ tors announce that all will recover.
with the exception OF Mrs NJ. a. Hill.
OF GreersburE. Kan.
| The dead are Mrs. J. H. Hill. Green's
burg. Kan; Mrs. w. S. Martin. st. Jo-
! sSph. Mo; Mrs. Mary Harvaille. Chilli
| cothe. Mo; Ben Harvaille. son of Mrs.
Harvaille. aged 13; Tot Harvaillc.
daughter OF Mrs. Harvaille, aged 3:
Mrs. Susan Reed, a sister of Mrs. Har-
vaiile; James Griffin, Claremont. Mo-:
| T.. +. Mayer. Buffalo. N. Y: RAYMOND
A. Martin, Chillicothe. Mo-: w. S. Mar
! tin. St Joseph, Mo-: r. r. Rankins.
| De kalb, Mo; William j. Wells, Jack
sonville, ILL.,: Mrs. Mary Kaiser. Rus
sian; Gale Fuller, aged Z. Brockton,
| Iowa; Grace Reed. Chillecothe. Mo:
Lenora Reed. Chilicothe. Mo; uniden-
titled boy aged eight years
II is thought that carelessness OF the
trainmen caused the wreck Instruct
! cd To meet a special freight train at
| Willard, the engineer and conductor OF
| the ill-fated passenger, noting that a
| freight train stood in the siding at
Willard, rushed through, thinking that
the cars that they had seen were the
ones which they had been instructed TO
pass.
Upon seeing at Willard a freight
train upon the siding. Enigneer Ben
| iamin threw open the throule. and un-
der the impetus Of fun steam the pas
scnger leapcd into darkness and
| crashed along 1T a rate which the pas
Se3@crs declare To have been Go miles
| an hour.
i formal inquest was held at the
! week tod@y by Coroner Dooly. Of Wa
! hugsce county. The investigation will
! be continued tomorrow.
| IL q. Parsons. reporter OF the t.
| peEa state Journal. who was on the
| wrecked Roch Island train. arrived in
! Topeka az eight o'clock this morning.
aitor driving overland from the scene
| oi the collision. Parsons escaped with
slight injuries, while two persons on
! the seat in front OF him were killed.
! Parsons tolls the following story of the
! wreck:
at was in tNe third car of the pas
sen%cr rain. the fist coach having
| been procoGcd by smoker and has
gaze oar. that the greatest loss cl life
! occurred. The smoker, whicn WAS oc-
! Iup.cd by only two or three men was
ovc turned and pushed through the
car behind H. which was crowded with
| passcngcrS. some standing in the aisle.
| Tho first warning given the passengers
| in .AiS car was when the sudden set
ding of the air brakes shut off the
lights. leaving all in darkness. mo
mcnt later n mass Of splintered wood
an iron was crowded down upon
! tn m. None were thrown out of their
SEATS by the glow. Most OF those in
the forward end OF the ear were killed
Instantly. Thirty in the rear end or
| the coach. however, succeeded III es-
caring from that end of the car which
| Was still unobstructed No one in the
! front half Of the car escaped. They
were crushed down between the seats
! of the smoker When rescue was lin
| a'ly possible only three living persons
were taken ont by the reSruerS, who
were compelled to chop holes in the
side ana through the floor and top OF
the coach to reach them.
The three rescued from this por-
ton we're Il man, small girl middle
| aged woman. who were begging 10 DC
| taken out. One man. hurt internally
| was removed through the rear door
! within five minutes after the collision.
but died almost as soon as the res
cuers could lay him down A woman
died two hours later while trying TO
| tell n physici her name. A dozen
men had worked on the place where
| she seemed to be before she was eX-
tricated
Bonnie Martin. girl II years old,
was pinned down between the two
cars. the heavy stove resting on one
| foot Her cries attracted the res
| cuers and men, many Of them bleeding
| from wounds about the face and arms,
worked hcroically to get her out. 1t
| took some time to release her When
| shc was taken out she addressed the
| doctor who was bending over her as
papa" The physician did not have
the heart to tell her that she was an
orphan, her father and mother having
| been killed. Mr.. Martin 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 con
tusions She was put to sleep by hy-
podermic injection to relieve the pain.
Some Of the bodies found in the
wreckagc were so badly crushed as to
be unrecognizable. Through hCle
chopped in one side Cf the car TIE
body OF gray haired, heavy-sot man
and n woman with long, yellow hair
| we're visible. k'iros were built along
the track at short intervals and by
he light CT these the rescucr5. in their
,agerness to remove the victims
| oropDed openings in the wrecked
caches u2til exhausted and then the
| landed tacir axes to others. The en-
| ire sides Of the car had been choppc;