The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-09
AE EVEN 100 DEAD.
Continued from Page one.)
ming. a few feet further down the
Bodies Buried in Sand.

! ming, few feet further down the
! stream.
Bodies Buried in Sand.
A party further down the river
found several persons entangled in a
mass of debris, thought to have been
part of the baggage car which was lit
large number of bodies were dug out
of the sand here. One woman was
completely buried, save one foot which
stuck above the water. Some bodies
were found lodged in the shrubbery
along the banks, others in the wreck
age in midstream and many half bur-
led with only an arm or a bit of cloth
ing to reveal their Whereabouts. 1t
required eight tsrong men to lift the
watersoaked body of one woman to
the shore and a skirt and hat found on
the bank could scarcely be lifted with
the fingers of one hand Many of the
bodies were almost naked, the cloth
ing having been torn completely off.
Most of them were slightly bruised,
proba bly, from the first shock of the
wreck, but there was little blood Wis
ible when they were removed from
the stream The hands and faces were
blue and translucent. An almost gen
eral thing with all the corpses was that
the hands were raised when they were
laid on their backs, but all appeared
in good condition. Without doubt the
great majority of them were drowned
like rats in a trap when the cars were
plunged without a moments warning
into the whirling waters thirty-five feet
deep, 100 feet wide and with cur
rent strong enough to carry thous-
ands of pounds of weight nearly a mile
before subsiding.
Identification Slow.
Bodies recovered were identified
very slowly because many of them
were those of strangers here, who had
been to the fair at St. Louis and other
of Kansas was identified by watch
presented to him by the members of
the Twentieth Kansas volunteers in
which his name was engraved.
F. NJ. Jones, the station agent at
Eden. who was first to go to the aid
of the stricken people on the train
gives the following version of the ac-i
cident:
"I was sitting in my office, a dis
lance of mile from the scene of the
wreck. when suddenly a loud sound
followed by series of smaller reports
startled me. 1 had heard of No. II
there and at this time she was over
due more than six minutes. an I'M
usual thing, for the train is a flyer.
Becoming thoroughly alarmed I
seized my lantern and ran up the
track to the place where the bridge
should have been.
THE faint rays of my lamp threw
just enough light for me to distinguish
three cars. but between myself and
them there was a chasm fully fifty
feet wide through which dashed a
river almost level with the ground on
which I stood. Opposite me I could
make out the outlines of three cars,
but the other four that usually make
up No. IL were nowhere in sight. I
started across the mesa in the direc-
ton of the river which was high and
making much noise. After walking
about half mile / saw near the bank
a dark object. 1t was almost station
airy in midstream with one end swing
ing toward the left bank. l slipped
off my clothes and plunged in, swim
ming in the direction in which had
come, as 1 knew the strong current
would carry me down stream. By
proceeding in this course / managed
to get to the object, which proved to
be chair car half on its side and
held in position by an arm of land ex-
tending into the stream probably ff-
teen feet. The roof of the car was
gone and inside there was not soul
to be found. Guided by the light of
my lamp on shore, 1 struck out for the
bank, and being a strong swimmer
reached it in few moments. The
car, or what was left of 1t, broke loose
and was completely demolished. 1t
was then after midnight.
There were two survivors OF the
wreck that know of, the fireman and
a passenger in chair car.
Incidents of the Wreck.
Peculiar pathos attaches to the
death of Miss Stella Mcdonald of Pu-
-
Wash, who were drowned to-
gether. Their engagement was quiet |
ly announced last week to the friends |
Of Miss Mcdonald and the wedding |
was planned for the near future. Miss
had been connected with |
the Pueblo schools for several years |
and had been the principal of Central |
high school one year.
One of the saddest stories is that |
Of Mr.. and Mrs. Henry Gillbort of
Oklahoma City, who had been mar |
ried only two months and were on |
their honeymoon trip. Gillbort is one |
of the three men who marvelously I
escaped from the chair car. His wife |
who was sitting beside him, was lost /
and although he is unscathed her |
death has made him a nervous wreck.
He is now in the Pueblo hospital. He |
mas been wire chief of the Western |
Union Telegraph company at Okla
noma City.
A dispatch from Jacksonville, Flor
da. inquiring for Miss Alice Wood of /
hat city was received by The Chief |
ain. The name has not been reported |
among the dead or missing. A trunk |
was found containing a package of /
listing cards bearing the name of Mrs.
Everard Roscoe, of Durango, Colo,
md she is supposed to have been a
passenger.
STORIES OF SURVIVORS.
Some Who Escaped From the Wreck