The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-09
Have Been Recovered Of Which
&c Are Identified.
MISSING NUMBER %
CorpseS Have Been Found Ten
Miles from Scene of Disaster.
One Of the Worst Railroad Ac-
cidents In History.
Incidents and Stories Told by
the Few Survivors.

Pueblo. Col, Aug. "a deep gloom
has settled down upon this city today,
the day following the railroad horror
which snuffed out one hundred or more
lives. Many business houses are closed
out Of respect for the dead and more
than 40 private homes are darkened and
in mourning. The wreck victims will
probably not be the only ones or the
most to be pitied as already cases OF
total loss of mind as a result of shock
when told of loss of loved ones are re-
ported. All the citizens have Joined in
one immense funeral procession, wind
ing INCREASINGLY from one morgue to the
other. Death in one of its most horri-
bic forms has become so common that
delicate women and innocent children.
ever guarded from the touch of tragedy
ere freely allowed to gaze upon it.
Scarce a person in the city who does
not suffer personal loss knowing some
one Of the victims as a friend. The
eye OF mourning full and sad is univer-
sal.
The calamity is the heaviest that has
ever fallen on the city.
The first emotion that seized the city
yesterday morning as the news appear
ed was one of fncreduJity. Today it has
settled down to be a horrible certainty.
MhOle Families Gone
Entire families have been wiped out
an instance being that of J. @. Thomas,
commercial agent for the Santa F'e
railroad. who together with his wife
lost their lives in the raging waters.
All night long the search was kept up
and an occasional body was located but
in the darkness work was necessarily
slow. The most treacherouS of streams,
the Fountain river into which nearly all
the dead bodies were washed, this
morning had fallen to near its normal
condition and the work of rescue Will
he made easier, although still danger
Gus from quicksand, which proved such
a factor in delaying work yesterday
This did not deter the searchers today
and as soon as daylight came on, many
men again took up the work and the
number was increased as the day wore
on Bodies have been recovered more
than ten miles from the scene of the
disaster and rumors that bodies had
been found even further distant are
heard.
The death list as compiled from the
best obtainable sources of information
at an early hour this morning SHOWS
total of 66 identified dead, total known
missing IS and unidentified bodies 8,
making an even hundred lives lost.
This list will more than likely be added
TO during the day. but is thought to
represent the sum total of the dead.
Burial Begins.
Many of the bodies had been removed
from the morgues to their former places
of abode and preparations for burial be-
gun. Hundreds of people were still
passing through the morgues this
morning, some with morbid curiosity,
others seeking to identify the remain
ing bodies. The death loss of Pueblo
alone reaches the top figure in it's his
tory, being now given as 65 lives with
40 identifications already made.
At the scene of the wreck early today
everything was practically the same as
yesterday The chair car, turned COM
pletely over. has settled in the quick
sand until only the wheels are now
visible and has resisted all efforts to
right it or gain an entrance to what is
thought to have been a trap in which
may be found several bodies.
Mayor Brown has issued a proclama-
tion calling public meeting at 9
o'clock this morning for the purpose of
launching an organized movement to
patrol the Fountain and Arkansas rivers
in the hope of finding more bodies or
victims of the wreck. Hundreds of
men responded promptly and the work
was taken up under the direction of
able officers. assisted by more than
willing workers.
The railroad situation has materially
improved, traffic being resumed this
morning over the Rio Grande tracks
The officials here had no information
TO communicate and not caring to esti-
mate financial matters. saying they had
taken no notice of pecuniary affairs in
time like this. Many of the officials
returned to the wreck scene early this
day viii probably wipe out all trace of
the horrible catastrophe.
At 1880 a train bearing two more
dead bodies reached the CITY
The response to the mayors procla-
nation was hearty and at this hour
more than 200 searchers have left the
citW and many names are constantly
being added to the list.
relief fund was started early to-
day and several hundred dollars has
been subscribed for the aid of the
needy families and to aid in the re-
covery of victims
DR.. z. C Stimmell, prominent
dentist of Pueblo, who was reported
as lost yesterday, escaped by leaving
the train at Colorado Springs and re-
turned here this morning.
Body Found - Miles Away.
Another train carrying over 100
searchers left the city over the Santa
Fe at IL O'Clock.
The body of young woman about
25 years of age was found % miles
down the Arkansas river early today
and brought to this city. She has not
yet been identified. She was we'll
dressed. wearing a diamond ring, and
a watch was found on the body. She
IS a decided blonde and very hand
some.
The body of A. NJ. Schmitz, 252s Stout
street Denver, was found by a ranch
man six miles down the Arkansas river
from Pueblo this morning. He was
identified by a number of railroad
passes found on the body. A large
leather trunk belonging to Parker r.
Brown of Boston was also found ut
about the same spot. Mr.. Brown has