Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1905-06-30
VICTIMS BURNED ALIVE.
The Twentieth Century Flyer
Runs Into a Ditch.
MANY PERSONS KILLED
Railroad Officials Claim That Train Was
Wrecked Through Malice-Mn-
waukeean Injured.

Ran Through an Open Switch.
Cleveland, o., June 22.-Wbile travel
ing at the. rate of seventy miles an huIlc,
the famous Twentieth Century limited
the fastest long-distance train in the
world, ran through an open switch at the
little town of Mentor, east Of Cleveland
at 800 o'clock last night, causing one Of
tie most horrible wrecks in the history
of the Lake Shore road
Fire Adds to Horror.
The engine was hurled into the ditch
A part of the train was crushed on top
OF 1t and the wreck was partly burned;
The horrors of the wreck were doubled
IN the horrors of the fire. More than Il
score of people were killed and injured
and the famous train was demolished.
The train was crowded, practically all
ITS accommodations being taken when it
left the city. 1t was behind time and the
greatest of speed was being made to
make up the lost time.
The Dead.
MORGAN, THOMAS r., of the WeIlman.
Scayer-Morgan company, Cleveland; burned
to death.
BENNETT, JOHN R., patent attorney,
New York city; burned to death.
New York city; died on operating table at
Cleveland general hospital.
burg, n; Y; scaded to death.
TYLER, ALLEN, Collinwood, O., engi-
neer; crushed under engine.
WRIGHT II. H., travelling man, Chca-
go; died at Cleveland General hospital.
GRAHAM, FIREMAN Collinwood
crushed under engine.
WELLMAN, c. H, general manager of
the Wellman- Sewer Morgan Engineering
company, Of this city
HEAD ARCHIBALD P, London, Eng
land, prominent English steel man.
MICKEY, WILLIAM B., address I'M
BRANDT, f. j., Toledo; trainman; died
BECKWITH, S. C., New York, advertis.
ing agent; died at hospital.
GIBSON, J. H., Chicago, travelling man.
BRADLEY, J. A, Akron, lawyer, died at
TRIM, HENRY, New York, barber on
TWO UNIDENTIFIED DEAD, one of
whom is supposed to be Arthur L. Johnson
of C4mry s Johnson Cleveland ,ou sr
ply company in Chicago.
MECKLING, II. c., manager of the
Wheeling Corrugating company, New York
ARBAUGH, d. j., Milwaukee. Wis.
EIRICK, i. NJ, manager Of Keith the
alter at Cleveland.
The Injured.
Aaron Gorham, Norwalk, o., fireman; Sc
yerciy bruised, not serious.
Unknown; fatally burned.
Unknown; seriously burned.
c. Cordua Brooklyn, n. Y; seriously
burned.
D. e. Arthur. Milwaukee, Wis.
Unknown man; crushed and burned.
Allen Filler of Ashtabula cut and bruised.
RUDOLF Ricardau, Brooklyn, N. Y, will
probably die.
J. H. Langdon, Chicago, reported in criti-
cal condition.
i. d. Countiss, president of S. &. Chaplin
& Co.. Chicago slightly bruised injuries
The Missing.
NJ T.. Johnson of Comey C Johnson,
Cleveland.
Late reports gave the number of in
iured as twenty-one and of these fifteen
arc seriously if not fatally hurt. Prac-
tically all the injured were burned and
had to ne cXtricated from the blazing
wreckage by rescue parties
Injured Persons Crazed.
A peculiarly distressing feature of the
rescue work was that the injured were
so crazed when they were taken out
from. under the mass of Wreckage that
they could not even reveal their own
identity despite urgent appeals and en-
treaties made by officials and others.
The order was finally given to search
the living wreck victims in the hope
that Identification might in that way be
established, but even when this was re-
sorted to but three sufferers could be
identified.
Train Deliberately Wrecked
Assistant General Superintendent D.
G.. Moon of the Lake Shore, on the scene
of the wreck, gave out the following
statement today:
80 far as can be learned the switch
was opened and locked open by some
party unknown; probably a crank, and
evidently for malicious purposes. Train
No. 10, fast eastbound train, passed
through the same switch forty-five min
utes ahead of No. 26, and it was all right
at that time. | am positive that no 9th
er train or engine either freight or pas
senger, passed through the switch be-
tween No. 10 and No. 26."
More Than Mile Minute
Travelling at rate of more than a
hurled to its doom with a momentum
that was appalling. The scene of the ac-
cident was at the Mentor depot. The
switch that caused the trouble is located
about 1870 yards west of the depot AS
the heavy engine struck the switch. the
engine left the main track and swung
violently to the left.
For distance of twenty yards the
engine ran on the rails, and then, leap
ing from the track, turned on its side
Just to the east of the depot. The mo-
mentum was such that the heavy tender
W
was buried in the depot
Wreck Set CT Fire.
The coordination car was hurled with
terrific iolence on top of the engine and
tender and in moment was enveloped
in flames from the engine.
The Chicago sleeper, which was i'm
mediately behind the combination car,
swung from the track and, crashing into
the depot, was completely buried in the
wreck of the building. The violence of
the crash was such that the depot col
lapsed on top of the wrecked coach. The
haplesS passengers in this coach were
crushed and manned in the wreck and
then completely buried i'll the collapse of
the structure.
The next sleeper following was off the
track behind and the other remained up
right, on the rails.
Engine Boiler Bursts.
An instant after the crash of the
wreck the boiler of the great engine
burst with terrific force, scattering fire
and steam through the wreck in man
ner that made escape for the helpless inn
prisoned passengers impossible.
The wrecked combination car, which
had landed, crushed and splintered. on
top of the engine, was at once envelOped
III binding flames and scalding steam.
The cries of the imprisoned passengers
PROMINENT LAWYER KILLED.
New York. June 22.-John Il. Bennett.
who met death in the Twentieth Century
wreck at Mentor, o., was one of the