Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-01-31
Terrible Accident on the Rock
Island Lines Near Scion,
Due to Explosion
TRAIN EN-
KILLED
THREE
Freight Engine Suddenly Goes Into
Myriad Pieces While Running at a
High Rate of speed-The Victims
Thrown Hundreds of Feet and Bod
les Horribly MangIed.

Special to Times Republican
Cedar Rapids Jan. 31.-While run
ming between Ely and Scion at a good
| rate of speed last night freight engine
1922 on the Rock Island exploded, kill
ing three men and wreckng many cars
of live stock and freight.
The dead:
William Kirby, engineer, of Esther
vile.
c. r. Smith, fireman, Ceda,. Rapids.
p. Kelly, head brakeman, Cedar Rap
ids.
The three men We're instantly killed
and the bodies thrown hundreds of feet
with the fragments of the engine.
This is the third engine OF this type
| TO meet with disaster. Two men were
killed and several We're injured IN an
explosion at Davenport, recently.
Brakeman Kelley recently came here
from Davenport, he is married. Fire
man Smith came here from the far
west, where he has had a run for sew
eral years ON the Great Northern. His
life story has been a sad one. For
years he had been fireman on the
Great Northern and was just about to
be promoted to an engine. He had
built a comfortable home, but it was
not happy home and finally he de-
oided to leave it. He came to this city
and entered the service of the Rock
Island. taking his first run as fireman
run, wrote finish to the story of his
life
The Fated "1400's."
Since the disastrous explosion OF
Rock Island engine 1865 near Daven-
port recently when Engineer Calhoun
and Fireman Kinney were killed and a
number of other trainmen injured.
railway men have shaken their heads
when this class Of engines has peen
mentioned. They are among the big
gest and most powerful class of en-
gines on the road, but in some way the
belief has been formed that they are
unsafe. After the disastrous wreck
near Davenport, December IS, there
was an investigation by a number OF
the Rock Island officials and the state
ment was made as result of that in
Neet. .,,.rIon that the wreck had been
caused by low water in the boiler But
there were rumors after that to the
effect that this was not the rear cause
of the explosion, but that it was rather
due to the defective construction or the
engine itself,
Blew Up the Telegraph Wires.
Details Of the wreck were meager,
principally because the force of the
explosion shattered all the. telegraph
wires and for a long time neither the
Western Union nor the Rock Island
had any means Of communicating with
Scion. The Associated Press wire
which runs from Chicago to this office
was one of the string of wires that
We're shattered by the force of the ex-
plosion. For some time the telegraph
men We're busy trying to gel. new wires.
Then it was learned that a number of
cars had been derailed and some of
them very badly smashed, including
several car loads of livestock most of
which had been killed.
The Wrecker Sent Down.
A wrecking train was hastily made
up and with a picked crew the Rock
Island officials went down at once to
the scene of the wreck. s,uperintend-
ent Greenough was at the head of the
party.
Had Narrow Escape.
Conductor Dewey's crew had mar
row escape. They had been assigned
for the run on the fated train but mis-
sed it by a close shave, being late in.
They went down on the wrecker to
help in the work of clearing up the
debris and gathering up the remains of
their comrades, with sober feeling
that but a mere matter of some minus
ties only had saved them from that
fate. Brakeman Ben Carpenter would
have been the head brakeman on the
fated train.
The wreck caused considerable delay
to passenger traffic, some of the
trains having to be detoured by way
of Clinton.