La Junta tribune., 1905-12-13
s.sss.ss. s.s F.s,ss, i. es,Iisis.-

III Htdu-tnu co4ilSlon TWO miles
east of Caddoa last Saturday morn
ing about 3 O'Clock. Earl Lee, of
LAMAR was crushed to death be-
tween the tank of the engine on No.
8 and the baggage car, and this was
the only fatality. Express Messen-
ger Strong was badly bruised but
had no bones broken, and Fireman
Hackley received slight injuries
from jumping and coming in con-
tact with a barbed wire fence. En-
gineer Harry Simmons, of No. 6,
was the only man of either engine
crew that staid at his post. He was
hurled through his cab window and
slightly cut by glass.
The passenger train was running
at the rate of about fifty miles an
hour and the freight train about
twenty miles. The impact was
something terrific, both of the en-
gines being firmly mterlocked. and
being one of the worst wrecks,
destruction of rolling stock consid-
cred. that has taken place on the
the Santa Fe in a long time.
The wreck was the fault Of the
freight crew. They forgot all about
No. 6. Engineer McQuiddy and
Conductor Rise, of the freight crew,
We're eastern division men, and We're
running from Dodge City to La
Junta for the first time. They had
been on the road for twenty-four
hours and cannot be blamed alto
gether for failure to keep their
think tank in operation.
y. 7. Strong, of Kansas City, the
express messenger, had l25 boxes of
dimes. each containing 81 900. in his
car. He was caught and nearly
buried by the wreckage of the
boxes. the car stove landing on top
of the heap and setting fire to it.
For a time his position was perilous.
but he was soon eXtricated. He was
badly bruised and is black and blue
all over. but his injuries are not
serious and no bones were broken.
He is a married man and has fam
lily in Kansas City. He was brought
to La Junta on the first train from
the east. which arrived shortly after
8 O'Clock Saturday evening. and is
now at the hospital.
Arch Hackley. the fireman of No.
8, saw the engine of the freight a
second or two before the collision
and just had time to jump. He
rolled down the embankment until
he struck a barbed wire fence,
where he was found a few minutes
later by passenger. o. T. Strain,
of Lamar. who rendered valiant
service in assisting the injured
Hackley's chin and lower lip were
badly cut and he was somewhat
bruised, but his injuries are not
serious.
Earl Lee, Of Lamar, the young
man who was killed, was one of a
bunch that tried to make No. out
of La Junta by climbing on top of a
refrigerator car. but was driven off
by Special Officer Rose. The young
man later got on the train, and
when he paid his fare to Las Animas
was warned by Conductor Pegan.
who recognized him, to keep off and
not attempt to beat the train out of
Las Animas. He did not heed the
warning and late in the afternoon
his body was found under the
wreckage. He had climbed on the
ladder back of the tank Of the en-
gine, and as the tank telescoped the
first car of the passenger train he
was crushed as fiat as a pancake.
He had 1886 in money on his
person.
A wrecking train left La Jnnta
about $50 Saturday morning for
the scene of the catastrophe, carry
ing Drs. Finney and Reed, of the
local Santa Fe hospital. The doc
tors had very little to do. Strong,
the express messenger, and Fireman
Hackley were the only ones whose
injuries needed much attention, and
they were brought to La Junta, ar
irving shortly after 9 o'clock in the
evening on No. 5. the first train to
get through. Two sections of No
1, No. Z and No. 9 arrived a few
minutes later. Three trains arrived
from the west within an hour. max