The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1906-11-30
BODY BURNED TO CRISP
PRESIDENT SPENCER OF SOUTH.
ERN RAILWAY KILLED IN &C.
CIDENT ON THAT ROAD.
fALf A DOZEN OTHERS ALSO PERISH
MOST OF THE VICTIMS GUESTS
OF RAILWAY MAGNATE IN
HIS PRIVATE CAR.

Lynchburg, Va, Nov. S0.-President
Samuel Spencer of the Southern Rail-
way system, who was en- route to the
South, was killed in rearend collision
ut Lawyer, ten miles south OF Lynch
burg. The private car In which he
was riding was struck and split open
by the colliding locomotive. 1t tmme-
diately caught fire and the body OF
Mr.. Spencer was burned almost be-
yond recognition. In the car with him
were Phillip Schuyler Of New York
city: Mr.. Spencer's private secretary,
Merrill. and his private dispatcher, D.
w. Davis Of Alexandria, Va. Operator
Davis was crushed and died in fifteen
minutes. Mr.. Schuyler was instantly
killed, but his body was not badly
burned before It was rescued by pas
sengers. Engineer Perry, who was on
the rear train, was killed. Private
Secretary Merrill was injured. Twelve
or thirteen passengers, most OF them
negroes, were injured, only one Of
whom is thought to be fatally hurt.
Two men are missing, Charles D..
Fisher of Gilt & Fisher, commission
merchants, Baltimore, and Frank T.
Redwood, also of Baltimore. Their
bodies were recovered later.
Phillip Schuyler, among the killed,
was a retired capitalist of New York.
His residence was on Hudson river.
The car next ahead Of Mr.. Spen-
GERS private car, Pullman sleeper,
was destroyed by fire, but all the pas
sengers escaped.
Collision Follows Breakdown.
The collision was between train No.
80, the Jacksonville express, and train
No. 81, the Washington and Southern
vestibule limited. The Jacksonville
train stopped on the top of very
heavy grade a mile north of Lawyer
depot to repair a slight breakdown
and before, it is said, flagman could
get back to protect the train the At
lanta train dashed into it.
The heavy engine of the train
plowed into the private car of Pres
ident Spencer, in which he and his
guests are supposed to have been
sleeping. Immediately the private car
caught fire. The wreckage was piled
around the engine as though placed
there by human hands to be consumed.
Every piece of woodwork on the en-
gine was burned and the monster ma
chine stands there torn and twisted
and will have to be turned down the
embankment, as it is useless. It was
under the locomotive that the burned
body of President Spencer was found.
1t Is evident that Mr.. Spencer was
killed instantly and that he did not
suffer the tortures Of being burned.
Dispatcher Davis was alive when he
was taken from under the wreckage.
He was crushed about the lower por-
tion of the body and was conscious
until the end. He asked that word be
sent to his wife and child.
One of the worst phases of the acct
dent was the heartless manner in
which few passengers and some of
the attaches, especially some of the
.porters of the Atlanta train, ran
sacked the wrecked cars for plumber.
F. M. Curtis of Jamestown, N. Y, who
train, saw one negro porter go through
lady's grip. He saw him throw away
such things as were of no value to
him and appropriate those things he
wanted. Mr.. Curtis declared that he
would have certainly killed the porter
If he had had something to do it with.
Rescuers Save Number Of Lives.
Mr.. Curtis, who was on his way to
High Point, N. c., on business mis-
sion, was the hero of the hour. 1t
passengers that to his work and gen.
eralship belongs the credit of the res
cue of dozen persons who might
have persisted but for his efforts. Sew
eral persons not seriously wounded
were taken out from the two cars that
were burned and six negro passengers
were taken from the combination
coach Of the forward train. They were
literally covered with heavy baggage,
which had been thrown through the
light partition between their portion
of the car and that set apart for the
baggage. They were badly hurt, most
of them having broken legs, some of
them both legs, and one or two with
fractured skulls. All of them have
numerous cuts and bruises, but the
physicians attending them believe all
will recover with the possible excep-
ton OF an aged woman, who may be
fatally hurt. These were brought to
the city hospital.
The cause Of the wreck cannot be
learned now, but 1t is understood that
the operator in charge of the block
office at Rangoon, four miles north of
the scene, allowed the Atlanta train to
enter the block before he had been:
given a clear track from the next
! block station at Lawyer depot, five
miles below.
> No. 33, the Jacksonville train, came
!, to stop at the crest of one of the
heaviest grades on the road between
Lynchburg and Danville. II the trains
had come together a mile further
south 1t is believed that hardly per-
son on either train would have come
out of the wreck alive.
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VI % al s5 RE-