The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-03-22

f En- NJ "a -
Curve Near Adobe. CoI.-Engines and
Coaches Turn Over and Flames Add
to Horror.
Pueblo. Colin 4 binding snow
storm which prevailed in the Arkan-
sas Valley. trains No. 16 east-bound
n No. 3 west-bound, on the Denver
n Rio Grande Railroad, collided,
Aead<1on. at Adobe Station, near Port
!anq, COL, about thirty, miles west of
pueblo, at two o'clock a.. m.
Inc accident brought death in most
horrible form to at least thirty-fve
persons. Half of them were inciner-
ated so completely that Identification
IN some cases is impossible, and the
exact number of dead may never be
determined. The injured number about
twenty and all will v
Engineer William Hollis. of No 16
and Engineer William Consullette. of
NO. ., are among the dead. The fire.
man on Nc. 16 was also killed, but
j.. h. Smith, fireman of No, 3. es-
capped by jumping. being badly hurt.
Express Messenger Mcfarland, of
Denver, on No. Is, caught under the
Wreckage and burned to death while
persons TODD by helpless. Some tried
to stop the flames by throwing snow
on the man, but he finally succumbed.
The majority of the dead were pas
sengerS in the forward coach of No.
j. How many met their fate may new
er be konwn, as this car, together with
ten others, was entirely consumed by
the fire which started two minutes
after the locomotives came together.
The appalling loss of life was caused
by explosion of an acetyiene gas tank
in the smoking car of one of the trains.
At first, terrified by the crash and
flames, most of the occupants were
stupetied by the gas and dropped down
i'll the wreckage to be burned. Only
two passengers escaped from the car
i'll which the explosion occurred.
One man in the car where the ex-
plosiOn occurred managed to raise a
window and got part way through.
when his body stuck and the flames
swept over him. Roasting alive, he
begged that he be shot. A burning
beam fell upon his head and ended his
suffering. While fellow passengers stood
by, helpless to ave him and others
who persisted in plain sight.
One of the pathetic tragedies of the
disaster was the wiping out of all eX-
cept two Of the eleven members of the
Hewitt family, of Lebo, Kan. The two
surviving sons. f. A. and W. l.. Hew-
| lit, are among the injured in a Pueblo
hospital. Their father, mother, wives
and children were all burned, after the
two men had struggled desperately to
release them from the debris.
Two stumps OF arms with handouts
clasped on the bones, lying in the ashes
near an officers revolver, told of the
end of Deputy Sheriff Baird and his
prisoner, Whitney. Whitney was an
actor who passed some bad checks
while stranded in Denver. Whitney
was an assumed name. He was on his
way to the p~enitentiary.
A dozen injured We're rushed TO Pu-
eblO on 4 relief train. The scenes at
the wreck. after the cars began to
burn, were too horrible to describe.
One man. badly hurt, was pinioned
under an iron rod. He begged the
| other passenger to help him. They
worked until the flames reached the
| spot, when the man said:
Il am too badly hurt to want TO live.
Save yourselves and let me die"
A man and his wife were trying to
| get out of one of the car windows
| when an iron rod caught them. They
! were burned alive, together with their
little child, which was near them.
Another mali begged to be taken
from the wreck. When the rescuers
took hold of his hands all the flesh
| came off the bones. He was dead Il
moment later.
Almost every person killed in the
wreck was cremated and little re-
mains except blackened timbers and
| twiSted~rods. with here and there a
pile of ashes.
The impact overturned both locomo-
tives. A smoking car and a, day coach
on the express were also thrown vio-
lcntly OFF the track and upset. Fire
| started Immediately in both these cars.
| and it is said that few Of the passen-
gers i'll either of them escaped.