Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-03-22
BURLINGTON FLYER IN A
DISASTROUS COLLISION
piled up over the remains Of the din
Ing car of the wrecking train.

ing car OF the Wreck1ng train.
The shrieks and means Of the in
jured people crushed under the debris
filled the air and added to the horror
and confusion of the scene. For mo.
ment the loungers at the depot and
the passengers of the forward part Of
the train were held motion1ess with
stupefaction, then, suddenly realizing
that under the wreckage people were
perhaps dying, they sprang to the res
cue.
1t was but few minutes before the
wounded people were taken from the
wreck and with tender care placed in
the smoking car, where, upon the ar
rival of doctors from Lockridge, Fair
field and Ottumwa who had been hur-
riedly summoned, their wounds were
dressed. A special was made up here
Immediately upon the receipt of news
of the accident superintendent w. B.
Throop of Burlington, Assistant SUI
perintendent Robert Rice and Drs. S.
L. Hauck and S. A. Spilman went to
the wreck from here.
Less than twenty minutes had
elapsed after the accident occurred be-
fore the first part of the flyer with its
load of injured was again moving on
ward toward Burlington. AT Mt. Pleas
ant DR.. A. o. Pitcher. and a number of
assistants boarded the train and cared
for the wounded until Burlington was
reached, where they were conveyed in
ambulances to the various hospitals.
Everything that could possibly be done
to add to their comfort was done by
the company's representatives
Where Fatality Occurred.
No. 6 being almost two hours be-
hind time, upon leaving Ottumwa
made clean run to Fairfield at rate
OF almost mile a minute, making up
fourteen minutes of it's lost time, and
upon leaving Fairfield, the train again
started upon its flying course.
| Five men were sitting in the dining
car of the wrecking train when the
coaches crashed into 1t. They were
Swan Bloom, the cook of the train;
John Peterson, Charles Ellerhoff, John
Anderson and Engineer R. Prick.
Bloom was killed. His body was terri
bly, mangled, and death must have
been instantaneous. Peterson was
struck by a beam Of the wrecked car
and his skull was fractured, while he
sustained internal injuries. 1t Is
thought that Peterson will die. al
though he is still alive in a Burlington
hospital Ellerhoff sustained two frac-
tured ribs and internal injuries, which
make his recovery doubtful Anderson
was more fortunate and escaped with
two severe gashes in his head and one
in his leg. Engineer Prick
was rendered unconscious by the
| n oh
he reached Burlington hos
pital, where he regained consciousness.
1t is thought he sustained internal in
juries, which may make his recovery
doubtful.
Passengers Comparatively Fortunate.
| The absence of fatalities among the
passenger list was little short of mirac-
ulous. Hurled in all directions when
the crash came and pinioned under the
wreckage, in but two cases are the in
juries likley thought to be fatal. Little
9 year old Ernest Patti, who was tray
cling with his mother and year old
sister from Seattle, Wash, to Philadel-
phia, Pa, suffered a conclusion of the
brain, which, it is feared, will end his
young life. The other very serious case
is surrounded with as much pathos.
Lawrence Allen of Fairfield, was en-
route to Monmouth, ILL.,, to resume his
work in college, after a short visit at
his home in Fairfield. He was accom-
panied by his sister, Mrs. Hill, and
her two children. Young Allen was
buried beneath the debris and was TAX
en- out unconscious. He sustained a
! fracture Of the skull and other injuries.
and his death seems very probable.
Blooms body was taken to West
Burlington on No. 4.
Heavy Loss to Company.
The construction train, whose crew
suffered so heavily from the accident,
left West Burlington about noon yes
terday for Bernhart, where a string
of ten freight cars had gone in the
ditch. The train was returning from
1 Bernhart to West Burlington and
stopped at Lockridge to readjust car
\ of bridge iron that had shifted in tran
sit. The crew was engaged in this
work when the accident happened. 1t
/ is due to this fact that such small
number of men were in the eating
coach The outfit consisted Of an en-.
CINE and derrick, two tool cars and a
diner. The diner, car of wheels and
a tool car, was demolished. The chair
car was badly damaged. The rear
truck of the diner was knocked com
pletely off, and the forward trucks OF
the sleeper swung across the main
line. blocking both the north and south
tracks. The observation car Jared bet.
ter than all. only losing the front
trucks. The passenger equipment
must be rebuilt completely, the
various braces, windows, etc, being
broken and misplaced.
Bloom Highly Respected.
i Bloom, the only victim of the acct
! dent thus fair, was highly respected
citizen of West Burlington. He had
long been ih the service of the com
nany. and ON previous occasion sus
s