The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-17
Bodies Burned to Crisp.


1t is reliably reported that but one
body is sufficiently intact TO make rec
IGNITION possible, all the others, having
been burned tic ashes or incinerated.
Identification of the victims, who sue
cumbed to the mercfIess flames is only
possible, IL is believed, through q COM
parison of lists of rescued and missing.
No accurate estimate of the number of
dead was possible by reason of the fact
that so many of the bodies were practic-
ally destroyed.
Work of clearing away the debris of
the wreck began at daylight with the aid
of two wreckers, one on each side of
the wreckage.
It is announced that the track will be
entirely clear and trains running by to-
morrow noon. One of the first things
the wreckers were called upon to do was
to lift the tender of one of the engines
from off the Santa Fe track. which runs
close by the Rio Grande, where 1t had
been tossed by the cars crOwding against
it. A peculiar feature of the wreck was
the fact that none of the sleepers left
the rails and the cars and engines which
were burned were standing on the ties
If not on the track.
The monetary d mage to railroad prop
erty is estimated at 100000. In addition
to this all the baggage on No. is was
destroyed as vel, as the mail
Only Two Survive.
One of the pathetic tragedies of the
disaster was the wiping out of all but
Lebo. Kan. Father, mother, daughter,
grandchild and the wives of the sons are
missing. The two sons, E A Hewitt
and w L. Hewitt are among the in
jured in the hospital here, each of them
having leg fractures in addition to other
injuries. z. A Hewitt said tonight:
Our party consisted of my father, Tay-
Tor Hewitt; my mother. Lillian Hewitt;
my sister, Pearl, aged 10 years; my bro
Their, w. /. Hewitt; my sister-in-law
Winona, aged 81; my wife, Catherine,
aged II; our 4-months' -old baby, Clau-
dius; Mr.. and Mrs. Edward Conley and
Fred Jones. We were going to Joseph,
Ore, to work in saw mill for my
grandfather, II. NJ. Kicker. a dream that
I had several months ego, in which our
family was all killed. kept coming into
my mind. / saw just as plainly as I
later saw the real wreck, everything that
took place after the collision I saw
people trying to drag themselves out of
the cars, saw strong men plead to be
killed, / saw my own wife and baby
consumed by fire before my very eyes
and as I struggled vainly to rescue them
I awakened in terror and with cold
beads of perspiratiOn crawling slowly
down my face.
Last Kiss of Love.
Il went forward to my party. My wife
was sleeping sOundly- Our little baby
was Just half asleep. Catherine Weakened
and said good night, sweetheart l
leaned over and kissed her and she
smiled
L sat down again and closed my eyes
but in a few minutes was aroused by a
/ crash. When / tried to move / found my
| leg was broken. l heard my wife call
/ ing me but could not go to her. Some
! one dragged me out. l screamed for
| someone to rescue my wife and baby but
nobody paid any attention Men were
running madly about calling for their
/ wives mothers were wildly screaming
/ for their children, some were throwing
/ themselves in the snow
/ Il saw Fred Jones hanging out of the
| window of the burning car pleading for
/ some one to kill him. The flames shot
up about him and he fell forward dead"
Hewitt and his brother will return to
/ their old home in Kansas and bury their
/ dead
ManacIes Prevented Escape.
| In the front end of the ruins Of the
| smoker of No. 3 were found the charred
hands of a man, crossed and held to-
/ gether by a pair of handouts That was
/ all that was left to show that q convict
who was being taken to prison was burn
| ed in the wreck Near the CHASTITY hands
/ were found two TeVOlverS. the property
/ of DeDuty Sheriff T. Z. Baird of Den
| YER who was also killed. His prisoner
was an actor known as Archibald Whit
ney. who had been sentenced to the peni-
Tertiary on a conviction for forgery. In
/ the bones of his fingers was held with
/ the grasp of death the metal piece from
| the window casing The prisoner had at
! tempted to climb out of the burning car
| and might have escaped horrible death
/ but for the handouts.
Some Who Escaped.
! Patrick Murphy, a well-known Flor
/ cnce oil man. was taken from the wreck
/ unconscious and was reported to be dead,