Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-17
Family Almost Wiped Out

10 Was utSlIOy GU do wen eNs 49, 4N''N--'
Family Almost Wiped Out
One of the pathetic tragedies of the
disaster was the wiping out of all but
two of the family of Taylor Hewitt OF
Lebo, Kas. Father, mother, daughter.
grandchild and the wives Of the SONS
are missing. The two sons, e. A. Hew-
tit and w. L. Hewitt, are among the
injured in the hospital here, each of
them having leg fractures in addition
to other injuries.
r. A. Hewitt said tonight:
"Our party consisted of my father,
Taylor Hewitt; my mother, Lillian
Hewitt; my sister, Pearl, aged Is years;
my brother. w. L. Hewitt; my sister-ln-
law, Winona, aged 81; my wife, Gather
inc, aged II; our four months old baby,
Claudus; Mr.. and Mrs. Edwin Cowley
and Fred Jones. We were going to
Joseph. Ore, to work in a sawmill for
my grandfather, II. NJ. Kicker. A dream
that had several months ago in which
our family was all killed, kept coming
into my mind. 1 saw just as plainly
as I later saw the real wreck every
thing that took place after the collision.
I saw people trying to drag themselves
out of the cars; saw strong men plead
to be killed; l saw my own wife and
baby consumed by fire before my eyes,
and as 1 struggled vainly to rescue
them I awakened in terror and with
cold beads of perspiration crawling
slowly down my face.
Il went forward to my party. My
wife was sleeping soundly. Our little
baby was just half asleep. Catherine
Weakened and said:
Good night. 1 leaned over and
kissed her, and she smiled.
r1nsoJ "
eyes, but in a few minutes was aroused
by a crash. When l tried to move
found my leg was broken. L heard my
wife calling me, but could not go to
her. Some one dragged me out.
screamed for some one to rescue my
wife and baby, but nobody paid any at
tention. 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 home in Kansas and bury their
dead.
In the front end of the ruins of the
smoker of No. 16 were found the charrcd
remains of a man crossed and held to-
gether by a pair of handouts. That
was all that was left to show that a
vonvict who was being taken to prison
was burned in the wreck.
Near the CHASTITY hands were found
two revolvers, the property of Deputy
Sheriff e. E. Baird of Denver, who
was also killed. His prisoner was an
actor known as Archibald Whitney,
who had been sentenced to the peniten-
tiary on conviction of forgery. In
the bones of his fingers was held with
the grasp of death the metal piece from
the window casing. The prisoner had
attempted to climb out of the burning
car and might have escaped a horri-
BILE death but for the handouts.
Patrick Murphy, a well-known Flor
ence oil man, was taken from the wreck
unconscious and was reported to be
dead, but an hour later he revived.
+. F. Lively, night operator at Swa!-
lows, whose failure to deliver orders to
train No. 16 is supposed to have been
the cause of tht wreck, has been en-
ployed by the road for many years. He
was relieved from duty tonight and
will be suspended until the matter is
thoroughly investigated by the officials.
The local Denver & Rio Grande Off
Gals disclaim any knowledge of the
statement by Operator lively. but
state that he had worked a fifteen-hour
trick, relieving his alternate three hours
earlier than usual for personal reasons.
Nothing to that effect was required by
the company.