Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1906-03-21
THIRTY-SIX HOURS OF INCESSANT
TOLL BEHIND DISASTER ON d.
s. r. G. RAILWAY.
KNOWN DEAD OVER q.
Impact of Awful Collision Was Hardly
Felt IN Several Coaches, but Fire
Car on Quickly.

Yer " RIO GranQe railroad Will never DE
known, it undoubtedly will take rank
among the great disasters in the his
tory of railroading. Conservative esti-
mates on the loss of life place the num-
Der of dead at thirty-six. Seventeen
charred, unacceptable bodies lie in the
Pueblo morgue, five other persons are
known to be dead, and possibly Il score
of bodies were burned to ashes. There
Was not q single entire body recovered
from the Wreckage, with the exception
of the enginemen, who although mangled
had not been reached by the flames
All the injured will, it is believed, re-
cover. 1t is not likely that the remains
of any of the other victims can be lden-
tilted.
Weary Operator Wrecks Cause.
Pueblo, Col, March 17.-An operator
who had worked for seventy-two con-
secutive hours without rest is response
bic for the wreck on the Denver u Rio
Grande railroad at 2:20 o'clock Friday
morning, in which many of the passen-
gers-the number being variously esti-
mated from tWenty-one TO thlrty-hve-
were crushed or burned to death.
I. Il. Lively, the operator whose fail
ure to deliver the train order that re-
suited in the collision, had not been ar
considered probable that no action
against him will be taken until after the
coroners inquest. Lively says OF his
failure to deliver the train order, i was
asleep; that's all"
Twenty-one Known Dead.
Twenty -one men, women and children
are known to be dead. A collection of
charred bones thrown promiscuously
into big box will forever hide the lden-
THY of perhaps fifteen or twenty more.
In one Of the burned cars was a party
of foreigners, emgrants seeking new
homes in the northwest. Only Il few
bits of blackened bone remain as mute
witnesses that these foreigners had lived
dead is as follows:
BAIRD, EDWARD e. deputy sheriff,
Denver
BARKLo, A. n, salida, Colo
BARKLO, MISS GRACE, Salida Colo.
CROSSLETT. WALTER, engineer No. 3,
COWLEY, ED. Lebo, Kan
COWLEY, MRS. ED. Lebo, Kan.
HEWITT, TAYLOR, Lebo, Kan.
HEWITT. MRS. WINONA, Lebo. Kan.
HEWITT, PEARL, 10 years old, Lebo,
FIELDS. RAY, aged 10, keystone, Wyo.
T HEWITr. MRS. LILLIAN. Lebo, Kan,
litlIlS,. w WILLIAM, engineer NJ ~,
ZONES 1i(?ifi FRED, Lebo, Kan
LEMECCOLEY. FRED, Denver.
MPARLAND, ENOS, express messenger
MURPHY. PATRICK, Florence, Colo;
an oil well driller.
SUDDUTH, II. D., fireman No. 16, Pu-
VERB. MRS. BELLE keystone, Wyo.
WHITNEY,: ARCHIBALD, prisoGner on o.,
Of R1jr1
Trains Meet in Binding Storm.
The wreck of the two trains occurred
in a binding storm of snow, which made
it impossible for the rainmen to see
ahead. even OH a straight track. The
Utah aud California express No. >,
westbound left Pueblo over an hour and
a half late and was given orders to meet
the Colorado and New Mexico express,
No. lG. eastbound at Florence This
order was changed and the westbOund
train was directed to pass the eaStbound
train at Beaver. about twelve miles east
of Florence. The order should have
been delivered to the train crew at Swal-
low ten miles east Of the scene of the
wreck. but the operator there 5. +. Live
~. fell asleep and the order was not de-
liveled As he slept No. 3 passed
through Swallow.
Operator Asleep at His Post,
4 few minutes later Operator Lively
was asked by the dispatcher at Pueblo
if No. > had passed. He answered:
Ne
Then No 10, following westbound
train. came along. Lively gave the or
ders to the engineer of No. Is. who said:
These are No 3s orders"
Lively Immediately notified the dis
patchers of his failure to deliver No. 3's
order. but it was then too late to prevent
the wreck. In the meantime the east
bound train had received its orders and
expected to meet the weStbound train at
Beaver.
Both trains were running at the usual
speed, the deep snow and high wind
tiOnal care. Suddenly both headlights
flashed out from the darkness, and it
was realized for the first time that some
thing was wrong.
Impact Scarcely Felt, Men Say.
From the stories told by several of
the trainmen who survived and who
were in the forward part of the train.
the impact was scarcely noticeable, but
the crushing, grinding noise that fol-
lowed warned them that something mad
been struck. The helper engine on No.
) evidently acted as a sort Of cushion.
minimizing the force and weight of the
uedNy ulOuuldlI eighties. In1S helper
was crushed together like so much ma
per, and the monster machines ran
through, locking themselves together as
if in death struggle
Fireman Smith was the only one of
the engine crew to escape.
Fire Completes the Horror.
Hardly had the trainmen and passen-
gers reached a realization that all was
not right when the other horror, sheet
of fire. ran through the cars on both
sides Of the engines, and in a twinklinc
the cracking sound of breaking timbers
started them to action.
In the forward coach of the west
bound train every seat was occupied by
the passengers, most of whom were
homeseekers Oh their way to the north
west. Paralyzed with fear and with
prayers upon their lips they sank to the
floor of the cars and were roasted alive.
The cooler ones in the car rushed for
the windows and doors, and with the aid
of the passengers in the rear of the
train and those members of the train
crew who were unhurt managed to