The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1906-03-20
RAILROAD WRECK
THITY.FIVE ARE CREMATED
AND BURNED TO ASHES.
Fault of Sleepy Operator-Huge
Engines Meet Full.Speed and
Lock Together-Only One -
Body Is Identified
Other News.

DUuy ID 1u0u VlAC0'
Other News.
Pueblo, Colo, March 16.-Al
wreck accom- panied with horrors ex.
ceeded only by the Eden disaster,
which occurred August Z, 1904, on
the line of the same railroad, reeuit.
ed from q head.on collision OF two
passenger trains on the Denver &
Rio Grande railroad fonr miles east
Of Florence, Colo, at an early hour
this mroning. The trains were the
Utah California Express No 3,
west-bound from Denver, and the
Colorado New Mexico Express No.
IS, east-bound from Leadville and
Grand Junction. They met on a
sharp curve and were less than 200
yards apart when the engineers dis
covered that q collision was immi-
nent.
It is known that the engineer Of
the west bound train put forth eve.
ry possible effort to bring his train
to standstill, but his efforts were
fruitless and, although he succeed
ed In checking the speed Of his
train, the crash that followed was
beyond his power to prevent and be
went to his death with his hand on
the throttle, faithful to his charge.
This much Is vouched for by bis
fireman, who, seeing the useless
ness of remaining in the face ofsure
daath, jumped and saved his life.
Of the conduct Of the engine crew
of the east bound train, 1t can only
be stated that they died at their
post, for no one lives to tell the sto.
ry of their heroism.
The disaster was made more hor-
rible by the manner Of the death ol
many of the passengers, the mum.
ber estimated at IS. Fire swep,
over the wreck. e, quilting the vic.
Tins 10 a cauldron Of fame and
leaving only charred and blackened
bodies to tell the tale of slaughter
| A liet of Injured given out by of
ficials of the railroad company com
prises 22 names None of the in
jured are seriously hunt and it il
ibelieved all will recover quickly
In binding storm which made i
falmost impossible for the trair
men to see ahead the two train.
collided head-on at a point midway
between Portland and Adobe, 2,
miles west of Pueblo, at 2:20 O.
clock this morning. Immediately
following the collision several o
the wrecked cars burst into hame
and were consumed, number o
passengers being burned to- death
Over 80 others were injured. Th
wreck is attributed to the failure o
an empioye of the road to deliver al
order which changed the meetin,
place OF the two traine.
The Utah & California EXPIRES
No. 8, westbound, left Pueblo owe
an hour and baif late, and wa
given orders to meet the Colorad,
& New Mexico Express No. 16
eastbound, at Florence. This orde
was changed, and the westbeunt
train was cited to pass the eastbone
train at Beaver, about IL miles eat
Of Florence. The order should hav
been delivered 10 the train crew a
Swallow, but for come reason still
unexplained the operator there n@g
lected to do so. In the meantim
the eastbound train had received it
orders and expected to meet th
westbound train at Beaver.
Both trains were running at tn
usual speed, the deep snow and tn
high wind making it necessary t
exercise exceptional care. Sudden
ly both headlights flashed out from
the darkness, and it was realize
for the first time that somethin
was wrong. According to the ste
ry of J. H. Smith, of the westboun'
train, Engineer Walter Coslett or
ened the emergency brakes and th
train was checked for an instan1
but the slippery rails and the me
mentum of the heavy train carrie
it on.
From the stories told by severs
of the t, ainmen who survived an
were in the forward part of th
train, the impact was scarcely M
ticabIe, but the crushing, grindinI
noise that followed warned ther
that something had been struck
The helper engine on No. 3 ev
IDENTIFY acted as sort of cushion
minimizing the force and weight {
the heavy mountain engines ths
haul the trains where the grad