Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1906-03-18
.CharPed Bones Of Wreck
Victims Alone Remain.
HEART -RENDING STORIES OF
DEATH AND SELF SACRIFICE
twenty-five Dead and twenty-five
In niured Is Latest Estimate Of Ex-
tent Of Rio Grande Disaster.

Pueblo Col, Mar. 17.-Twenty-two
dead and twenty-five injured is the
very best estimate of the casualties in
the wreck of the two Denver & Rio
Grande passenger trains which eollid-
ed on a curve at a point twenty-five
miles west Of this city early Friday
morning. Only seven of the dead can
be identified and only one of these
corpses retains sufficient outline of the
features to be readily recognizable.
The remainder are known from the
fact charred bones were found in
places where they would naturally
have been when the collision happen
ed. Two telegraph operators are held
in the public mind 10 be responsible
for the awful disaster although no for
NAL indictment has gone out against
! them. Both have been ordered dis
charged from the service of the
road. A coroners jury has been em-
| panelled and will begin investigating
! the cause of the accident on Monday
next at Canyon City. In addition to
| this the railroad company has direct
ed its officials to locate the blame
/ through an examination of ttainmen
and operators who will he asked to
| gather in the near future and tell
what they know of the deplorable af-
fair.
1t develops that r. G.. Whitney. who
was being escorted to the peniten-
uary by Deputy Sheriff Ed. H. Baird.
/ had been chained to his seat and when
the fire began in the wreckage, he had
! no chance whatever to escape. BY
/ the irony OF fate his guard perished
with him. The laws of Colorado have
a provision making it a crime to fas-
ten prisoners in transportation to car
seats AS time goes on incidents thrill
ling and pathetic. come 70 light. The
experience of g. G. Clark, photog-
rapher on the west bound train. Is
enough to excite the interest Of tile
phlegmatic. Mr.. Clark was standing
upon the platform of one of the cars
that was destroyed by fire. He was
talking with a negro porter when the
crash came The explosion of gas
tanks followed the collision closely
and the force of the blast picked up
Clarke and hurled him through the
roof The man sailed through the
air clear of the wreckage and landed
on the hillside from which he picked
himself up practically unhurt. having
sustained only few bruises and con-
tusions.
The porter fell down into the wreck
age and has not been seen since.
4 IIeartrcnding Story.
A heartrending story of mother love
and wonted self-sacrifice is told by
Conductor Kroeger, who had charge
! of the Pulmans on the west bound
train
Il saw one mother found" he said,
with little baby In her arms. She
| knew that it was almost an impossi-
bility to be saved herself but her only
thought was of her child. one hand
was pinioned by the debris, but her
head and other arm were free.
"She was trying to keep her head
from the flames and with her free
hand, was holding the infant as high
In the air as she could Just as we
were about to reach her she gave a
gasp and fell back into the flames
with the baby"
Late this afternoon word was re-
ceived from the scene of the wreck
that the head and upper portion OF
la human body had been found under
a rie of coal dumped out of the ten
der of the engine of No. 16, pulling
the east bound train. The lower part
OF the body had been burned away
Both of the enginemen OF No. l6 were
killed and enough of their bodies had
been found. It was thought to iden-
tfy them. Just who could have been
the victim who was crushed under tho
coal pile and who, perhaps was In
stantly killed is a puzzle. Some be-
lieve that one Of the passengers must
have been thrown to the spot indicat-
ed by the impact Of the collision or
breaking up of the cars and a miracle
OF escape was swiftly changed to cer-
, tain death by the overturning of the
engine tender, pilIng the coal on the
PROSTATE form.