Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-18
Cause Of Wreck in Colorado Fixed BY
Admission Of Telegrapher
STATED THAT NE WAS 0VERW0RkE0
This is Denied by Railway officials at
Denver.
SEVEN MORE BODIES ARE IDENTIFIED
Latest Estimate Places Dead at Twenty
Two and Injured at Same Number.
PRISONER CHAINED TO THE SEAT
WEN MORE BODIES ARE IDENTIFIED
PRISONER CHAINED TO THE SEAT
e. @. whitney, who Was Being Taken
to Penitentiary by Deputy
SberiR, Had NO Chance
TO Escape.

PUEBLO. Coio March 17-Twenty-two
dead and twenty-five injured is the best
estimate Of the casualties in the wreck of
the two Denver & Rio Grande passenger
trains which collided on a curve at point
twenty-five miles west OF this city early
Friday morning Only seven of the dead
bodies can be identified, and only one of
these retains sufficient of the outline Of the
features TO be readily recognizable. The
remainder are known from the fact that
the location where the charred bones were
found were the places where they would
naturally have been when the collision hap
pened.
Two telegraph operators are held in the
public mind to be responsible for the awful
disaster, although no formal indictment
has gone out against them. Both have
been ordered discharged from the service
of the road. A coroner's jury has been
empaneled and will begin investigation OF
the cause of the accident on Monday next
at Canon City. In addition to this the rail-
road company has directed its officials TO
locate the blame through an examination
of trainmen and operators. who will be
asked to gather together in the future and
tell what they know of the deplorable af-
fair. r. c. whitney, who was being taken
to the pententiary by Deputy Sheriff ED
E Baird, had been chained to his seat and
when the fire broke out in the wreckage
he had no chance whatever to escape BY
the irony of fate his guard perished with
him. The Colorado laws have a provision
making 1t a crime to fasten prisoners to
car seats in transportation.
Il. F. Lively, one of the operators whose
failure TO deliver the train order that re-
suited in the collision, says OF his failure to
deliver the train order;
II was asleep; that's ALL" 1t is asserted
that Lively had worked for several days
without sleep.
Additional Names of Dead.
! The following names have been added to
the list OF identified dead:
PATRICK MURPHY, Florence. Colo. an
| RAY FIELDS, aged TO- Keystone, Wyo.
! MRS. BELLE WEBB, keystone, WyO.
I MRS. GfsACE CROWLEY's BABY, EN-
poria, Kan.
Murphy yesterday was reported amonl
the seriously injured. He mad dragged two
passengers out OF burning car. wher
he returned to rescue a third a gas ex
plosion occurred and he was burned 4
death.
Mrs. William Burnside and her daughte
and grandchid. said to be from some Kan
sas town, were erroneously included IN tn
death list hast night.
All the injured, II is believed will re
cover. II is not likely that the bodies o
any of the other victims can be identified
All the injured are improving rapidl
and most OF them will be able to leave tn
hospital in a few days.
The wreck is being cleared away an
trains will be running on schedule tim
tonight.
A coroner's jury will meet at Canon Cit
Monday next TO nx the responsibility 10
the collision.
It developed today that S. r. Lively. VIII
was the regular day operator at Swallows
had besides performing his own dVds
worked on Thursday night for WilliaI
J vandeusen, the night operator. Vandeuse
is said to have aosented himself from III
station on Thursday night without gettin
the approval of his superiors.
Both men have been discharged by tn
railway officials.
officials Blame Operators.
DENVER, March 17-At the Office of II
general manager of the Denver & n
Grand today the announcement was an
cially made that Z. l.. Lively, night oper'
tor at Swallows, was wholly responsib
Tor tne COLLISION dt AuOpe geSteIudy. n
was asleep at his post it is said, whe
train No. 3, to which he was TO hay
delivered an order went by, and later /
: reported TO the train dispatcher at Pueb
that No 3 had not passed Swallows.
Two operators are employed at Swa
lows L4ively's regular shift was from
o'clock in the evening until o'clock
the morning, when he was regularly r
lieved by the day operator. Ohicials
the Rio Grand deny that Lively had be,
required TO work overtime and say IL
u had done so the action was voluntary
his part.
Surgeon Makes Report.
NEW YORK, March 17.-President Jeffr
. OF the Denver & Rio Grande today 7
: ceived the following oficial statement fro
: A. c. Ridgeway, general manager Of {
company:
DR.. O'Connor, our chief surgeon. repoI
n to me Of eighteen bodies being recover
"a from the wreck He thinks there Is
Y possibility the number OF fatalities reach
!. viii be twenty Six were injured serious
other injuries slight. All OF the injur
will get well. No. 3, leaving Pueblo, h
orders to meet No. 16 at Adobe. Dispatch
: had 20. X" from Florence and Swallow
9 operator at Swallows stating that No.
had not gone by lie had been asleep,
- yond question, and did not hear No
20 by, and 20. X. a. dispatchers' ord
and Is the sole cause of the collision. II
was the day operator and he was dol
duty for the night man, as the night m
had gone to Pueblo 20 cash pay ehec
n, / without asking permission from the Puel
/ once. Our standing rule Is that day opel
d tors are not TO relieve night opera e
3 asked and granted by the chief dispatch
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