The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-09-21
PORTION OF A ROCK ISLAND PAS
SENGER TRAIN FALLS FROM
A HIGH BRIDGE.
Number OF DEAD UNKNOWN
ONE REPORT PLACES FATALITIES
At EIGHT AND THE INJURED
AT ABOUT TWENTY.

Guthrie, Okla, Sept. 19.-Eight
people are dead, twenty others are
more or less injured and as many
more are missing as the result of the
wrecking of a Rock Island passenger
train three miles from Dover, Okla,
at $50 o'clock a. m.
The engine, tender, baggage and
mail cars, smoker and day coach of
passenger train No. II, northbound,
left the high bridge that spans the
Cimarron river and plunged into the
current flanked by treacherous quick
sands. The locomotive disappeared
from sight almost Immediately. The
mail and baggage clerks escaped from
their coaches and swan to the shore.
The accident was due to the defec-
tive condition of the bridge, which was
swerved out of line by the pressure of
drift wood carried down by the swol-
len stream.
The train was an hour late and was
running at high speed to make UP
time. The engine driver did not see
the condition of the bridge until ne
was within few feet, when it was too
late to stop. He shouted to his fire.
man, threw on the air brakes and
jumped. He landed on the very verge
of the river bank and escaped unhurt.
The fireman was less fortunate and
sustained severe injuries.
When the engine struck the bridge
the whole structure suddenly col
iapsed, precipitating the engine,
smoker and day coach into the water
The two heavy Pullmans were not
pulled in, but remained on the track.
The current whirled the day coach
down stream and lodged it against
sand bank. The occupants were
helped out drought the doors and
windows. The smoking car foated
down stream submerged all but the
very top. 1t struck a sand bar in the
middle of the river and four men were
seen to
Chamber Through the Windows
and pull themselves on the top of the
car, calling loudly for help, but those
on shore were unable to reach them
on account of the high water. While
they were begging for assistance,
large mass of driftwood swept down
and carried them from their fragile
footing. Three other men jumped
through the rear door of the smoker
before it sank and struck out for the
shore. They were carried down the
current for perhaps half mile, when
they were pulled out. They were al
most exhausted from strangulation
and exposure.
The most authentic accounts place
the number of passengers in the
smoker at between twenty-five and
thirty. With few exceptions they
have been accounted for The only
hopeful news is contained in mes
sages received from rural districts.
Men on bits of driftwood have been
seen going down stream at various
points, but Attempts at rescue have in
most cases proved futile.
One man, whose name is not known,
was fished out of the Cimarron at
Carbon, twenty miles from the scene
of the disaster. He was almost dead.
Others have been reported floating
down the river.
The injured were hurried to King
fisher Six physicians left that place
Immediately after the first news of the
wreck was received. The people of
Kingfsher have thrown open their
homes for the succor of the injured.
It will be impossible to ascertain the
exact number of dead for several days.
Many of those reported missing may
be safe at some point down the Cimar-
ron.
One report states that only one per-
son is actually known to have per-
ished and that there were not over a
dozen persons in the smoker.