The daily tribune., 1906-03-16
The three engines telescopea in bad

The three engines telescoped in bad
shape and the head ones telescoped to
the sand box ON top Of the boilers.
It is doubtful IL there ever was a wreck
where the engines telescoped in such q
manner. The mail and baggage cars
CT both trains were thrown high into
the air and the mail cars held the
baggage cars in the air. II did not
take long for them to be reduced to
ashes.
The force of workmen assigned to
duty by the Rio Grapde railroad
company worked valiantly in rescuing
the dead aud injured. They did
noble work and sre to be commended.
Forty.two dead bodies had been re-
covered up to 8 O'Clock this morning
and they were sent to Pueblo. From
O'Clock to 1890 hve more bodies
were recovered. making forty seven
known deao. Besides this there were
at least eight or nine bodies still in
the wrecksR that could not be reach.
ed owing to the intensity of the heat.
The list Of dead will reach consider
ably m-re than fifty and probably
sixty
Ghoulish work was performed by
some of the bystapders and it seemed
as If they they could not wait to get
into the hot ashes to search for the
lost valuables of the Aead passengers.
Many things that at one time were OF
considerable value were found and
most Of this IL were pocketed by the
ghouls. too. A force of men had been
put to work by the company to keep
such people back from the wreckage.
but. although they worked hard to
do it. their efforts in degree proved
futile. for the ghouls persisted in
searching the wreckage.
Another bunch of guards were
stationed to prevent people walking
too close to the hot. heavy and loo g
timbers. This was done for the
safety of the curious ana were it not
for the guards the falling timber aud
iron might have killed some inno-
cent on lockers
Mr.. Hewitt who lost all the
members of his family proved hero
in trying to rescue one of his children
but his heroic efforts failed just as
the child seemed almost in his grasp.
The little one had one of it's legs
broken in the wreck and laid on the
ground utterly helpless. Just as its
father was about to pick the child
from the ground, the side Of burn
ing day coach fell upon it.crushed the
child ard burned it to death. With
this death the entire family, with
the exception of the one living. was
wiped entirely out of existence in the
space of a, few minutes.
The track WAS buried the full
length of the two wrecked trains and
it will be several days before the Rio
Grande can use its own rails between
here and Pueblo In the meantime
they will be detoured over the
Santa Fe from Florence to Pueblo.
The flames from the cars leaped high
into the air and the sight in the dead
of night. together with the weepings,
meanings and wailings Of the dying
injured and heart-sore people. was
and Awe-inspiring one.
Two minutes after the wreck oc-
Cured all the passengers of No. l6
we're out Of the cars. 1t was not so
with the passengers Of No. for they
were hemmed in more than the pas
sengers on the other train. j. II.
Smith. engineer Of one Of the trains.
saved his life by leaping through
the cab windows. Two engineers and
two flremen we're killed.
The body of Engineer Cosslett WAS
recovered from the cab about IL
O'Clock and WAS bro ught to Florence.