Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-30

Pullman were practically uninjured, b'
the combination coach, second from N
engine, was crushed and It was in tn
car that all the negroes among the wounde
were hurt They were unable to escal
from the baggage hurled upon them ar
many would have died bit for the resci
work. in which F. M. Curtis Of Jamestow
N. Y, a passenger on the Jacksonvi
train took a conspicuous part.
Mr.. Curtis. in talking to the represent
tive OF the Associated Press, said:
Int appeared to me that the passenge
who were unihjured were dazed, and tn
did not appear to realize that somethi
wac to be done talked to some Of the
and they began to work You never sa
men work harder In your life
I'm the rear OF the Pullman which W
smashed there was mother with a
months-old babe They were IN a drawi
room, which had been smashed, but stran
TO say they were not hurt In the sighte
They were gotten out and taken to safe
I think there were at least five bodies,
cludIng Mr. Spencer that were cremat
AS far as I know the train attaches
not aid in the first relief because they h
gone both ways to protect the two trai
from other and more serious trouble"
Mr.. Curtis has in his possession val
able case of Jewels which was handed
him by a woman. He does not know
whom II belongs and why It was handed
him. II evidently is the property Of some
one of MEANS as it contains a heavy set
diamond ring and other jewels Of value.
baggage is Looted.
It was reported several persons ransacked
the cars for plunder. Some of the pas
sengers are said TO have participated in
this and a large amount of valuables and
money scattered among the debris was
taken. Mr.. Curtis says he saw a porter
search a woman's grip throw away things
of no value to him and take those things
he wanted. Mr. Curtis declares he would
have killed the porter had he had weapon.
Coroner G. w. Davis, at the request of
the Southern officials, went to the wreck
- hsaa an inquest, but found the bodies
IA noon removed. He could not say to-
night what steps would be taken.
I The. Jacksonville express had the right
of-way in the block, The engine broke
away from the train and proceeded a mile
beyond Lawyers before the engineer mo-
ticed he was without his train. 1t may
be that when he passed Lawyers the op-
orator there gave Rangoon a clear block
without noticing whether the rear end
In the absence of an Official statement ex-
cept that the operator at Rangoon was
at fault, this explanation Is being accepted
here II is possible that the Rangoon op-
orator let the train into the block on Or
ders from Lawyers that the track was
clear, the operators thinking the train
less engine cleared the track, and the
second train was past Rangoon when It
was discovered Should evidence show that
the Lawyers operator gave clear track
without noticing the absence of rear end
markers, then the cause of the accident
was at Lawyers. Only an offcial invest-
cation viii reveal this,
At 10:30 o'clock tonight II was ascer-
tained from reliable source that d. ],
Maddux, the operator at Rangoon, who
was on dnty at the time Of the accident,
had disappeared. Railway officials are try
ing to locate him. At
Bodies Brought 10 Washington.
WASHINGTON, d. c.. Nov 2s.-The spe-
cial train bringing the corpses of victims
of the southern railway collision arrived
at 1910 tonight. 1t carried the bodies of
President Samuel Spencer. Phillip Schuyler
of New York. Charles ID. Fisher and Frank
T. Redwood of Baltimore and an unidenti-
fed negr0 porter. The body of d. Watts
of the train at Alexandria.
On the train were the officials who went
to Lawyers upon receiving notice OF the
wreck and others met them here.
brief conference was held by the: ofh-
clals with friends OF the victims. 1t was
stated that the body OF Mr. Schuyler would
be sent to New York on the night train in
charge OF representative of the Southern
railway and that the bodies Of Messrs.
Fisher and Redwood. the Baltimore men,
would he sent to Baltimore in the morning.
The body OF President Spencer was taken
IN charge by alOcal undertaken and moth
ing will be Determined concerning the
funeral arrangements until the members
Of the family have been consulted
officials OF the road, when asked tonight
n there was any statement to be made
replied that they wSre all overwhelmed
with grief at the loss of their president.
II. b. Spencer, son OF the president and
sixth vice president OF the road, was com
Ing north at the time Of the disaster and
reached the wreck about two hours aftel
It's occurrence. He left there so as C
Doach Washington in time to meet his
gother. who had been summoned from New
-rrS and arrived here at $3.50 tonight.
OmeiaI Statement.
KNOXVILLE. Tenn. Nov 29.-An on
aal report given out by General superin
icadent Ritehey OF the Southern railway
confirms the report Of President Spencer :
death IN q Southern railway accident this
morning. The report adds
resident samuel Spencer Of the Southern