Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-18
SLEEPY OPERATOR
CAUSES DISASTER
BLAME FOR THE RIO GRANDE
HORROR FIXED
Estimate of Dead Reduced to Twenty
two-onIy Seven Can Be Iden-
tified-SheriH Perishes With
His Prisoner


PUEBLO, Colo, March 17.-Twenty-
two dead and twenty-five injured is
the very best estimate of the casual
ties in the wreck of the two Denver
& Rio Grande passenger trains which
collided on a curve at a point twenty
five miles west of this city early Fri
day morning. Only seven of the dead
can be identified, and only one of these
corpses retains sufficient outline of
the features to be readily recognize
able. The remainder are known owing
| to the places where their charred
bodies were found being the spots
where they naturally would have been
when the collision happened. Two
| telegraph operators are held in the
public mind to be responsible for the
awful disaster although no formal in
dictment has gone out against them.
| Both have been ordered discharged
from the service of the road. A
Coroner's jury has been impaneled
and will begin investigating the cause
of the accident on Monday next at
Canon City In addition to this the
railway company has directed its Off
Gals to locate the blame, through an
examination of trainmen and opera
| tors, who will be asked to come to-
gether in the near future and tell what
they know of the deplorable affair.
It develops that r. G.. Whitney, who
was being escorted to the penitentiary
by Deputy Sheriff Baird, had been
chained to the seat, and when the
fire broke out in the Wreckage he had
no chance whatever to escape. BY
the hand of fate his guard persisted
with him. The laws of Colorado have
a provision making it a crime to fas-
ten prisoners In transportation to a
car seat
AS time goes on incidents thrilling
and pathetic come to light. The ex-
perience of G.. G. Clark, Il passenger
on the westbound train, is enough to
excite the interest of the most phleg-
matte. Mr.. Clark was standing on the
platform of one of the cars that was
destroyed by fire. II was talking with
the negro porter when the crash came.
The explosion of the gas tanks fol-
lowed the collision closely and the
force of the blast picked up Clark
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 a few bruises and contusions
The porter fell down into the wreck
age and has not been seen since.
Mother Dies With Babe
A heart -rending story of mother
love and wonted self-sacrifice is told
by Conductor Kroeger, who had
charge of the Pullmans on the west
bound train.
II saw one mother" he said, with
a little babe in her arms. She knew
that it was almost an impossibility to
be saved herself, but her only thought
was of her child. one hand was
plnioned beneath 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 gasp and fell
back into the flames with her babe"
Late this afternoon word was re-
ceived from the scene of the wreck
that the head and upper portion of a
human body had been found under a
pile of coal dumped out Of the tender
of the engine of No. 16. The lower
part of the body had been burned
away. Both of the engine men of No.
Is were killed and enough of their
bodies had been found, it was thought,
to identify them. Just who could
have been the victim who was
crushed under the coal pile and per-
haps instantly killed is a puzzle. Some
believe that one of the passengers
must have been thrown to the spot
indicated by the impact of the coll
lision or breaking up of the cars, and
q miracle of escape was changed to
certain death by the overturning of
the engine tender, piling the coal
upon the PROSTATE form.
Revised Death List
Claim Agent Charles Mitchell of the
Denver & Rio Grande railroad today
approved a list of the dead. Mr..
Mitchell thinks it is as nearly accurate
as can be made at this time. The list
follows:
WILLIAM HOLLIS, engineer,
WALTER cossLErT, engineer,
Pueblo.
II. d. SUDDETH, fireman. Pueblo.
f. L. BAIRD, deputy sheriff, Pueblo.
r.. G. WHITNEY, convict, Denver
E. NJ. MCFARLAND, messenger,
A. N. BAIRTLo. salida.
MISS GRACE BAIRTLO, Salida.
TAYLOR HEWITT Lebo, Kas.
MRS. LILLIAN HEWITT, Lebo,
Kas
MRS. wINoNA HEWITT, Lebo,
Kas.
PEARL HEWITT, 10 years old,
Lebo, Kas.
MRS. KATHERINE HEWITT and
boy baby. Claudius, 4 months old,
Lebo, l<as.
ED COWLEY, Emporia, Kas.
GRACE COWLEY and baby En-
poria, l<as,
FRED JONES, Lebo, Kas.
FRED LIMECOOLEY, Denver
MRS. BELLE WEBB, Keystone,
Wyo
RAY FIELDS, aged 10, Keystone,
Wyo.
Colo.
Operator to Blame
BY Associated Press.