The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-09-06
KILLED
IN TROLLEY WRECK
SHOCKING DISASTER OCCURS ON
NATION AND CHARLESTON
ELECTRIC LINE.
Injured Number Fifty-lnterurban Ex-
press Train CoIlides with Traction
Car and Is TeIeseoped-Names of
the Victims.

Nation, ILL.,, Aug. 31.-Fifteen per-
sons were killed and about so injured
in head-on collision between an In
terurban express train, consisting OF
a motor car and trailer, and trac-
ton car on the Mattoon and Charles
ton electric line at 1890 o'clock Fri
day morning.
The crash occurred on a sharp curve
one mile west of Charleston, Ill. A
confusion of orders received over the
telephone is said to have been the
cause of the terrible accident.
The cars approached each other at
a high rate of speed and the impact
was so terrific that the motor car and
trailer were telescoped by the traction
car. There was no warning and few
jumping. The passengers, nearly all
of them en- route to the Coles county
fair at Charleston, were crushed or
MANNED where they sat in their seats.
Scene Is Distressing.
Some of those who escaped death
and were able to talk say the scene at
the wreck was grewsome. The dead
and dying were damned together in a
mass. Women were shrieking with
pain and children were crying for
mothers who were thought to be
among the dead.
When the news of the wreck
reached Nation special cars were
hurried to the scene and the dead and
injured were brought to the morgue
and hospital here. Some of the injured
are in critical condition and there
is little hope for their recovery.
Names of the Victims.
The dead: Neil Fugate, Gays, ILL.,;
Thomas Weakley, Nation, ILL.,; Will
liam Nelson, North Ottawa, ILL.,;
Charles Nelson, son of William Mel
son, aged eight years; Howard Cole,
Cooks Mills, ILL.,, aged six years; Har-
old Cole, aged eight, brother of How
ard Cole; lack Vandeventer, Nation;
Edward Reynolds, Paradise, ILL.,; AL
bert Smith, Mattoon, ILL.,; w. A. Price,
North Mattoon, ILL.,; Douglas Logan,
Humboldt; Edna Walbalm, Cooks
Mills, ILL.,; three unidentified bodies.
Seriously injured: Albert Mapes,
Mattoon; G. G. Armentrout, badly
bruised and internally hurt; Mrs. G.
G. Armentrout and two children, bad
ly bruised and cut; Charles Joseph,
Salisbury, Ind, side and leg hurt, also
hurt internally; Mrs. L. M. Price, Mat
toon, Ill.,, shoulder and face bruised
and cut; Samuel Boyer, right leg
broken and back bruised; Porter My
ers, Humboldt, injured in back and
hips; James Casstevens, Gays, leg
broken, and cuts and bruises; Mrs.
William Cole, Cooks Mills; G. w.
Davies, aged SO; Olec Miller, North
Ottawa, may die; A. C. Ealy, Nation,
badly hurt; G.. H. Jones, ribs broken;
G.. r. Curtis, Nation, left arm broken
and badly bruised; Mrs. Alex. Lang
ston, badly hurt; Mrs. Sarah G. Phil
lips, badly bruised and hurt internal
ly; A. ]. Phillips, ribs probably broken
and seriously hurt; Otto Tower, Hum
boldt, leg broken and otherwise hurt;
Charles Redman, Nation, right arm
broken and seriously bruised; Grace
Young, legs crushed; Mrs. ]. G. Mon
roe and two little boys, badly hurt;
Will Jones, badly hurt; William Switz,
Gays, seriously injured; S. F. Enos,
NATION, both legs broken; Jerome
Goss, Nation, back badly hurt;
thar1nc T0nnc ,.ihc hrolyap ;y,i,,
internally; Mrs. Charles Jones, legs
badly injured.
Injured Taken to NATION.
Medical aid was summoned from
this city, but in the meantime doctors
and others had hurried from Charles
ton, mile from the scene of the dis
aster. The dead and injured were ex-
tracted from the broken mass of tim
bers and seats. First aid was given
the manned and bruised and the dead
were laid alongside the track. The
victims could not be taken to Charles
ton, because the track was blocked in
that direction, and consequently were
brought to this city.
The line on which the disaster hap
pened Is but IL miles long, running
between NATION and Charleston, and
has but a single track Telephones
are placed every few miles, at which
orders are transmitted to the conduc-
tor and motorman of the cars passing
over the road. A misunderstanding of
one of these telephone orders is said