The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-07-25
EXCURSION TRAIN
CRASHES INTO FREIGHT

Salem, Mich, July 23.--Thirty-o
people are dead and more than seventy
injured, many Of them seriously. as th4
result o IA head-end collision SATURDAY.
between this village and Plym0ufhs
when Pere Marquette excursion train
bound from Ionia to Detroit crashed
into a westbound freight in 2 cut io'-
Gated at q sharp curve OF the Pere
Marquette railroad about mile east
of Salem. .
when the unInjured persons recov-
cred from the shock and crawled from
the wreckage, they began extricatina
the dead and injured. MessenEerS
rushed 10 Salem and neighboring Wild
lagos and all the doctors obtainabla
were hurried to the scene.
THE DEAD.
WILL DOT.
JOHN PATTERSON.
CHARLES MACALONL
AL HEBERT.
MARTIN KILDUFF.
MRS. ABRAHAM EDDY.
HERMAN NAFF.
NJ ]. CORNELL.
JOHN ROGERS.
WILLIE GRAMS.
JOHN TAFOL.
MRS. AUGUST RICHTER.
NED GALLAGHER.
LEE ALVORD.
CONDUCTOR 2. Z. BExLEY.
FIREMAN KNOWLES.
DEN ROGERS.
FREDERICK LATHAM.
FRANK SMITH
CHARLES HESS AND TWO SONS
CHARLES MCAULEY. SR.
L. X. MERRILL
ALBERT TRAUTwINE.
JAMES WIZARD.
HARRY REYNOLDS.
HOMER SMITH.
FRED FITZGERALD.
WILLIAM STBIGER, Kansas City.
FRED VAUGHAN. South Bend. Ind.
Seriously injured;
Malice Weitz, will die.
Jamss Poole.
Fred Prieps. ..Ts
Fred Donnelly and wife, viii die.
John Walton, will die.
FreI~ht Crew Blamed
Responsibility is put upon the crew
of the freight train by officials OF the
road. One of those who arrived al
the scene OF the wreck after the acciJ
dent secured from the crew OF the
freight train the orders under which
IT was running and which clearly
showed the position of the passenger
excursion train and that the freight
had encroached upon the other trains
running time.
The special train was due at Salem
at 9:10 o'clock a. m. and at Plymouth
at 9:20 o'clock a. m. It passed Salem
on time. The time card OF the special
was telegraphed to the freight crew in
the form of train order. and this orr
der, with the signatures of the freight
crew attached. was recovered by the
officials Of the road. Z
The freight crew left the scene early!
but the railroad officials said that they
explained simply that they had forgoti
ten. The collision occurred at Ella
o'clock and the freight should have
reached Salem at $40 o'clock to be
within their orders. a
Many freight cars were also piled up
In a. heap OF wreckage. 1t will take
twelve hours 10 clear the tracks. It
may be several hours before II Is def
nitely known whether the twenty-five
bodies now recovered comprise the en4
tire list Of dead. Surgeons at the scene
are giving attention to the injured, who
are being placed on special train from
Detroit and will be taken there.
Mrs. Minnie Densmore, OF Ionia, q
passenger on the wrecked train. In de-
scrtbing the horror says: H
. my husband and myself were In
the sixth coach, right behind the first
five in which the greatest loss of life
occurred. There was a terrible crash
and the train came to q sudden stop;
throwing us out of our seats. Instanti
ly our car was filled with terror strick3
en- people, trying to fight their way OUT
No one knew just what had happened,
but every occupant Of the car seemed
to feel instincttvely that there had
been q tragedy and were filed with
fear. Their clothes were torn and they
inflicted severe bruises on one another
in mad efforts to get to the ground!
That was before they realized our car
was not damaged and that they were
not hurt in any manner themselvesI
When we got out of the coach, we saw
the engine and the first FIVE cars piled
up beside the tracks, while shriexs OF
pain and cries for mercy Allied the air.
The first Ave cars were well filed with
naonla and II Ia In these that the most