The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1907-01-01
l:IFTY-THREE ARE DEAD
FEARFUL LOSS OF LIFE IN BAL.
TlMoRE AND OHIO DISASTER
NEAR WASHINGTON.
MORE THAN HALF HUNDRED INJURED
CROWDED COACHES CRUSHED TO
PIECES BY TERRIBLE FORCE
OF THE COLLISION.

~
washington, Jan. 1.-The list of
dead as the result of the appalling
wreck at Terra Gotta, on the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad, has reached
ffty-three. Inquiry at the various
hospitals of the city where the in.
jured have been taken shows a num-
Der of persons whose condition is
regarded as hopeless The injured
number over fifty, nearly if not
quite all of whom will recover. The
wreck was caused by an engine draw.
ing eight empty cars running. into 10
cal No. &c, known as the Frederick
express, just as the passenger train
had pulled out from the station bound
for this city. Engineer Hildebrand,
who was in charge of the dead"
train and who was arrested shortly
after the disaster, declared that on
account of the dense fog he was I'm.
able to distinguish the signal light at
the Takoma Park block tation. Tower
Operator Phillips declares that the
danger signal was In its proper place
and that Engineer Hildebrand's train
passed the tower station going at
speed of from fifty to sixty miles an
hour. Among the dead are: Colonel
Robert Anderson, Newark, O.; Dr. r.
Oliver Belt, Washington, chief surgeon
of the Episcopal Eye, Fear and Throat
hospital and surgeon for Baltimore
and Ohio railroad; Professor T. J.
King, Kensington, Md, organist at
and statistician of United States naval
observatory, and Norman Rogers,
thirty years old, Marion, Ind, local
traffic manager for the Central Union
Telephone company.
Coaches Torn to Pieces.
Train No. &C was due in Washington
at $3.50. 1t was crowded, having fully
200 persons aboard, and was closely
followed by the train of empties, run
ming as an extra freight.
The fog was very thick and the
operator and the railroad authorities
claim the signal was set against the
extra freight at Takoma. The engi-
neer claims that owing to the fog he
was not certain where he was and
did not see the signal at Takoma
There is down grade all the way
into Washington and the empty train
OF
reached Terra Gotta station just as the
local train was about to pull out.
The train of empties crashed into
the rear coach and plowed its way
through the coach, splitting it apart as
If it had been paper. One side of the
car toppled to one side of the track
and the other fell on the other side.
The train plowed it's way through
the second coach, piling the seats and
passengers in mass at the forward
end. Six or eight people were killed
in this car and dozen were injured.
After the engine struck the rear
coach and split it open the people in it
dropped to the track on either side
and some in the middle. They were
carried along by the tremendous force
of the train and their bodies were
dragged along the track. When the
train stopped and after the work of
rescue had begun five dead people
were found lying on the ballast be-
tween the tracks under the third coach
from the engine. They had been car.
ried for an eighth of a mile under
meath this coach.
Villagers Work HeroicaIIy.
The scene after the accident was
sickening. Bodies had been hurled
on every side and it was fully six
hours before all the dead had been
collected and placed on the special
train to be brought to this city 1t
was only a few minutes after the col
lision until nearly all the residents Of
Terra Gotta, sparsely settled village,
had gathered at the scene of the dis
aster and began the work of remov-
ing the dead and rescuing the injured
from beneath the masses of debris.
The workers labored under great diff.
culties, for many of the injured were
wedged beneath the wreckage and
numbers of them died before they
could be rescued. The many acts of
heroism and self-sacrifice that were
performed will never be known
A detachment of forty policemen
was sent from Washington and nearly
fifty physicians from this city and the
suburbs responded to general call,
but fully three-quarters of an hour had
elapsed before the doctors were on
hand to relieve the injured.
For more than three hours after the
fatal crash occurred the police and
citizens were still taking bodies from
under the great pile of wreckage,
which was strewn for fully quarter
Of mile along the track. AS the
injured were taken from under the
debris and while the physicians were
giving them all the relief possible
Catholic priests were administering
the last rites to many Of the dying.
Women and children joined In the
work and everything possible was
done to relieve the sufferings Of the
injured.
The officials of the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad have begun an investiga-
ton to determine the cause of the
catastrophe.