The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-03

afternoon about A o'clock. His in
juries were frightful. and his rescue
caught in the wreckage. and the
| flames were almost upon him when
two of the rescuers seized his body
and twisted it until his leg was torn
off, and staggered away with his
mangled body just in time to escape
the fire themselves.
Link had been in the employ of the
Rock Island for the past 20 years. He
was resident of Topeka, living at
1889 Pine street. and leaves a wife,
two sons and two daughters. He was
a sergeant in the Twenty-third Kansas
volunteers, and was a member of the
knights of Pythias and the Shiloh
Baptist church.
| Rerlal Bara, one of the Mexicans
brought to the hospital, was so badly
injured that he may die. Both his
legs were crushed, and it was neces-
sary to amputate his right leg last
night. His head is badly bruised
SO far twenty-one bodies, or parts
| of twenty-one bodies, hare been taken
| from the debris. Twelve bodies or
| what remained of them were found
| among the ashes and the wreckage
yesterday afternoon in addition to the
| nine taken out in the morning. 1t
was impossible to determine the sex
On one body, apparently that of a
woman, as several locks of long hair
was burned off, would have lain, was
found cross of woven bead work
| The beads were blackened by fire and
the remains of a hand were found
| over the beads. The remains consist
! ed of a finger bone and some bones of
! the hand The beads were hanging
about the collar bone. Part of the
arm was unburned although the flesh
had dropped off and been consumed.
Eight of the charred bodies were
headless. In others some of the limbs
were only charred. The scorched |
flesh was still clinging to the bones |
In some cases the arms were entirely |
consumed, and the legs remain un-
can be identified, were placed on the |
ground along the track and were !
taken yesterday afternoon to Alma in |
freight car where they were used by |
the coroner's jury this morning. These |
bodies Will probably be inferred at
Alma.
Horrifying Details.
Tales of a horrifying character of
incidents in connection with the wreck
are told on every hand. An unknown
man from Mitchell, Iowa, was caught
by the arms and held fast in the
wreckage.
to either rescue him or kill him. He
feared that he would die at any mo-
ment from the effects of the awful
heat which was then cooking the flesh
On his body. He gave his name and
address to Engineer Jacob Slater of
No. %, who was among those trying
to rescue him. The efforts of the
crowd were vain. however, for just
when they seemed to be on the point
of releasing him arms, he cried:
"Oh. God, this is unbearable and
leaped backward into the flames Not
another sound was heard from the
place where he disappeared in the
fiery furnace.
- Engineer Slater has forgotten the
name. but remembers that the ad-
dress was Mitchell. Iowa.
Another victim was pinned down
between two seats. The flames were
within ten feet of him when he was
found by the rescuing party. Work
to free him was at once begun and
after much difficulty he was being
dragged outside when by the burning
in two of a beam, a heavy mass of
Vreckage was precipitated upon him,
catching his legs at the knees and
crushing him. He died in a few min
utes. The rescuing party then left
him. going to another part of the
shrieks and groans and pleadnigs for
help BY this time the flames were
beyond control and most of the res
cued had been taken out.
c. A. Thompson's Story.
c. A Thompson, a six foot giant, who
weighs about two hundred and fifty
pounds, told a graphic story of the
wreck last night in his room at the
Midland hotel, Kansas City, Mo. He
was on No 80 and got out of the wreck
with sprained back, a stiff neck and
a cut on his forehead.
Mr.. Thompson is the man who, by his
presence of mind and timely exerted
authority over a crowd of men who
were wild with excitement succeeded
in saving from destruction four of the |
five Pullman sleepers on No. 29, the ]
westbound train. He is a merchant and l
stock raiser of Mullenville, Kan. His i
story of the wreck is best told in his Z
own language He said:
Il was coming to Kansas City to {
meet my younger brother. G. c. s
of S. Louis, who is occupy i
ing my room with me now. 1 had an {
upper berth in the rear Pullman on the
eastbound train and had been asleep \
nearly all night. Just before o'clock I
was disturbed by some little noise in '
the car and was wide awake when 1 t
noticed the first intimation tsAt some /
thing was Wrong-the sudden applica- t
ton of the airbrakes. l think it must
have been nearly two minutes later that
the crash came and that mucl: longer
before 1 regained consciousness from
being thrown against the side of the
berth. In the excitement did not re- {
alize that was hurt and hurried from
the car, attracted by the screams of the
dead and dying.
The sight that met my gaze was the
most horrible that mind can imagine. /
The train on which / rode was moving
rapidly when the impact came and was g
not so badly damaged as &
the other one. which had come almost c
to a stop. When 1 climbed on an en-
bankment at the side of the track 1 q
saw the whole front end of the train I
in flames. The engine was a mass of /
smoking, steaming scrap iron. From |
the demolished smoker and chair car
came a chorus of groans and screams /
such as one can only imagine as COM i
ing up from the very depths of hell. G
The smoker was full of Mexicans; /
hardly one OF them could speak or un- 6
derstand a word of English.
Il could see them pinned down under
the overturned car in every conceiva-