Omaha daily bee., 1907-01-21
TWENTY-FIVE BODIES FOUND
Fatalities in Wreck at landlord, Ind, Will
Probably Exceed Thirty.
ENTIRE TRAIN BLOWN FROM TRACK
Demolished Engine IL Hurled Fifty
Feet by Force of Explosion of
Five Hundred Kegs of
Powder.

passenger train No. on the Cleveland,
Cincinnati 4 St Louis (Big FourO which
was destroyed by the explosion of a car
load of powder as it passed freight train
at Sanford, nine miles west of here, last
night. The number of injured will reach
at least thirty-ive.
The entire train was blown from the
track, the coaches demolished, the engine
hurled fifty feet The passengers either
were blown to pieces. cremated or rescued
in more or less injured condition.
The injured, some Of whom are fatally
hurt, are at the hospitals in Terre Haute
and Paris, ILL.,, and at Sanford. The full
extent Of the disaster was revealed at day
light, but the death list will not be COM
plete until workmen have finished clearing
the debris
List of the victims.
Following is a list of the dead and in
jured, so far as known tonight:
Identified dead:
WILLIAM THOMPSON, SANFORD, Ind.
WILLIAM DAVIS Vermllion, III.
]. w. SUTHERLAND, Paris, III.
JOHN FRANKLIN, AshmUre. Ill.
A. d. HECTOR, Elbridge, Ill.
CHARLES GosNELL, Paris, III.
CLAUDE STEELE, Sandford, Ind.
A. A. HICKS. Sandford Ind
DIR. HASLETT, Grand View, III.
FFRANK ! FIELDbR' LEI Findlay, o.; T..
II. BLAKELEY, Findlay, o.
JOHN A. BOWEN, NATION. ILL.,
Missing and believed to have been burned
to death:
Mrs. Bud Wolfe, sandford, Ind.
Two daughters of Mrs. Wolfe, aged 8 and
<. Kuykendall, thought to be a Van
dalia fireman.
Body, Of aged women. burned beyond
Four charred bodies, not identified
Injured at st. Anthony's hospital. Terre
Haute:
Keith Bryan. Salem, o.
Miss Cora Buckley Terre Haute.
L. p. Rose, engineer maintenance OF way
Big Four, Mattoon, Ill.
Mrs. L. F. Rose, Mattoon, III.
Miss Bessie Southcott, Shelbyville, Ill.
Miss Anna Cummins, Terre Haute.
Miss Frances Jones, Terre Haute.
Injured in hospital at Paris, III.
Alvin Dane, Terre Haute, Ind; will re-
Il. s. wisherd, Franklin Ind; will re-
Harry Jared, fireman of No. g. Mattoon,
Ill; perhaps fatally.
| Louis Prince, Vermilion, Ill.
Ed Welch, Nation, ILL.,; engineer No. g.
George Richards' MslnI,l,ns Memphis, Tenn. H,T
Joseph Hendricks, Mattoon.. ILL.,
| Frank Thomas, Mattoon, ILL.,
Charles Boggies. Westvine Ill; may die
Perry Duck, Sanford. Ind.
win Davis. vermilion, III; may die.
H. A. Apperson, Westfeld, Ill.
]. o. LawIer, Terre Haute. Ind. may dis
Lindsey Eddington, Vermilion, H.. may
Charles A. Wiley, Kansas Ill.; may die
| T. c. Answorth. Paris, Ill.
Oscar Gilbert Dudley.
| s. c. sisk. Parts, Ill
| Fred Vermillion, Sanford, III.
Harry Progden. Vermilion, Ill.
Charles Root, Mattoon, Ill
| Left at Sanford:
p o. Rhodes. Sandford. Ind.
Harry Shickel, Terre Haute, Ind.
Probable Cause of Explosion.
| According to trainmen of the freight the
| powder was exploded by the concussior
made by the passenger train, which was
slowing down for the station at Sanford
Another theory is that gas escaping from
an oil pipe line near by entered the powder
car and a spark from the passing engine
ignited the gas. Others express the belief
that the disaster was due to a tramp ol
intoxicated man firing a shot into the car.
Cars were smashed to pieces by the force
OF the explosion. Huge masses of iror
were found hundreds Of feet from the track
The tank of the passenger engine was
hurled nearly 100 feet, landing in a grave
road. Two passenger coaches and one bag
gage coach were consumed by fire.
of powder was demolished. sandford wa,
badly shocked. Windows were shattered
dishes and furniture broken and doors tori
from their hinges The night was darl
and heavy rains had rendered the streets
OF Sandford almost impossible. As tn,
passenger engine went by the powder cal
standing on an adjoining track the ex
plosion came without warning. The entir,
train was blown from, the tracks anC
crashed into the mud a mere mass of de
bris, pinnng under II forty human beings
Fire broke out and before the eyes o.
citizens and rescuers. who rushed to tn,
rescue, many burned to death before aiC
could be rendered them.
In the darkness by the light OF the burn
ing coaches the people OF Sanford did thei
best for the stricken. Cries of the inJure,
and the cracking of the flames togethe
with the odor of burning flesh greeted tn
rescuers who worked frantically. bu
soon were forced back by the terrible heat
Among the first rescued was L. f. Ros
OF Mattoon, ILL.,, engineer OF maintenance
of way of the Big -Four railway. His lei
was broken and he was severely bruised
He was carried TO the home of c. f
Marrs. 200 feet away. Soon Mrs Rose wa
brought in painfully bruised, but assiste,
IN the care OF ner nusDdnd until sne col
lapsed Others were rescued as the flame
advanced. AS men threw their strength L
the work of disentangling the human form
from the wreckage the women OF Sandfor
cared for the injured
Fire Drives Rescuers Away.
When the fire drove the rescuers ava,
they waited till the fire died down an,
then started to drag out the charret
bodies. Men searched nearby fields an,
found pieces Of human flesh and wearing
apparel
There was no efficient water supply 4
night the flames and the bitter cold adde,
to the suffering. Four badly mutilatet
bodies were found in the woods severa
hundred feet from the tracks. One thous
and feet of the track was torn up and
great hole shows where the powder ca
stood. This car was being hauled from
Concord Junction, Mass. TO East Alton, Ill
and contained 500 kegs OF powder.
Engineer Welch and Fireman Jared o
Mattoon, III, who were in charge of tn
passenger engine, were hurled, nearly
hundred feet through the air and fell in
muddy field.
-Four OF the injured were able to leav
the hospital today. None died here.
Frank Fielder OF Findlay, o.. an EN-
ploye of the Ohio OIL Co. was among tn