The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-01-21
2 KILLED.;
35 INJURED;
BY .EXPL PL0SI0N
ra
Car Load of Powder EX-
plOdeS as Train Pass
eS Station.
NOT A PASSENGER
ESCAPED INJURY
Engine Was Hurled Fifty. Feet
and Cars Were Blown to
Pieces - charred and
Mutilated Bodies
Covered the
Ground.

TERRE HAUTE, IND. January 90.
twenty-five charred, broken. mutilated
bodies were taken from the shoulder
ing ruins OF tho accommodation passen-
ger train on the Cleveland Cincinnati
Chicago and st. Louis tBIg Four) Rail-
road, following ,s destruction last night
by the explosion OF n carload OF pow
der as 1t passed a freight train at
Sanford, Ind. five miles west OF Terre
Haute. Tho number OF injured will total
at least ttirty-fve.
The cause OF the disaster has not
been fully explained, but several theories
are advanced. The result was terrible.
The shock was fel, for thirty miles, many
believing 1t 10 be an earthquake
The entire train. including the loco
motive, was blown from the track, the
coaches were demolished, the engine was
hurled nifty fee, and the passengers We're
either blown to pieces. consumed by
fire or rescued In an injured condition.
Some of the thirty-ave injured viii die.
The most severely Fart are in hospitals
at Terre Haute and at Paris, Ill Several
others are being cared for at Sanford.
The full extent of the disaster was re-
vealed at daylight. but the death list
viii not be complete until workmen have
cleared the debris away and the injured
are out OF danger.
Cause of Wreck.
According to traininen of the wrecked
train the explosion OF powder was caus-
ed by the conclusion OF the passenger
train which was slowing down for sand
ford
Another theory was that gas escaping
from an oil pipe line entered tile powdr
car standing by the pipe, and that q spark
from an Oil pipe line entered the po"uer
gas.
The belief vas expressed by one or two
persons that the disaster was due 10 the
act of a tramp or some one who may
: 31aye fired n shot into the car. Eight
<reiyh, cars were blown TO pieces by the
explosion. Huge masses OF iron We're
found hundreds OF feet from the track.
The tank OF the passenger locomotive was
hurled hundred feet
Tho wrecklng train and eight freight
cars were consumed by fire, which broke
out in the wreckage. The other cars
were pulled out of danger Not oniid-
ing In Sandford escaped damage. WINDOWS
were shattered. dishes and furniture
the hinges
Awful Explosion.
The accommodation passenger train was
running from Indianapolis TO Mattoon,
ILL.,
II was a dark night, and heavy rams
had converted the streets and tracks at
sanford into pond. The residents We're
going to bed, and lights in many of the
houses had been extinguished. when the
freight train drew in on side-track TO
let the passenger 80 by. shortly after
ward the passenger train approached the
station, setting brakes as II approached
the freight train. AS the passenger tra'h
was Just abreast of the powder car, the
contents Of the powder car exploded. The
entire passenger train was blown from
the tracks. and crashed to the earth
tangled mass of wood and. STEEL beneath
which lay forty human beings
Fire broke out In the wreckage. and
before the eyes OF citizens and rescuers,
who rushed from their homes. many
burned to death. Aid could not be rem
dered on account of fire.
Cries of Wounded.
BY the glaring light of the burning
coaches the people OF Sandford did their
best for the wounded. The residents of
the village threw open their homes to
the injured and worked heroicaly all |
night.
Cries of the injured and the cracking
of the fierce flames greeted the ears OF
the rescuers, who worked franticay. but
We're soon forced back by the terrible
heat.
One of the first men taken out was l..
F. Rose. of Nation, engineer Of main-
tenance of way of the Big Four Road.
His leg was broken and he was severely
bruised He was carried to C. p, Marr's
house, Which, although partly destroyed |
by the explosion was converted into an
emergency hospital. Soon Mrs. Rose
was brought in painfully bruised, but she
rallied to assist In the care of her llus-
band until she collapsed from nervous
shock