The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1907-07-25
80 PEOPLE DEAD AND
10 OTHERS ARE HURT
Freight ard Excursion Trains Come
Together.
SPEEDING FIFTY MILES AN HOUR.
Disaster on the Pere Marquette Rail-
road Near Detroit. Mich, Due to
Coal Train Disregarding Orders TO
Wait for Excursion Train, Which
Had the Right of Way.

Salem, Mich. tSpecial) .-Ih1rSS
people are dead and more than 20
injured, many OF them seriously. as
the result OF a head-on collision be-
tween this village and Plymouth.
when a Pere Marquette excursion
train, bound from Ionia to Detroit.
crashed into a westbound freight in
a cut located at a sharp curve OF
the Pere Marquette Railroad, about
q mile east of Salem.
The passenger train of IL cars,
carrying the Pere Marquette shop
employees of Ionia and their families
to the Michigan metropolis for their
annual excursion was running at high
speed, probably so miles an hour,
down a steep grade. 1t struck the
lighter locomotive of the freight
train with such terrific force as to
turn the freight engine completely
around.
The wrecked locomotives lay side
by side both headed eastward. Only
a few of the freight trains cars were
smashed. and it was only a few
hours work to remove all traces of
them from the scene. But behind
the two wrecked locomotives six cars
of the passenger train lay piled in
q hopeless wreck. Four of the pas
senger coaches remained on the track
unchanged and were used to con-
vey the dead and injured to IOnia,
one coach was entirely unchanged,
with only its forward trucks off the
rails. These were the rear FIVE cars.
The two coaches next ahead Of these
were telescoped. The next car for
ward stood almost on end after the
wreck, it's forward end resting on
the roadbed and the rear end high
In the air upon the two telescoped
coaches that had been following It.
Two coaches were thrown cross
wise of the track, and lay suspend
ed from bank to bank of the cut,
five or six feet above the rails. OF
the baggage car not enough remain
ed to show where it had been tossed.
Portions of the baggage car and of
the locomotive tenders and freight
cars were piled in an indescribable
mass of debris upon the top of the
10-foot high embankment
James Boyle, a farmer, was work
ing In a field probably 400 feet away
from the track when the two trains
approached from opposite directions.
The local freight was moving slowly
up the heavy grade, and had just
reached the curve, when the pass
enger train appeared running at high
speed. Farmer Boyle saw the pass
enger engineer shut off steam and
apply air brakes, and saw the crews
of both engines jump just before the
crash. He ran to the tracks, where
he found the uninjured passengers
FROM the rear coaches running for
ward and Joined with them in pull
ing out the injured. who could DC
seen on every hand. The dead were
placed in a row alongside the track,
and the injured were made as cont
Portable as possible uHtil the arrival
of wreck trains from Saginaw, De-
troit and Grand Rapids made it inn
possible to send them to Ionia and
Detroit. The 2S dead bodies first
taken from the wreck we're shipped
to Ionia and the injured were placed
on two trains, one of which headed
for Detroit and the other for Ionia.
There were about 80 injured PEG
the body of Ed Corwan, the heal
brakeman of the passenger train,
was taken out of the wreck. Fire
man Knowles died on the relief train
on route TO Detroit. bringing the
list of dead to 80, with a possibility
that more bodies might be found in
the wreckage and that several Of the
injured may die.
The responsibility is put squarely
up to the crew of the freight train
by officials of the road. Officials who
arrived at the scene Of the wreck
soon after the accident, secured FROM
the crew of the freight the orders
under which it was running and
which clearly showed the position OF
the passenger excursion train, and
that the freight had encroached up
on the other trains running time.