The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-09-29

to send a relief train, with doctors and
nurses to the scene. The railroad
company established q field telegraph
office at once and tapped the wire to
send message Of the wreck. The oper-
ator remained in the snowstorm all
day working by the side Of q bonfire
to send messages. Several Of the pas
sengers telephoned to Billings, but
after the telephone wires are
said to have been injured by the
storm.
Wreckage Saved from Fire.
The fact that the wreckage did not
catch fire is due to the efforts of one
of the injured. A stove in the smok-
ing car had toppled over and there
was danger of a fire, but this man.
with n Of his legs broken, and bleed
ing from bruises and cuts had sui
fcient@ presence of mind to extinguish
the fire and prevent a co~nfagration.
Which OF the injured he was is I'M
&SH$YSAS8NE Ws3@& 9&S5A N#A.
known.
Only a few minutes interviewed be-
tween the time of the accident and
the arrival Of Pullman a passengers
to assist in extracting the dead and
injured from the ruins. Many Of the
fatally injured had not vet died, but
with the exception Of r. y. Wckers
and others brought to Billings, the
dead expired soon after being taken
from the ruins, II not instantly killed.
A Terrible Sight.
The sight was appalling.
The end Of the chair car against
which SO many bodies had been
crushed was besmattered with blood.
flesh and bones. Scattered over the
wreckage and among it were frag-
ments Of human bodies. These were
gathered together in sheets and blank
cts, taken from the w%reckage, and not
infrequently the arm Of one man was
placed with the body Of another, while
the entire remains of some bodies may
never be recovered.
Then commenced the work Of identi
fcation, which was carried on simulta
neously with that Of digging the vic
tins out Of the debris. The cries o.
the injured, mingled with the sobbint
of those widowed or orphaned rost
above the noise Of falling timbers o.
steel as some debris was removed K
reach a victims body.
Work Of Identification.
Y IN many instances the work Of iden
LITIGATION was impossible and three o
the dead have not yet been identified
"A letter by the side of the body,
/ card or some piece Of jewelry serve'
!, to tell who most Of the victims were
/ IN the case Of John Pawlus Of Billings
his body was unacceptable, but wa
identified by the mileage book foun
by the conductor. On his person |
i said to have been a sum Of money co
i lected the day before in Columbus,
J. the neighborhood OF $1,000. The dea
J were piled in the baggage car
J. while the injured were taken to th
/ dining car to receive medical after
! ton.
It was not until the special arrive
: from Billings that all Of the dead e.
! cept three were identified.
Arrival Of the Relief Train.
e The relief party and the passenger
in the Pullman cars devoted their a
e tention to the injured, ignoring IL
dead, except as it "a necessary
remove htem from the debris. VIII
the physicians arrived on the reli
d train the injuries of the victims WEI
ID temporarily dressed and they we
le transferred to the relief train to
q brought back to the hospital in Bi
e icgs. The train returned as soon
e possible, but the people, with the e
ception of a few remained to asst
in the work of recovering any bodi
that might be in the wreck. Nothil
st was left undone to make the injur'
e as comfortable as possible.
re Relief Sent from Billings.
Of News of the wreck was received
e, Billings first in a message to the ra
N road officials here asking that a reli
re train be made up at nee and sent
le the scene of the accident. DIR. w;
ed kins, the company's physician, his {
Is sistant DIR. BalsOm and his nurse MI
Mcdonald were Immediately summc
re ed and with several we'll known ci
ne zens went to the scene of the accide
in. on the relief special. There was &C
I'M siderable delay in the dispatch of t
X. special, however, 1t being kept he
OF for more than an hour after It "
made up awaiting orders. The CO
he pany's physician at Park City.
Of Strip at Laurel and DR.. L. NJ. Line
or Columbus were also taken to the see
Dm on the special, being picked up On I
ON way.
ed, The scene. at the wreck when I
led special arrived beggars descripti
of The monster locomotives lay on Z
side of the switch in the ditch. On
track stood the chair car and the p