The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-06-04
LAKE ERIE
RAIL DISASTER
BAD WRECK AT TYNER--MORN
ING PASSENGER TRAIN is
WRECKED-F IREM N
PERRY JOHNSON is
KILLED, 2 OTHERS
INJURED.

A bad wreck occurred 1t Tyner Fri
day morning on The l.. +. & w. when
the south-bound passenger train No.21
due at Tyner at 5:43 a.m.left the track
piling the engine and two cars up the
embankment on both sides and in
juring fatally the fireman, who died
few hours later and less seriously
the engineer and a mail clerk.
The wreck occurred at what Is
known as the Bradley or Tyner cross
ing, about one quarter mile north
OF Tyner The railroad at this place
passes through a cut with ten foot
entertainments on each side. The heavy
rain of Thursday night had washed g
inches of dirt onto the crossing. The
passenger train was about minutes
late and was running at high speed,
which Engineer Harvey Williams OF
| Peru estimated TO be about % miles
an hour The accumulated sand on
| the crossing was not noticed until the
| train was upon it. As soon as the
sand was struck the engine left the
| track and dragging the train after 1t
Flowed along until it struck the high
bank when the engine and two cars
| piled up OH both sides of the track
rhe engine was thrown completely
| upside down on the west side OF the
track and the engine and tender ex-
| tended across the track. The baggage
car which followed the engine was
piled on the east embankment. Both
trucks were dislodged from this car
and the rails and ties beneath were
twisted and broken into a tangled
mass. The third car which was a
combination of mail and passenger,
was also ditched and the wheels buried
into the earth almost completely hid
ing themselves. The cab of the en-
CINE was smashd off and the seats
occupied by the engineer and fireman
were crushed under the cab.
| When the engine struck the en-
bankment both men were hurled from
the cab and thrown beneath the
| wreck. A. Fink of Tyner was the
first man on the scene and he describ-
ed the wreck as being almost totally
hidden by the escaping steam and
smoke. He found the engineer and
fireman lying side by side near the
engine The fireman was scalded from
head 10 foot by water and steam from
the boiler. He was crying and pray
ling piteously Besides the terrible
burns his head and body were bruised
in several places and the throat was
gashed When the engineer sought TO
pull him from beneath the wreckage
ne seized the fireman by an arm.
I Upon pulling the scalded skin came
off laying bare the flesh. The suffer
ing man raised his hand to his brow
al If TO NOPE it when the skin OF
his forehead and scalp were rolled
back on the top OF his head. His con-
dit:on was piteous indeed. The man
was attended by DR.. A. A. Thomp-
son of Tyner. and railroad physi-
clan who was on the train. Both pre-
dicted his end as being near. He died
just before reaching Peru at about
twelve o'clock. whittier he and the
rest of the crew were dispatched.
| The fireman was Perry Johnson
aged % years, was unmarried, well
known and we'll thought OF through
cut railroad circles. The engineer
Harvey Williams, of Peru, was badly
scalded on both arms from the elbow:
down His condition is not serious
Seth Ak, bSggageman received I
sprained back and was badly shaker
up. The conductor in charge of tht
! train was c. Smith of Peru and is wei
known in Plymouth.
Two wreck crews were working or
the wreck but the track was no
:. cleared until Saturday. The ties anC
| rails were destroyed for 800 feet anC
the engine was laying upside dowI
across the track. The Lake Erie. trains
went around the B. & Q. anC
Vandalia via Walkerton and Ply
mouth.