River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-03-24
TWO MORE TERRIBLE RAILROAD DISASTERS
WINNIPEG TRAIN is WRECKED
WHEN % MILES OUT FROM
MINNEAPOLIS.
SECOND WRECK IN TWO MONTHS
Michaei n. Conley, ST. Paul, Dead,
After HeroicaIly Saving
Charge.-SeVen Others
Are Injured.

Mlnneapolls.-One man was instant.
~ Killed and seven persons were in
jured when the Winnipeg Limited Of
the Great Northern railroad. left the
tracks, % miles west of Minneanolis
and went into the ditch dragging with
it four cars.
Fire which started in the overturned
mail car threatened to spread, and but
for the heroic action of passengers
who formed themselves into a bucket
brigade, the whole train would have
been consumed.
The dead:
Michael H. Conley, aged 40 years.
single, st. Paul, engineer
The injured;
Mrs. B. Bennett, Drake, N. D., Pull.
man passenger, back severely wrench
ed.
Charles Weidman, ST. Paul, travel
ing salesman, side injured.
w. Wilton White, shoe salesman,
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Right hand
badly cut, two arteries severed, suf-
fered from loss of blood.
Carl Olson, mail clerk, st. Paul,
back sprained, shoulder wrenched and
leg bruised.
Melvin Finton, mail clerk, st. Paul.
Back sprained and shoulder bruised,
possible internal injuries.
Allan Randolph, Kansas City, Mo-,
farmer, negro knee hurt.
Joseph J. Ortman, st. Paul, fireman,
back wrenched.
Travelling al the rate of 80 miles an
hour, the train, which left Minneapolis
on time at $3.50 p. M, leaped the rails
at $50, one mile beyond the little
station of Rogers, Mimi, and about Is
miles east of Monticello, where less
than two months ago, similar wreck
occurred on the same road.
A defective rail- or an unexpected
lurch of the engine are put down as
the only possible cause for the wreck
which endangered the lives of 200 pas
sengers, bound for Winnipeg or points
this side. Engine, tender and mail
coach landed at the bottom of a 15-
foot entertainment, the mail coach
catching fire and being entirely con-
Sumed
The baggage car, smoker and day
coach directly behind the mail car
left the tracks, but remained on top Of
the embankment and were saved only
by the work of the passengers.
Two Pullman cars which brought up
the rear of the train were pushed out
of range of the burning cars by the
willing hands of the passengers, in
Guiding many women.
The overturned tender emptied the
contents of the coal bunker and the
water tank into a pool beside the en-
bankment and from this supply of
liquid the passengers carried water in
bucketfuls to save the train from de-
struction by fire.
Flames which started from the over
turned stove in the mail coach, spread
Immediately to the entire length of
that car, surrounding it with smoke.
A relief train sent out from Mime
apolis at $3.50 p. m. brought the pas
sengers and crew back to the Twin
Cities.
The small loss of life is attributed
directly to the bravery of the engineer,
Michael H. Conley, of st. Paul. who he
roically stuck to his post and applied
the air to the brakes, thereby holding
the rest of the train to the tracks.
Joseph ]. Ortman, the fireman, was
on the upper side Of the cab and was
thrown clear of the locomotive. He
was rendered unconscious, but when
picked up was found to be otherwise
uninjured, except for slight sprain of
the back.
Vonley, the engineer, was to have
been married in one month. Ortman
says that Conley didn't say word as
the locomotive with comparative SLOW
ness started to topple. He stuck to his
seat grimly with his hand on the lever
operating the air and when the en-
CINE fell sideways to the bottom of the
ditch, he was crushed between the
boiler head and the side of the cab.