The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-22
Two Coaches Crowded With Passengers Meet With
 Frightfu| Results
MOTORMEN FAIL ID SEE
 THE SIGNALS IN TIME
Wreck Occurs While Cars Are Run- ming at High Speed and One of Them Is Crowded to the
 Steps With People

Bluffton, Ind, September 21-Forty- two persons were killed in an inter- urban trolley wreck between here and Fort Wayne about noon today. No one has offered clear explanation of the cause of the wreck. At 11:56, if the car left on schedule, regular car left Bluffton for Fort Wayne. At practical 1y the same hour a single motor car left sengers for the Fort Wayne county fair
 At Kingsland, IS miles south of Fort Wayne, the cars met.
 Those in the accident can tell little of what occurred. In the regular To- cal there were 55 to 60 passengers. Of these few escaped death or injury.
 The dead:
 W. E. Bowman, Bluffton; A. D. Hyde, Pennvilles S. E. Stuckel, Vera Cruz; William S. Beers, Bluffton; Lloyd Brown, Bluffton; L. c. Justus, Bluffton, general manager Biuffton, Geneva and Celina Traction line; s. H. Robinson. Bluffton; H. D. Cook, Bluffton; Ernest Grouse, Bluffton; Silas Thomas, Warren Ralph Walser, Bluffton; w. D. Bur gan, Bluffton; Oscar Trimmer, Bluffton 1: Miss Pearl Sayler Bluffton; R. F. Folk, Washington, Ind; Jacob Swartz, Union- dale; F., B. Tamm, Warren, Ind; John w. Tribolet, Bluffton; Mrs. Garnett Maxwell, Garrett, Ind; Charles Reber, Uniondale; Blanche Arch bold, Ossian Thomas Gordon, Bluffton; Frank King and wife, Warren; son of Lloyd Brown, Bluffton, about IS years old; Harold Nelson Bluffton Joseph Edens. Hart ford City; John Johnson, Markle; Jesse Hoffman, Marion; Dr. s. E. Thompson, Ann Arbor. Mich. George Semthurst, Warren; Mrs. Hiram Folk. Bluffepn; i; Mrs. Myrtle Harley, daughter of Mrs Folk; Mary Daugherty, Bluffton Ben Cramer, Frankfort; Daniel Debach, Pe- troleum, Ind; J. B. Swarts, Bluffton; Joseph Sawyer, Bluffton; John Smith and wife, Montpelier; John Reed. Bat tery E, Fifth artillery. New York.
 Injured: E. A. Parkhurst, Bluffton broken spine and head wounds; Fred W. Jones, banker, both legs crushed ; O. M. Brown, Warren, both legs brok- en; John Eichenberger, Berne, legs broken and internally injured; Marga- ret Tribolet, Bluffton, concussion of th e brain and internally injured; Mrs w. D. Gurgan, Bluffton, broken leg and num- erous body wounds; B. T. Corkwell Fort Wayne, motorman, scalp wounds
 Accident on Curve
 The northbound car was in charge of Motorman c. vandfne and Conductor F. A. Spiller. The southbound car was in charge of Motorman Benjamin CorkwelI and Daniel Wilson.
 The accident occurred on curve, screened by dense woods. Bearing down from the north came the empty passen- ger car. Speeding toward Fort Wayne was the coach filled with men and wo- men bent on merrymaking of day or two at the Allen county fair
 The accident probably occurred about a half-hour after noon. The southbound car. like a giant missile, ploughed its way through the traffic-packed coach coming sp the opposite direction. It's heavier frame like a keen knife cut a pathway half the length of the loaded car.
 It cut off seats an inch above the floor and smashed and packed in one ghastly mass the whole interior of the car, seats, overhead baskets, lighting fixtures, lug gage and the bodies of two score passen- gers.
 In the northbound car there were only a few persons capable of giving aid to the dying, but they did what they could. From the fields came farmers who had either witnessed the accident or had been summoned by neighbors. Word was fash ed by telephone to Bluffton and a spec ial car loaded with all the physicians available rushed to the scope. By night fall all the dead and injured had been re- moved The wrecked cars were lying be- side the ,right-of-way, a bonfire illumin- ating the spot of one of the greatest electric traction wrecks in the history of the country.
 Town in Mourning
 Around each of the two Bluffton under taking establishments tonight there Is . crowd of mourners. Ropes keep back the idly curious from the rooms where lie the torn bodies The schools and the local courts will be closed for the rest of the week. No official of the Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley Traction line tonight would venture an opinion as to who was to blame for the accident
 One heroic act was that performed by Conductor Spfller of the northbound car. Though injured severely, he staggered down the track and Jagged a limited train only a short distance away
 John R. Boyd of Marion Ind, was probably the only passenger aboard the ill-fated local who escaped without bruises from the wreck.
 'I decided to avoid the crush in the crowded car" said he, land got down on the steps. After we had passed Kingsland and were rounding curve, saw the limited bearing down on us about 200 yards away at terrific speed We were going about 10 miles an hour Our car suddenly gave lunge forward. Our speed increased to fully 25 miles an hour almost in a moment. The limited, bearing down on us at 40 miles an hour. was not 20 feet away. I saw. what was coming and jumped.
 '"rhere was splintering crash and a Aull grinding The big local car seemed 10 climb on the trailer and heavier load cd car and from its pilot to within six feet of the rear swept over the coach, taking it almost clean. That anything alive could have survived that terrible sweep of splintered and twisted steea Is c miracle.
 Shrieks and GrOans M