The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-03-22
GRUEsOME SCENES
. IN RAILROAD WRECK
Scores of Victims Mangled
and Torn Beyond
Recognition
CORONER BREAKS BACK
GOING TO CATASTROPHE
Date of Inquest Indefinitely Post
poned as Result--Death List
Now Forty and Grow
ing.

MARSHALLTOwN. la. March %
With Coroner f.. w. Jay dying from
a broken back, received while he was
rushing to scene OF the catastrophe,
1t is uncertain to-day when the in
, quest into yesterdays Rock Island
wreck. near Marshalltown, will be-
gin. The exact NUMBER OF dead is not
yet known. Forty bodies have been
identified. and Ii is believed Ave others
are dead. In addition, nearly dozen
OF the forty injured persons will die.
The cause of the wreck has not yet
been definitely established. The. off,
Gals on the scene can only account
for the deraiiment in this way; The
train was a combination of the Chi
cago-Twin City Express and a St
Louis train bound for Minneapolis.
which were consolidated at Marshall
town and run as a double header."
As there was no turn table. Ii was
necessary for the two engines to be
coupled at the end of the train with
their tenders ahead. and to pull the
coaches, backing up.
1t Ia supposed this unsafe method
OF running the trains caused the ten
der of the first locomotive To leave
the track. The tender plunged into
the bank and stuck there. and bot
into the cut.
Behind the locomotives were Pull
man sleeper. a light smoker and day
coach and ten other coaches. The
weight behind the smoker day coach
smashed both cars and TANNED them
against the rear of the Pullman.
Practically all OF the fatalities and in
1uries occurred in these two cars. both
OF which We're completely destroyed.
Victims Terribly Mangled.
The passengers were terribly man
gled, One mans head was cut oft
cleaniy above the eyes. another's
body was cut in two. A third man
was driven head first into a window.
The glass WAS broken. and was cut
ting him where his head rested on
the sill. He pleaded with survivors
70 xii, him, and one Of them broke the
glass under his cheek. His lower Jaw.
cut cleanis away, fell to the ground.
and the man died.
Miss May Hoffman. OF Waterloo.
Iowa. adjudged the most beautiful
woman in Iowa" In a recent beauty
contest, was In the day coach. She
was killed, her body being crushed
into shapeIess mass,
ta;ta-sF0Fh-e IF resrtse was supervised
by Hr. John ftevry, of Chicago. pas
AtAEEI- VINO @1AA DhulA IL t1S
organized the survivors and helped
( drag the dead and injured from the
wreck. and laid them in long rows in
adjoining field. DIR. Devry had a
small amount OF fire aid material and
he took charge of the injured. When
Coroner Jay and nurses reached Mar
shalltown three hours after the wreck
the coroner started in an ambulance
for the scene. AS the ambulance Was
whirIing around corner. DIR. Jay was
thrown upon his bacfi. He was pick
ed up unconscious, his back broken
II Is said he cannot recover.
Every undertaking establishment
here ia morgue, the hospitals are
running over with the injured. and in
coming trains bring hundreds of people
searching for loved ones
The State board Of railroad commits
sionsrs viii make a complete investiga-
ton.
Nurses from Des Moines hospitals
were brought here on a special train
to-day to attend the injured. of whom
many are being cared for in private
homes.