Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-08-27
FROM EIGHT TO TWELVE DEAD
AND AS MANY INJURED IN REAR
END COLLISION NEAR DURAND,
MICHIGAN TODAY.
CREWS OF THE TWO
TRAINS DODGE BLAME
ONE TRAIN HAD STOPPED FOR
REPAIRS AND FLAGMAN WAS
SENT BACK; FoUR'S ENGINEER
SAID HE WAS NOT WARMED.

| DuId uu, MICH, Aug. 25.-PrODaDly
eight persons were killed and eight
injured, three probably fatally in a
wreck on the Crank Trunk near
Durand last night. Only one body has
been positively identified, that of Mrs.
Alma Woodward, of Montreal, an in
! valid, travelling with nurse and her
son Clifton A. Davis. One of the
| other bodies has been partially identi-
fed as that of the nurse, Miss Swinger
of Bellfeld, North Dakota.
DR.. Fair of Durand, surgeon for the
railroad, asserts that the charred
bones so far recovered represent six
persons. 1t is believed the charred
bodies are those of four women, one
child and one man. Engine No. 4
plowed three quarters of the way
through the sleeping car Nebraska"
the last car in train No. Ia, catching
eighteen persons asleep in the coach.
The fire box of the colliding engine
then dropped out and the death coach
In few minutes was blazing from end
to end. The occupants of the other
coaches escaped with nothing more
serious than severe shaking up
Shortly after leaving Durand some
thing went wrong with No. las engine
and the train stopped for repairs. The
crew of No. IA say flagman was sent
back half mile as soon as their
train stopped, to warn the approach
ing trains. George Wilson of No. 4
says the only warning was torpedo
placed on the track a short distance
behind No. IA.
AS the flames ate their way through,
the splintered timbers of the . coach
the cries of the injured ceased and the
odor of burning flesh deferred the pas
sengers Of the unchanged cars and
the farmers who had hurried from
their homes to assist in the work of
rescue.
How the Wreck Occurred.
When Engineer Mitchell discovered
the air brakes were not working prop |
erly he stopped train No. IA two miles
out of Durand and with his fireman
got under the engine to make repairs.
In the meantime Brakeman G. r. Ora
ham was sent back to place torpedo |
on the track and to flag the expected |
second section. But No. 4Scame rush
ing on at speed of forty miles an J
hour and ripped it's way through the
Pullman car. The shock of the col
lision sent the whole standing train
forward, and Mitchell and his fireman,
under the engine, we're badly hurt.
Graham declares he placed torpedo |
a mile from the rear of No. IA, but
that they paid no attention to it. En-
gineer Spencer Of No. 4 declares he
was almost upon No. IA when he struck
the torpedo and it was too late to |
stop. He damned on the brakes and .
both he and his fireman jumped. Both
were hurt. Spencer insists the tail
light of No. IA were not burning.
The Identified Dead.
Detroit Mich. Aug. 25.-The Jour
nal estimates the number of dead in
the wreck on the Crank Trunk near
Durand as twelve and gives as the list
dead:
WOODWARD, MRS, 226 Stanley
street, Montreal.
GITPIN, MRS. LUCY E., SAB East
Forty-fifth street, Chicago.
THREE UNIDENTIFIED WOMEN.
A SMALL CHILD.
AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN.
FIVE BODIES BELIEVED STILL
IN THE WRECK.
The Injured.
Flint, Mich, Aug. 25.-The following
seriously injured in the Durand wreck,
are at Hurley hospital in this city:
Mitchell, Bert, Battle Creek, en-
gineer train No. IA, critically.
Sheltes, Mrs. F. A., Chicago.
Watt, Arthur, Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada.
Mclean, Mrs. Kate, Chicago.
Dochler, Mrs. Lester, Tavistocock,
Ont. Canada.
The injured in the hospital at
Durand are:
Nelson, George, Battle Greek, fire.
man No. 4, probably will die.
Davis, Clinton A., Montreal, prob
ably fatally scalded.
Steultey, Mrs. NJ, Dubuque, Ia, up
per lip cut and severe bruises.