The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-10-05
Orders Disobeyed and
Heavily Loaded Trains
Crash Together.
DEAD AND DYING
IN ONE VAST HEAP
Nearly All Passengers on Both
Cars Are Killed or Injured,
Among Them Three Officers
Of Traction system-Bod-
les Torn Apart and
Blood Covers Wreck.

stnunton, Ill, October 4-Thirty-
even persons were killed and from
hxtecn to twenty-five Injured in u col
lision on the Illinois Traction System,
two miles north OF Staunton late to-doy.
Three of the injured and possibly more
are not expected to survive.
Reports from the wreck UP to the
present time have been difficult to obs
tain, and although some of the state
ments received from there make the
number OF Injured MS high as nifty, 1t is
not believed 1t will run over twenty
6ye. Only three Of the dead have been
Identified as yet, and these are nil
prominent officials of the traction sys-
tenn. They nres j. e. berry, SPRING.
held, land commissioners w. N. Street,
assistant truinmnster Mt Stnunton; ID.
v. Black, assistant superintendent OF
motive power, Springfield.
.she collision occurred between a To-
cal train northbound. and an excursion
train headed toward ST. Louis and
loaded with passengers on their way
10 view the parade of the Yelled Pro-
phets at ST. Louis. The accident, &C
cording to present information. was
due entirely to the disregard Of orders
by the crew of the local.
Orders Overlooked.
The local train had orders to pass
the southbound train at stanton. The
latter train was running in two sec
tIons, and the orders given to the local
weie that il should pass both sections
81 the southbound train at Staunton.
rhe first section had passed. when the
crew of the local pulled out on the main
track. needless of the second section,
and started north. AT sharp turn,
called Dickerson's curve, two miles
aorth of Staunton, the two trains came
together in splintering crash. Dick
erson's curve is at the bottom OF de-
cline both from the north and from
the south. The local train and the sec
ond section of the excursion train We're
Doth on the down grading and moving
at a speed of forty miles an hour when
they met The collision occurred right
at the bottom of the double incline
and a the sharpest point of the curve.
The cars were so close that 1t was
impossible for either of them to stop
or slow down. The crew OF the local
and the crew OF the special leaped as
soon as they saw the collision was in
evitahle and escaped without serious
injury. They were able to lend assist
ance to the Injured. None of the pas
sengers had chance for safety, as
the crash between the cars followed
Immediately the cries of warning issued
by the conductors and motormen as
they jumped from their trains.
Cars Demolished.
The cars came together with ter
rife crash, and both We're demolished
and piled in one huge mass Of wreck
age, through which the bodies OF the
dead and wounded were scattered. It
is certain that by far the larger por-
ton Of the passengers on both cars
were either killed or desperately in
jured The two trains We're SO closely
twisted together that 1t was a marvel
that anybody escaped death or injury.
AS quickly as possible word of the
accident was telephoned to Springfield
and Peoria, and special cars We're Inn
mediately rushed from these points.
Cars We're also sent north from Gran
lite City II. These last took many OF
the injured and hurried them back to
Granite City, where they We're placed
In hospitals. AS fast as the dead were
eXtricated they We're placed in one of
the cars sent from Springfield. In a
! short time a car containing twenty
eight bodies was sent to Carllnville
where they We're placed In an under
taking establishment Late tonight
only three bodies had been identified.
General Manager Chuhbuck, OF the
Traction Company was in Peoria when
the news Of the wreck was received.
Accompanied tby minor officials, he
Started at once for the wreck
Shortly after leaving Peoria he re-
ceiyed word from Superintendent Han
sey at Springfield that the dead would
number thirty-seven and the injured
sixteen. t
At Springfield all of the available
physicians We're placed on Chubbuck's
+ train and hurried to Staunton.
Frishtful Spectacle.
Within few minutes after the COL
$llsion occurred farmers from the SUR
rounding country and nearly every
man IN staunton was. on his way to the
scene Of the aeeldsnt to render what
early comers We're greeted with a
spectacle such as was never before
seen in this part Of the country
,It The S two cars had come together
not only. telescoped, but they We're
actually battered out of all semblance
to their original shape, They We're
simply "a mass of spllntered wood and
twisted iron and steel, eight feet high,
In this pile Of wreckage the dead and
wounded We're flung In ever conceiv-
able position and every imaginable
form Of mutilatlon. Some of the bodies
of the dead We're actually torn apart,
and streams OF blood flowed down the
debris in dozen places The farmers
and the citizens of Stanton worked
with desperate haste, however, and in
short time had taken from the
wreckage all Of the living and most OF
Il the dead,