Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-08-30
KIRK TUNNAH'S INJURIES SERIOUS Former Pine Bluffian Prob ably Fatally Injured in
 Wreck. OTHERS WERE HURT Mistake on Bulletin Board Believed to Be Responsible for the
 MiShap.
OTHERS WERE HURT

The many Pine Bluff friends of Kirk Tunnah, the we'll known Little Rock ian were sorry to learn of his being probably fatally injured in a wreck near Van Buren Sunday morning. MT. Tunnah formerly lived in this city. He married Miss May Brunson, of this city, and their daughter, Miss Laurita Tunnah, frequently visits w. H. Langford and family in this city. At a late hour last night the condition of Mr. Tunnah was still serious. The Little Rock Democrat of last after noon has the following account of the accident:
 The condition of J. Kirk Tunnah, the. .IrOn Mountain conductor, who was hurt at Van Buren Sunday morn ing, is quite serious at St. Vincent's Infirmary today, and the physicians who are attending him prefer to make no statement regarding his chances at this time.
 MT. Tunnah was in charge of Iron Mountain Train Mo- 105 Sunday when it crashed into the light engines which were being backed into Freight Train No. 157 at Van Buren. He was standing between two cars when the crash came and was thrown to the floor of the vestibule with great force, his head striking the floor, re- sulting in a fracture near the base of the skull.
 He was brought to Little Rock yes- terday morning, Dr. Matthew Dibrell, accompanying him to the hospital here.
 Engineer J. H. Paulette was also badly injured and he was taken to the Physicians and Surgeons Hospital for treatment. It was feared yesterday that he might lose the sight of an eye as result of the accident but this appears to be improbable today. The condition of Baggagemaster Holmes on the train, who is also at St. Vincent's, is also improved today.
 Cause of the Accident.
 While the exact cause of the acci- dent has not been determined it ap- pears that a mistake on the part of the hostler as to the number of trains on the bulletin board may have been responsible for the crash. It is stated that Will Jones, the hostler, took another train number for that of 105 and believed that he had time to run his two engines, which were to carry out Freight Train No. 157, down the main line and onto the switch before the passenger train arrived. He had run the engines to the south switch and was making ready to back into the waiting freight train when No. 1O5 came into view and then it was too late to prevent the crash.
 It is also stated that No. 1O5 was twenty minutes late and had made LID ten minutes of this time, and that the hostler was probably counting on this also.
 Supt. c. B. Wildman is now engag- ed in an investigation of the matter with a view to fixing the responsibil- ity. Until this is received no action of a disciplinary character. will be taken. Others Injured. The train was carrying a heavy passenger list, but beyond few bruises none was injured. At the time of the accident all those who were not in the Pullman were asleep or dozing, and they were, almost without exception thrown from their seats and many badly frightened Among the passengers who were most badly injured were Gervis Hill of Mulberry; Mrs. White field of 'Bentonville; Miss Minnie Rogers of Clarksville; Miss Pearl Is4ss of Altus, in Arkansas, and John M Slaughter of Florence, Ala. These were not hurt sufficiently to prevent their continuing their journey. A number of others were slightly bruis- ed.
 A wrecker was sent out from the Van Buren shops and early yesterday morning the track was clear and traf- fic resumed.