River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1911-09-28
VICTIMS STREWN ALONG TRACKS
BY c. & N. w. PASSENGER
AT NEENAH, WIS.
WHEN TRAIN HTS HAY RICK
Collision Comes in the Fog of Early
Morning.-Of Eight Others
Hurt, Three Are Fatally
Injured.

train, half an hour late, crashed into
hayrack loaded with thirty-one
young people here, killing twelve of
them outright and injuring eight 9TH
ers, one of whom died shortly after
and three of them so badly that they
are believed to be fatally hurt.
A big billboard along the railway
tracks obscured the view from the
locomotive as we'll as from the wagon.
Dust and fog did the rest. Nine of
the thirty-one people on the hayrack
escaped without scratch, and so did
both horses. Nobody on the train suf-
fered except from the jar.
Bodies Strewn Along Tracks.
Armless, legless and headless bodies
covered the right of way as the train
OF nine coaches was brought to stop
500 feet from the scene of the acct
dent. Several of the bodies were NUT
Hated so badly that Identification was
possible only by fragments of clothing.
Six bodies were discovered on the en-
CINE pilot where they law until re-
moved by the train crew and passen-
gers.
Two others of the persons killed
were hurled through a fagman's
sEanty with such force as to overturn
the little structure. One of these was
Miss Mabel Finn, who was projected
through one of the side walls of the
house and was still alive when re.
moved. She died few hours later
Another of the victims killed was
thrown high over barn so feet from
the right of way.
The party was returning from the
farm of Peter Hanson, where the
young people had gone to attend the
celebration of wedding anniversary,
when the accident occurred. All but
two, who were from Chicago, were
residents of Mennasha, Wis.
Babe Was Hurled so Feet, Unhurt.
Among the occupants of the hay
rack who escaped were Mr.. and Mrs.
Joseph Brinzinski and child of two
years. They were seated in the front
of the rack, the mother holding the
child in her lap. About half way
back in the wagon sat Mary Swartz-
bauer. The latter was hurled about
so feet and rendered unconscious.
When found by rescuers the Brin-
zinski child was in her arms, having
escaped unscratched. The parents OF
the child were injured only slightly
Peter Hanson, driver and owner OF
the horses attached to the Inflated
rig, managed to hang to the reins and
was the only person on the rack who
was not temporarily stunned by the
collision. He declares he looked in
both directions along the track, but
did not observe the onrushing train
until his team had reached the track
He whipped up the horses, but man
aged to get the wagon only half way
across.
The train was nearly half an hour
behind schedule. The fact that the
engine stopped on the second corner
from the intersection where the col
lision occurred, distance of more
than 500 feet, is evidence that the
speed was great. 1t is said, however,
that the rails were slippery from the
rain and made the stopping of the
train difficult
On the outgoing trip the hayrack
contained 40 persons, but the rig was
uncomfortably crowded and on the re-
turn trip an additional wagon was OBJ
tanned. Eight of the party occupied
the second vehicle, which followed
al out mile behind.
A farmer, his wife and two children
recently were killed in similar acct
dent at the same crossing and during
the last eight years nearly two dozen
persons have lost their lives at the
same place.