Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1915-07-09

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~. aa. coaca. which vas next.
uhI.d Nu' ou ais side and was spin
t.ced from one end to the othey +.
nile the sides and ends collapsed
like me wreck Of house of cards.
Only one of the - passeng rs in thu
car escaped injury. Miss Helen Polit-
sky of McKenua.
The last coach of the train, the
buffet and chair car, miraculously
remained upon the track
Rainier townspeople responded
promptly to the emergency. The body
of Bradeen first was taken from the
wreckage. An impromptu emergency
hospital was established on the
broad and shady porches Of the Raj
nier hotel and there the injured we're
borne, to rest in cots while receiving
what surgical attention could be af-
forded.
A Red Cross special car which was
making a tour of lumber camps in
the state was near the scene of the
accident, and with a special corps of
physicians was rushed directly to Raj
nier. The injured who were not able
to leave in automobiles were taken on
the Red Cross car to Tacoma, where
they were placed in hospitals.
Inspector G. B. Winter, of the in
terstate commerce commission, whose
headquarters are at Washington, d.
c.. had reached Centralia on an Off
cial round and made quick trip to
the scene of the accident. Arthur A.
Lewis and Frank r. Spinning, of the
state public service commission, went
out from Olympia as soon as they
were apprised of the wreck.
Trie,; to Warn Train.
A heroine Of the day was Louisa
Gehrke, a 19-year-old girl, who tried
to prevent the wreck, but failed. She
lives with her parents at Rainier on
ranch which borders the railroad
trestle. She heard the crash and ran
out in time to see the timbers of the
Itrestle fall to the ground as the
steam shovel crashed into the sup
ports.
Realizing that the Milwaukee train
was due soon, Miss Gehrke rushed to
the telephone and called the Milwau-
kee agent at Rainier. The agent
called the McKenna telegraph oper-
ator to stop the train there, but it
was too late. The train had passed
McKenna Just a minute before. A
brother of the Gehrke girl was stand
ing the field outside the Gehrke home
and saw the Milwaukee train dash
into the open trestle and fall to the
ground.
A pathetic incident was the injury
Of two small children of H. ]. Holden,
yard foreman for the McKenna Lum-
Der company. The Holdens had
boarded the train at McKenna, only
few miles from the scene of the
wreck. The gay little party was on
the way to Offut lake, where the chill
dren wished to spend the Fourth of
July. Walter Holden, years old,
was caught between the seats of the
day coach and badly hurt internally.
Mark Holden, 6 years old, also was
hurt. and Mr.. Holden was cut about
the face and body.
i To the heroism and agility of pref
ty little Helen Politsky. a 16-year-
old Polish girl, whose parents, Mr..
and Mrs. John Politsky, live in the
sawmill town Of Mckenna, Mr.. and
Mrs. H. J. Holden probably owe the
life of their little son, Mark.
Just as the car was sliding down,
after one end of it struck the ground,
Miss Politsky seized Mark, who was
scrambling around on his hands and
knees" Mr.. Holden said in describ-
ing what the 16-year-old girl had
done. "She held him up free from
injury until she got her senses and
then she climbed out of the window
with him."
Engineer Baldwin, known as
Lucky" because he had never been
In an accident before, resided in Sc
attic for five years, having been
transferred from Perry, Iowa, by the
Milwaukee road, and was one of the
Oldest engineers in its employ. He is
survived by his wife, Julia Baldwin,
and by seven children, six of whom
live in Seattle