The Mena weekly star., 1918-05-09
FAILURE OF CREN OF NORTH BOUND TRAIN TO RECEiS
 ORDERS IS BLAMED.
25 MAKE CLAIMS FOR
 INJURIES RECEIVED
Fortunate Telescoping of Empty Ra- frigerator Car and Baggage Car Responsible for Escape From Harm of Many on Southbou.d
 Train

Kansas City Southern passenger trains Nos. 3 and met in headenI collision Sunday afternoon about $50 o'clock about five miles southwest of Mena. A fireman was injured by jumping and about thirty passengers were more or less bruised and cut by flying glass on the two trains, 25 cn No. 4 out of total of 62 passengers, applying for medical aid and 9 maA- ing claims for injuries received.
 The fronts of both engines were pretty badly smashed and an empty express refrigerator carried bag gage car were telescoped to a depth of about fifteen feet, the latter being derailed.
 The northbound train had been brought to a stop at the moment of collision, and the southbound was es- timated to be running about ten miles an hour The impact drove the n5rtn- bound t-ain backward about car length, and it was on this train that nearly all injuries occurred to passen- gers.
 Train No. 3, due at Mena at 1.57 D. m, was somewhat behind time and had orders to meet No. at Potter, seven miles Below Mena. No. 1, run- ming on time, had the right of way over soathbound trains, and, itis said, had received nc orders. No. con- sisted of eight cars, two being empty express refrigerators and to the ab- sorbing of the shock thru the telescop- ing of one of these with the baggage car is given the credit for saving the passengers on that train from more Injuries No 1 was composed of five cars.
 The most seriously hurt was Fire man Bennett of the southbound train, who jumped from the engine con siderable distance before the trains met. He suffered a bad compound fracture of the right leg near the ankle, the bones being driven thru the flesh, and several bad cuts on his left foot and leg
 He was taken to the county poor farm nearby and the fractures re- duced, and was later taken to the rail- road hospital at Kansas City.
 Engineer Bateman, on the same engine, stuck to his post to the last and received two broken ribs by being thrown against a brake valve, and was taken to DeQueen
 Dr. C. c. Cochran. the Kansas City Southern surgeon located at Mena, went quickly to the wreck and treated the injured. All passengers on the two trains were transferred and con- tinued their journeys when the trains were reorganized.
 A. F. Easterday, engineer of the northbound train, has his hone in Mena, and this is his first wreck in thirty-seyen years of continuous erv- ice. After the accident he stated that it was not unusual for him to receive orders at Vandervoort, but there was none given him there, and that on reaching Hatfield and finding no or ders he remarked to Fireman Holcomb that No. 3 must be very late. Soon after pulling out of Potter he was
 
 forced to almost bring his train to a stop to get a COW of the track, and had only partially got under headway from this when he rounded sharp curve and saw No. only short ds- thee ahead. He brought his train to stop and released the air on the brakes and followed Fireman Holcomb out of the cab and landed on clay bank beside the track just as the en- zines struck. Mir. Easterday is very grateful to that COW and two train loads of passengers may well join him in giving thanks to the humble bovine. as otherwise the trains would have met at much higher speed.
 The wreck was cleared up and srsi- fic resumed at an early hour Monday