Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-06-24
CORONER BEGINS
HEARING WITNESSES
Indiana Public Service Commission to
Institute Investigation Thursday
Interstate Commerce Commission Also
May Join in Inquiry-cireus To Re-
sumo Tour at Beloit, Tuesday, With
Many New Performers.

ficials into the cause of the railroad
wreck last Saturday near Gary, in which
eighty-five employees Of the Hagen
beck Wallace circus were killed and ap-
proximately $50 injured.
The coroner was ready to pesin
hearings with witnesses today and the
Indiana public service commission an
nounced an inquiry would be opened
Thursday. 1t was said the interstate
commerce commission may also join IN
the investigation.
Sixty-two bodies have been recovered
from the wreck and, according to E. NJ.
Ballard general manager Of the circus.
twenty three of the employees are stifi
missing and are supposed to have been
destroyed by the fire which consumed
the wooden circus cars.
Circus Nomads Vanish.
1t Is probable that the exact number
Of dead never will be exactly known.
Some Of the men have left this city
and Hammond, and, because OF the
nomadic nature OF their lives and the
fact that many Of them went by MIC
;naraes andewere known by nc other.
they may never be heard Of again.
Also, altho two more bodies were re-
covered from the wreck Sunday. and
one of the injured died at st. Mar
garets hospital, Hammond, the prob
ability is that other bodies, burned be-
yond recognition by any one and pos
sibly deduced to utter ashes. still lie In
the charnel heap beside the, railroad
tracks at the little station Of Ivanhoe,
four miles west of here, where Satur-
day the empty troop train of twenty
one Pullman coaches plowed thru the
four circus cars.
The railroad authorities blame Alon-
20 Sargent the engineer of the troop
train. Others give attention also to
the fact that the circus train coaches
were Of an obsolete wooden type,
lighted by gas, which, when 1t ex-
ploded, caused the fire which ragged
without interruption for four hours re-
ducing to ashes the cars and their con-
tents and killing many wounded.
Others Only Slightly Hurt.
{ Those not Immediately killed by the
collision or not enmeshed beneath the
wreckage and burned were cofnpara-
lively slightly injured. The hospitals
here and at Hammond discharged most
Of their wreck inmates Saturday night
and Sunday morning. AS a result there
remains only sixty-four In the hospi-
| tails, and OF these all will probably re-
cover, with the exception Of seven Or
eight.
| OF the 1876 taken to the hospitals i'm
! .aediately following the wreck five
have died. The circus, aside from the
injuries to it's people. was not severely
DANA ged. The i'll fated second section
contained little equipment, its freight
being mainly human. AS a result, II
left Hammond for Beloit, Wis, where
it will exhibit Tuesday. June rs, with
its menagerie and animals intact and
the ranks Of its performers recruited
from other circur organizations, which
at once tproffered their aid. Only two
dates are being missed-that at Ham
mond and Monrbe, Wis.
| Famous Among Dead.
While the performers car suffered
less severely than the cars carrying
the ordinary workmen, the dead In
clude some Of the most noted people
OF the show world. Among them are
verna Conner, famed as q wild west
| rider; the entire "Dierecks" trio OF
I strong men, wllc were in the habit Of
supporting on their feet three ele-
plants weighing over 5000 pound.
each, or total Of approximately $4,000
pounds; Eddie Deyoe. one Of the
most famous clowns in the world:
Millie Jewell THE Girl Without
Fear" an animal trainer who com
! pelled q tiger to ride an elephant; the
Mchdu sisters, equestriennes; Louise
/ Cottreii, one OF the most famous o,
English riders. who was brought te
/ this country when the New York Hip
podrome opened as its leading feature
and Bessie Cattanach. famous aerialist
i Every circus boss, with the excep-
j,tion, Of "Bill' Curtiss, boss Of canvas
4 men, was killed, and Curtis altho
! severely injured, was taken to Beloit
4 with the show. His wife lies here in a
hospital severely injured. but will re-
cover.
Attorney Charles j. McFadden. rep
resenting the Michigan Central. issue
q statement today explaining that En-
4 gineer Alonzo Sargent, OF the empt.
|! troop. train, was asleep owing to lines
i and did not see the signals OF danger
.lSargent, he said. remained near tn
iEwreck tor six hours and then. bein
worn out, left for Kalamazoo.
i Miss But Two Dates.
IL IBeloIt, Wis. June 24.--While tn
time keepers, who arrived today. ar
u. ~ = s,Ss &c 3 : .s.s,.f D a. al