Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-02-21
INVESTIGATE 20" SMASH J..
WHICH KILLED TWO AND
INJURED MORE THAN 50
Coroner tf Frontier County TO Hold Inquest; Tranmen
Describe Plunge of Coaches Over Embankment;
Fire from Overturned Stoves Starts Blaze /
in Wreckage; Omahans Aboard
Two persons were instantly killed.

Two persons were instantly KlicQN
and So injured Tuesday afternoon
when Burlington train No. Isl, the
local from Holdrege, Neb., to Ster-
ling, Colo, westbound, went into the
ditch, caught fire and was destroyed
by the flames.
The wreck occurred three and one
half miles east of Curtis, Neb., on
what is known as the High Line, I
The cause has not been determined,
but at headquarters in Omaha here it
is attributed to eithe: broken hange
on one of the wheels or broi:en rail.
INVESTIGATION UNDER WAY.
An investigation of the cause of the
wreck is now under way. Assistant
General Manager Thiehoff and Cen
erai Superintendent Young are on the
ground, having gone there as soon as
the wreck was reported.
The coroner of Frontier county, the
county in which the wreck occurred,
has summoned jury and an inquest
viii be. held Thursday or Friday.
Topples Over Embankment.
PIE train that went into the ditch
consisted of three passenger cars. a
baggage car and mail car, Accord
/ ing to the report at Burlington head
quarters, the train was running at
about .25 miles all hour and was close
to on time. 1t was i'll charge of En-
gineer Snyder. and Conductor Grif-l
fifth, both old employees of the Bur-
slington. Their report states that the
first warning they had of danger was
when the mail car, the. car next to
the. engine, began to sway back and
forth. Almost instantly it left the
tracks and toppled over the embank-
ment, IS feet high. =
&As the, mail car went over the en-
bankment it was followed by the bag
gage ear and two OF the passenger
coaches. The rear coach broke loose
from the train and remained on the
track.
Fire Starts Immediately.
The two passenger coaches that
went INTO the ditch were heavily load
ed and all the people in them were
more or less injured. AS the cars went
down the embankment they rolled
over three times. crashing down INTO
the bottom of a ravine and immedi-
, ately taking fire.
Escape Through Windows.
For heating purposes all the cars
were equipped with the old-style,
Baker heaters, and as the cars rolled
over the heaters were broken loose
from their 1noorings and the live
Goals scattered about. The cars were
badly broken UP and through VIM
dows, doors and holes the passengers
crawled. Those who were not able
to do so were nearly all rescued by
parties who were uniifjured, aided by
the trainmen.
Mrs. Howe twas struck by some
flying timber, and when her body
was reached she was dead. She was
in a portion of the car where the
fire burned rapidly and her body
was almost entirely consumed. Her
son, who had been sitting in the seat
near her, was pinioned under some
tinbers and in the Wreckage he lay.
in plain sight of the rescuers. A
heavy beam lay across his arm. and,
1T being impossible to remove this, his
|ArR was cut off just below the elbow
with an AK. He was dead at the time.
something having struck him on the
head, crushing the skull. ~
Injured Cared For. .
Those that were seriously Injured,
after being taken from the wreckage,
were laid on the ground along the
t tcontinued on Page Six, Column Two)