The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1922-09-06
MANY ARE KILLED
AS TRAINS CLASH
THIRTY-sIx PASSENGERS KILLED
AND SCORES INJURED WHEN
TRAINS CRASH
Wreck Is Attributed to Failure Of En-.
oineer to Heed Signal; Work of
Removing Dead and Injured
Is Gruesome Task

Sulphur Springs, Mo.-Failure of an
engineer to heed block signal caused
the rear-end collision on the Missouri
Pacific Saturday night in which thir-
ty-six persons were killed and about
l38 injured, twenty-five seriously, &C.
cording to John Cannon, assistant gen,
eral manager of the road.
Train No. 4, a fast passenger, YES
tibuled, steel train running at full
speed, crashed into No. 80, a local
composed Of five wooden day coaches
a baggage and an express car, as the
engine was taking on water with the
coaches stretching back on trestle
over Glaise Creek.
The impact hurled two of the local
coaches down fifty-foot embank-
ment edging the Mississippi and tele-
scoped four other coaches, crushing
number of the passengers to death
in their falls. Both trains were run
ming behind time and the fast pas
senger, running from Fort Worth,
Texas, to st. Louis, carried $50 pas
sengers and the local 100 persons.
According to Mr.. Cannon, Matt G.
Glenn of st. Louis, engineer of the
fast passenger, failed to heed a block
signal warning him that the track was
not clear ahead. Glenn, 81 years of
age, an engineer for thirty-seven years
without black mark against his re.
cord, was killed when he jumped from
the cab just before the crash. Edward
Tinsley, also of st. Louis, fireman of
No. 4, remained at his post and was
injured seriously.
Engineer eileen shortly before ar.
irving in Sulphur Springs received or.
ders ION the run" to pull over on a
siding at Cliff Cave, ten miles north of
here, to allow Sunshine Special No
l." en- route from st. Louis to Texas
points. to pass, and Mr.. Cannon ex.
planned the engineer failed to heed
the block signal because he apparent.
ly was reading these orders when he
passed the block.
Just south of the scene of the dis.
aster there is-a curve in the road
which cut off view of the local train
on the trestle Missouri Pacific Off
Gals, however, emphasized that the
block signals were operating in per
feet order, and Engineer Glenn should
have slowed his train down so that
he could have come to a halt almost
instantly.
The last body was removed from
the debris early Sunday. A group Of
rescuers, kerosene torches lighting
their way, came down the track tc
the little railroad station with the in
ert figure on litter, improvised from
boards of the splintered wreckage.
The railroad tracks parallel the Mis-
sissippi river and the trestle on which
Creek where it enters the river. Al
4 result, a report was current that 6
number of bodies were hurled int
the Mississippi. There was no way O
terrifying this report, however. Rescu,
work was interferred with by lack o
proper light. This little village il
without electricity, and the rescue
workers and morbidly curious mad,
their way among the mass of twistet
steel and crumbmled wooden coache
Wy the aid of kerosene torches an;
lights on sticks. Thousands of pei
sons visited here late Sunday nigh
to view the wreck and roads wer
blocked for a radius of three miles.