The Mankato free press., 1923-10-05

Burlington and Quincy passenger
train No. 80 plunged through
bride into the Big Muddy river
near Lockett. The river was on
rise from heavy rains which made
TO Henry Wyatt OF Casper who was
passenger in the. Pullman that
plunged half way down the bank
nut remained upright.
The train seemed to Slacken its
speed suddenly and then the car I!
was III went topping over the fTont
part resting on the bed In the rlveg
ana the rear pointing up in the air"
Wyatt said.
There was no scrambling or
commotion. Everybody Just set TO
work opening their WinLOWns and
setting out. A Pullman porter pas
sed mt rope with which he drag
ged mo up on the bank and count
ed six others besides myself who
escaped. ~.
"Ine.e were at least seven men
in the smoking compartment in the
I,ySI It0nt and am sure they lost their
e.. Isolated Part of Country
1T appeared cloudburst had oc
Cured recently as the river reced-
ed two feet before l started back
Tor Casper"
One OF the cars in the, river,
about tSenty- five feet from the
! bank appeared to be only halt under
water. Whether this was the chair
car or the. smoker / do not know"
The local ticket agent reported
that he had sold sixty six tickets
from Casper for this train.
u Il
part OF the coIntry.. several miles
from telephone and telegraph com
munication which made II difficult
| to secure accurate Information. A
correspondent OF the Casper Herald
! sent to The scene Of the wreck at
| ten O'Clock was unable to get IN
touch with. his office until four
hours later. At that time he esti-
mated the number killed between
, fifty and one hundred.
Death Estimated Differ
Estimates of the number OF per-
! sons who lost their lives last night
| when Burlington passenger train No.
so plunged into Coal creek here diff
| Tered at seven o'clock this morn =
ing. The lowest figures placed the
dead at forty A railroad telegraph
operator at Glen Rock, near the
scene and who assisted in the rescue
work, said he thought the death list
might mount to onehundred.
No bodies had been recovered up
to daylight, according to telephonz
| messages. Rising water in Coal
creek and the Platte river nearby
hampered the work of recue.
| All rescue work had to be tenn
porarily abandoned at two O'CLOCK
this morning. 1t began showing
about that hour. after twenty four
/ hours Of continuous rainfall.
Scene OF Wreck
The scene OF the wreck is about
| fourteen miles east OF Casper, about
two miles west of the Big Muddy
| Of Glen Rock: The next flag stop
for the train across the cuIvert
, through which it plunged into Coal
creek, was Lockett
! The scene iof the wreck is in a
sandy rolling type OF country. Near
the place Coal creek flows into tie
Platte river from the north. The
river runs along the south side Of
Burlington tracks for about a quar-
ter of a mile.
! The Platte is barely a stones
throw from the railroad tracks
where Coal creek empties into the
larger stream. and 1t was at this
spot that the i'll -fated passenger
train plunged into the ordinarily
dry creek. p.
Terrific rains have been falling in
the district. ...-I,.... -
The train left Casper at S:S5
o'clock last night. 1t was made up Of
mail, express and baggage car,
and two chair cars and two pullman
sleepers. -
DO Derrick Is Needed
Denver, Colo, September 2S.-No
bodies can be recovered from the
Burlington wreck near Casper. Wyo.,
until derrick can lift the wrecked
cars from the food waters of Coal
creek, according to a special re-
ceived by the Denver Post from
Casper.
A special train that left Casper at
1880 o'clock this morning returned
later for a derrick. The crew re-
/ ported that the waters still were
rising, while rain and snow were,
falling alternately. The water is SO
high a derrick must be used to lift
the cars from the stream, according
to the crew. -
-. Eight Found Alive.
A special to the Post from Cas-
per, Wyo. says one OF the submerg-
ed cars on Burlington train No. 80,
which plunged into Coal creek near
Casper last night, has been pulled
from the stream and eight persons
were found alive in it.
| Report Sent To Chicago.
Chicago, September 2S.-Twenty-
eight out Of thirty two Pullman pas
sengers and six out. of twenty seven
day coach passengers are known to
have escaped death when Chicago
Burlington and Quincy train No. 80
| plunged into a torrent last night
near Lockett, Wyo.
At noon today not a single name
Of the two score or more persons
believed to have been drowned had
been received at the general Offices
here.
Death Toll Placed At 81.
Norfolk, Neb.. September 28.-In-
formation received in Chicago and
Northwestern offices here shortly
before noon was that fifty seven
persons perished in the Burlington
wreck near Casper, Wyoming.
pIIpEppED C1EpNcEY GAZE