Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-28
TORNADO SWEEPS
TRAIN FROM RAILS
One Dies, More Than Score
Hurt as IL Coaches HurtIe
Into Prairie.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
FARGO, N OAK, May 28-Dashing
along at q 50-mile-an-h clip, the
crack Great Northern Empire Builder,
coast train de luxe, eastbound from
Seattle to Chicago. was picked up like
q top from its tracks and wrecked by
q tornado eight miles southeast of here
late yesterday. One life was lost, more
than score injured, one probably
fatally, and scores of passengers shaken
UP by the freak accident
The death resulted when Andrew
Anderson of Montesano, Wash. was
hurled from the train through window
and ground to death beneath the wheels
of the following coach. Mrs. Emily
Hannah. Seattle suffered broken back
and was said by physicians today to
have a slighto chance for recovery.
Mrs. N. Troll, Minot, N. Oak, also was
said to be in q serious condition at a
Fargo hospital where many of the in
jured were taken. An infant daughter
Of Mrs. Hilda Qualley. Winchester,
Wash, suffered a seriously bruised head.
Lifts IL Coaches From Track.
without warning the entire 12-coach
train was lifted from the tracks. moved
east from the roadbed and deposited
with thud on the prairie, leaving only
the engine and tender on the tracks.
A moment or two passed before real
ization of the horror of the wreck be-
came manifest among the passengers.
Men struggled frantically to make their
way over the debris, through shattered
windows and damned doors. Passing
motorists speeded into Moorhead, Mimi,
notified railway officials and within a
few minutes doctors, nurses and ambu-
lanceS were en- route.
Scores of volunteers, including po-
lice, farmers and Moorhead citizens.
climbed inside the coaches and passed
the injured to waiting hands.
Scores Escape Injury.
Despite the tremendous shock Of the
impact, scores escaped uninjured, due
chiefly to the fact all cars Of the train
were of steel. None of the coaches col
lapsed.
to hospitals at Moorhead and Fargo in
automobiles of passing motorists. A
few minutes later special train from
Fargo reached the wreck and took the
remaining injured and other passengers.
One of the heroes CT the wreck WIS
Andrew Jackson, Seminole Indian, en-
route to Pawnee, Okla, who aided In
jured and assisted in restoring order
Immediately after the crash.
Seven Imprisoned Half Hour.
Seven persons were imprisoned for
half an hour in the train club car
when doors were damned. The bar
riers were chiseled away and the per-
sons, several hysterical. we're taken out.
The luxuriously equipped train, one
Of the fastest In the Northwest, ives
named after the late James j. Hill,
empire builder" of the Northwest, and
had kaov1 IN. eervfAa for fhrea vearS In
terriers of many Of the coaches were
wrecked.
Engineer Mckee and AL Klinfehn,
Minneapolis, fireman on the engine.
said the IL coaches literally were jerked
away from the locomotive. The
coupling between the first car and the
tender snapped as the high wind struck,
but the 154.000-pound locomotive stuck
to the tracks.
Youth Killed in Home.
Edward Brandt, conductor in charge
Of the train, was still In dazed con-
dition today suffering from bruises 70
the head.
One other fatality was known to have
resulted from the tornado.
Melvin Hatledal, 10, was killed as he
members of the family at his farm
home 8 miles north of Watts Siding.
He was struck by q concrete block
The tornado apparently started north
Of Rustad in Clay County and swept
northeast. striking the Empire Builder
near Sabin. Then 1t continued on
ward. crossing Norman County to end
its destruction near Fertile, cutting a
swath of about so miles. Widespread
damage was done to farm property in
the two counties, with dozens Of build
1nEs, school houses and one church
reported demolished or damaged.