Evening star., 1938-12-02
Bus-Train Disaster
Toll Is Set al 3
Dead, Is Injured
One Unidentified Form
May Be Part Of One or
Several of Victims
BY the Associated Press.

-
SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 2.-With
the death of a youth early today,
toll of the Nations worst school bus
train disaster rose to - Identified
victims.
Sixteen youths, all occupants Of
the crowded bus that was hit 10
miles south of here yesterday BY .
speeding freight train roaring
through an early-morning snow
storm. were injured, three critically.
Salt Lake General Hospital au-
thorities said one badly nangled
body remained unidentified. How
ever, morgue attendants said It was
possible the mangled form was part
Of one or several Of the identified
children.
Some Of the dead were % badly
mangled that parents were not al.
lowed to see the bodies.
Plowed Inte Bus.
Screaming through . December
sleet storm which had put it more
than an hour behind schedule on q
run from Denver, the Plying Ute" :"
fastest freight train on the Denver
g. Rio Grande Western Line, plowed
into the loaded school bus near
suburban Midvale, 10 miles south of
Salt Lake City.
Engineer E. L. Rehmer, warned
of the impending collision only an
instant before the crash, plunged
on the brakes, but the heavy, 5O-car
train thundered its entire quarter
mile length further, showering bodies
and wfeckage, before grinding to
a stop.
The caboose halted at the point
where the engine had struck and
soon weeping parents ana classmates
were carrying the injured into the
caboose, out Of the wet snow.
Rescue workers employed . dozen
ambulances to hurry the injured
to the hospital, then set about-in
many cases with sacks and has
kets-to gather up the shattered
remnants of the dead and remove
them to the hospital morgue.
All But Driver Were Studentx
There the heart-rending task of
identifying the bodies was started.
All of the dead except the driver,
29-year-old Farrold H. SiIcox of Riv-
erton, and all Of the injured were
students at Jordan High School.
Most of them were sons and
daughters of farmers in the little
Mormon communities OF River
ton, South Jordan, Bluddale and
Crescent.
Marjorie Groves, 16, who escaped
virtually unhurt, said snow covered
the windows Of the bus.
mo one saw the train coming
at ALL" she said. Mr.. Silcox had
stopped the bus and was just start
ing up again when it struck U.s."
Engineer Rehmer said:
Il couldn't see anything in front OF
me, because I was ON the opposite
side from the bus.
Engineer Applied BxakeA
My fireman, Alfred Elton, sa,d-
denly yelled 'Rags holeS,' which
means emergency-appay brakes i'm
mediately-and I did.
Il was blowing the whistle for the
crossing at the time and had to let
60 the whistle and apply the brakes.
I'VE hit. Things began. to fly
pretty fast. saw the hood of the
truck on the engine. When I real
lied how serious the accident was
the bottom seemed to drop out Of
everything.
Il know just how the parents of
those children must feel. I have .
son and daughter and two grandsms
myself.
''It Is the worst thing that has
happened TO me in IS years Of rail-
roading-the only accident I've ever
had, and I've been running en-
gines since October, 1907"
Bereaved relatives were making
arrangements today for mass fun
eral. The high school, its classes
suspended upon word Of the trag-
edy, remained closed, students and
teachers too deeply shocked to re-
turn.
Inquest Not Necessary.
County Attorney Harold E. Wal
lace said there would be no inquest
since there was no question of
criminal homicide and al the facts
that could be brought out at such
an inquiry are already known"
June Wynn, 16, who was standing
in the doorway Of her home, 800
eyards from the crossing, said: Il
saw the bus and the train coming
and wondered whether the bus was
going to stop. 1t did stop and then
pulled onto the track directly In
front Of the train.
Il heard the crash, then screams
When the front of the train got
opposite me, I could see the frame
Of the bus still on the engine.
The train started slowing down
Immediately. My father and I rushed
to the track, and trainmen told NJ to
go back and call ambulances.
"It was foggy and showing. I
wouldn't have been able to zee the
train or bus II they both hadn't
had their lights on. I did not hear
the train whistle"
Identified by Clothing.
At the hospital several bodies could
be identified only BY bits Of clothing.
Typical was the instance Of q nurSe
appearing IN corridor with q boys
leather belt, calling, rs Mr.. Hunt
here? Is Mr.. Hunt here?"
Albert j. Hunt Of South Jordan
stepped forward and identified the
belt as one his 17-year-osd son,
George, was wearing.
Nurses brought in scraps of cloth
ing, bracelets. a bit Of stocking, and
held them up before the parents In
the waiting room, to ask: "Can~any
one identify these?"
A parent would stare, then burst
into SobS.