Evening star., 1948-07-25
5 Die As Bus CARVING
Ball Team CoIIides
With Truck in St. Paul
BY The Assoeiossd prsss .

BY the Assoeiossd Press
ST. PAUL. Mimi, July 24.-A
head-on highway crash and en-
suing fire today killed five men,
four OF them members of the
Duluth club of the Northern
Baseball League. Fourteen other
team members were injured,
seven critically. f5ea
The baseball players were riding
In a Duluth team bus piloted by the
club manager when it and a dry Ice
truck collided on a rise in Highway
s6 on the north edge of the st. Paul
city limits shortly before noon.
The bus, hurled onto its side in
the ditch, burst into flames, its
gasoline tank ruptured.
Passersby Save 10.
Authorities credited passersby
with saving lives of at least 10 of
the ball players by pulling them
from the wreckage. Several were
unconscious. All but three of the
18 bus occupants we're out, Of the
vehicle when intense heat drove
the rescuers away.
The Ramsey County Morgue gave
out the following death list:
George Treadwell, AZ; Superior.
Wis, Manager of the team.
James E. Grealish, st. Paul, driver
of the truck.
Gerald CPeanuts) Peterson, Proc
Gilbert Tribe, outfielder.
Gilbert Krirdla, 10, of Duluth,
who played under the name of
Gilbert Tribe, outfilder.
Donald Schuchman. st. Louis,
pitcher.
Injured Taken to Two Hospitals.
The injured, taken to Ancker
and Bethesda hospitals in st. Paul
In fleet of police cars and ambu-
lances, included:
Sam Paitich, st. Paul, pitcher who
Joined the Duluth club only week
ago. Condition critical.
Donald Gilmore, Columbus, Ohio,
pitcher, critical.
Bernard Gerl, %, Joliet, Ill,
catcher. critical.
Donald Vanderwier, 18, Muskegon,
Mich, pitcher, critical.
Udell Clark. 20, Jackson, Mich,
outfielder. critical.
John Retonya. 10, Omaha, Nebr,
pitcher, critical
Steve Lazar Duluth, second base
man, critical
Melvin McGaha, 20, Fayetteville,
Ark, first baseman, bruised.
Elmer Schoendienst, 20, German
town, ILL.,, third baseman, bruised
Schoendienst is brother of Red
Schoendienst, second baseman for
the st. Louis Cardinals.
Bill Ward, Chicago, catcher,
bruises and shock
Joe Svetlick, Cinderella, w. Va,
pitcher, bruises.
Joseph Becker, 10, St. Louis, Mo,
shortstop, burns and compound frac-
ture of leg.
Robert F. VogeltanZ, IS, Ever
green Park, Ill, pitcher, rib and
jaw fractures.
Christ (Bub) Dubia, 26, Murray,
Kans., outflelder, broken ankle
Several OF those In critical condi-
ton inhaled flames before they
were rescued, DR.. C. A. Ingerson,
Ramsey County coroner, said.
En- Route to St. Cloud.
The Duluth players were en- route
from Eau Claire, Wis, where they
had played Friday night, to st.
Cloud, Mimi, to play in series
with the St. Cloud team.
McGaha, Aone of those less seri-
ously hurt said he vaguely remem-
bered the truck s.Suddenly veering
over in front of the bus and the
bus trying to avoid it," The next
thing he remembered, he said, was
lying on the ground.
Herman White of Eau Claire,
president of the Northern League,
expressed deep sympathy for the
players and their relatives and said
other members of the league had
Immediately volunteered whatever
assistance they could give the Du-
luth club.
The games Duluth had scheduled
tonight and tomorrow at St. Cloud
were cancelled.
White said each of the other
league clubs might loan a couple of
players to the Duluth team, known
as the Dukes, for service until the
81. Louis Cardinals, the Duluth
parent organization, could organ
ize another team. The league will
run out the schedule as planned,