Raymond, IA Train Derailment, June 1903

ELEVEN NAMES ON DEATH ROLL

RAYMOND WRECK CASUALTIES

One of the Unknown Tramps Possibly Identified -- No Paying Passengers Hurt.

Waterloo, Iowa, June 20 -- The list of dead from the Raymond wreck is eleven. The emigrant killed was W. H. RICKETTS of Epworth. FRANK KLEIN of the same town was beating his way in the emigrant car and was killed.
One of the tramps is believed to be TATE of this city.
No Passengers Injured.
The strangest part of the wreck is the fact that none of the passengers on the train were either killed or injured. This fact is attributed by railway men to the fact that the heavy sleepers were directly behind the baggage and mail cars. They are so solidly built that they were able to withstand the shock of the wreck and the safety of the passengers is probably due to this fact. When the first wrecking train arrived on the scene it was enabled to pull the five rear coaches of the train away from the scene and bring them back to this city. They were transferred to the C. G. W. and the passengers sent eastward over this line.
Mail Clerk's Story.
There were three clerks in the mail car. W. W. INGALLS, JOHN CRISFORD and F. L. GROOM, all of Dubuque. Clerk INGALLS was interviewed at the scene of the wreck. He said:
"GROOM was in the end of the car next to the locomotive, CRISFORD and myself at the opposite end. The crash came without a particle of warning and my first thought was that a cyclone had struck the train. The crash lasted for several seconds and the car weaved and rocked, finally going up into the air. CRISFORD and myself were pushed to the rear of the car by the stove, which was forced toward us. The stove probably saved us from being struck by splinters and debris. Of the sixty-foot mail car only about sixteen feet remains. The balance was reduced to kindling wood. Neither CRISFORD or myself were injured, with the exception of a slight injury sustained by CRISFORD coming in contact with a hot lamp globe."
"I looked at my watch as soon as the car ceased motion. It was exactly 3 o'clock. GROOM was missing from the car and was found later seventy-five feet to the northward, pinned under the tender of the passenger engine."
"We at once began gathering up the mail, much of which was valuable. It was scattered all through the nearest portion of the wreck. We did not assist in the work of rescue first, giving our attention to the mail in our charge."
How They Died.
When the relief train reached the scene Fireman BANTZ and Postal Clerk GROOM were still alive. BANTZ had his right arm cut off and was otherwise bruised and injured. He lived about an hour after the crash came. Postal Clerk GROOM was brought to this city and taken to the Emergency hospital, where he died about an hour after being placed in one of the wards. His injury consisted of a fracture of the spine.
Engineer GRIFFIN was terribly crushed and bruised and in his case death was probably instantaneous. One of his limbs was torn nearly off and his body was terribly bruised and crushed. He was thrown thirty feet from the scene of the wreck.
Engineer STONEMAN was probably killed by injuries to his head and must have died instantly. He was thrown free from the wreckage and picked up at a point near the right-of-way fence.

Continued on Page 2.