Des Moines, IA train wreck, Aug 1891

THE ROCK ISLAND DISASTER

OTHER PARTICULARS OF THE WRECK.

DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE KILLED AND WOUNDED - SCENES AT THE FALLEN CULVERT AFTER THE DISASTER - SUFFERINGS OF THE INJURED - THE DEATHS PROBABLY OVER TWENTY.

Special Dispatch to the New York Times.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 30 - No attempt has yet been made to repair the break in the Rock Island Railroad at the scene of the recent accident, every effort thus far being directed to the removal of the debris for the discovery of more bodies of victims. All the wreck has been removed, and the water has all passed away, but no bodies have been discovered to-day. The killed number 17, and the wounded 35. George Love, son of Judge Love, of this city, D.T. Collender, of this city, and Mrs. William Drew reported missing last night, and supposed to have been killed, were heard from to-day, each having missed the connection with the ill-fated train. The dead have been carefully placed in caskets for removal to their friends as fast as they can be ascertained to-night. The bodies of George Rockwell and John Brazee were sent to Rochester, N.Y.; that of Charles Thompson to Middletown, Conn.; those of F.B. Becker to Providence, R.I., and George B. Berry to Schenectady, N.Y. The wounded are very carefully cared for, and are rapidly recovering. Every train carries away some, and all, with two or three exceptions, will leave in a few days. L.B. Spencer, of Lothrop, Iowa, and W.P. Caldwell are seriously, and it is feared, fatally injured. Conductor Partridge, reported fatally hurt, is doing well. The train was shattered to splinters, and the wonder is that out of such a wreck there should have been so few killed. The Coroner begins the legal investigation to-morrow.

Dispatch to the Associated Press.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 30 - Up to 6 o'clock last evening 17 dead bodies had been taken from the wreck of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad train - 14 men, two women, and one child. Among those reported as wounded, F.B. BAKER, one of Barnum's Company, has since died, making 18 dead, as far as known.

THE DEAD.

The following is a full list of the dead, as far as ascertained:

Mrs. EMILY BABCOCK, of Andalusia, Ill.
JOHN K. BOLT and daughter, of Boonsboro', Iowa.
Mrs. WILLIAM CROW, of Des Moines.
WILLIAM RAKESTRAW, engineer of the train.
--------- STUART, of Iowa.
M. COHEN, commercial traveler, of Peoria, Ill.
JABEZ E. PRINCE, of Cincinnati.
D.A. BRONSON, of Cincinnati.
WILLIAM GUNNING, newsboy, of Des Moines.
The following were in Barnum's Car:
GREEN BERRY.
GEORGE ROCKWELL.
JOHN PURCELL.
JOHN BRUCE.
CHARLES THOMPSON.
A. MACK.

Two more bodies are known to be in the wreck - one of Barnum's men, and a little girl, a daughter of Mrs. Crow, one of the women killed. It is thought by many that there are still other bodies at the bottom of the wreck, or floated down the stream, but the death-roll will not exceed 20.

THE WOUNDED.

The wounded are:

H. JENNINGS, of Rochester, N.Y., one of Barnum's men, slightly.
A.J. PARTRIDGE of Des Moines, Conductor, badly.
BENJAMIN H. TRUCKS, fireman, badly.
Col. C.W. LOWRIE of Boonsboro, Iowa, not dangerously.
Mrs. LOWRIE, wife of the preceeding, seriously.
Mrs. BOLT, wife of J.K. BOLT, very seriously.
(The husband and daughter of Mrs. Bolt are dead).
EDWARD DUNN, of Rochester, N.Y., badly burned.
JAMES BAKER, of New-York City, feet and hands burned and collar-bone broken.
WILLIAM S. CLAYTON, of Grand Rapids, Mich., injured very severely. (Dunn, Baker, and Clayton are of Barnum's Company).
J.L. GRAHAM, of Bloomfield township, Polk County, Iowa, badly cut.
J.S. FERGUSON, of Andalusia, Ill., badly bruised.
Mrs. D.A. STEBBINS, of Panther Creek, Dallas County, Iowa, arm broken, head and legs badly bruised.
W.P. CALDWELL, of Alvin, Ill., badly cut.
THEODORE KRAFT, of Kankakee, Ill., slight cut on the back and hand injured.
ELMER GERKENDELL, of Canton, Ill., badly injured.
Mrs. ELLEN McCRILL, of Keithsburg, Ill., slightly hurt.
ALBERT F. WEST, of Sandbank, Oswego County, N.Y., bruised.
W. HUME, Des Moines, badly bruised.
L.B. SPENCER, Lathrop, Iowa, badly bruised.
DAVID MORGAN, New-Sharon, Iowa, nose broken and face scratched.
JACOB SPRING, Athens, Ohio, badly bruised in both hips and back.
DENNIS SHANNON, Ohio, badly bruised in breast and right leg.
MORRIS HARRINGTON, Muscatine, Iowa, badly cut in the back.
LOUIS HARRINGTON, son of above, cut slightly.
CHARLES BROWNING, badly scalded in the breast.
Mrs. MARY HUFF, Norwalk, Iowa, severely injured.
DUNCAN CAMPBELL, Tiskilwa, Ill., cut badly.
Mrs. DUNCAN CAMPBELL, severely injured.
NORA CAMPBELL, daughter of above, severely bruised.
C.C. COLVIN, Rose, Wayne County, N.Y., internal injuries.
DR. N.S. GUIBERSON, Philadelphia, Penn., nervous shock.
S. HOLTZ, Iowa City, Iowa, severely.
Mrs. D.D. OSBORN, Avoca, Iowa, slightly.
Mrs. J.S. JONES, Prophetstown, Ill., slightly.
Mrs. C. FOLLET, Moline, Ill., slightly.
Mrs. J.L. GRAHAM, Bloomfield, slightly.
E.H.H. JONES, Des Moines, badly hurt.
GEORGE W. SPURLOCK, Competine, Wapello County, Iowa, cut slightly.

The bridge was over what is known as Little Four-Mile Creek, nine miles east of Des Moines. It is a little stream, generally quiet, and never before known to be as high as it was made by the unprecidented rain-fall of yesterday morning and the night before. The bridge rested on a stone arch, 12 feet in the clear, with walls five feet thick. The bridge is approached from the east round a curve and down a grade. It is thought the rails were left standing alone. As the train approached the engineer slackened his speed till he came in sight of the bridge, and supposing that all was right, dashed upon it. The channel of the stream was 40 or 50 feet wide, and the banks about 20 feet high. The locomotive landed at the foot of the western side and half buried itself in the earth. Barnum's car was next to the engine, and it dropped into the channel. The mail car followed, passing directly over it and mashing it to pieces, but going to the bottom, a bar of iron running clear through it. The men in that car escaped alive. Even the lamps were not put out. The first passenger car pitched down into the channel where the water was at least 15 feet deep. The next car plunged under this, telescoping with it; and the next telescoped half through both of the two preceding it. The sleeping car did not go into the creek. Its occupants were jarred but none of them seriously hurt. The most of the killed were in the car in front of the sleeper. The scene at the timeof the accident is thus described: "A horrific rain was falling in torrents, accompanied by wind, lightning, and thunder. The crash put out the lights, and the scene of terror which ensued may be imagined. The men who were not injured, and could get out, went to work at once to rescue the living and wounded. They had to go a mile to a farm house to get axes to chop them out, but they worked heroically, and by daylight had most of the wounded rescued. There were many pitiful scenes and tender incidents. One mother wa killed while sitting between two children, who escaped unhurt. One little girl, who had lain in the water for four hours with a heavy man lying dead beneath her body, was discovered to be breathing, and was rescued and restored, and now shows no signs of injury. The dead were brought here on a train, reaching here at 11 o'clock. Some 25 of the wounded came with them. The officers of the road were at the wreck all day caring for the dead and wounded.

All the wounded brought here are doing well, and the physicians are confident none will die. The dead were brought here last night, and several bodies were forwarded this afternoon to their friends. The work of clearing the wreck where it was driven into the mud and soft earth is going on to-day. Two bodies are known to be in the debris, and it is feared there may be three or four more, as that number of passengers is still missing. The body supposed last night to be that of Jaffry A. Price, of Cincinnati, was to-day identified as A.V. Flowers, of Wisconsin.

MR. TURNER UNINJURED.

Messrs. Turner, Lee & McClure, of this City, have received a dispatch from Mr. H.B. Turner, in which he says that he was in the sleeping-car of the wrecked train and escaped without any injury whatever.

The New York Times, New York, N.Y. 31 Aug 1891

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Transcribed by Tim Taugher. Thanks, Tim!