PLUNGE IN WASHOUT

SIXTEEN KILLED IN ROCK ISLAND WRECK IN KANSAS.

FLOOD CARRIES OUT TRACK

DOWNPOUR OF RAIN INDIRECT CAUSE OF DISASTER.

Most of Victims Occupants of Smoker-Members of Topeka Ball Team on Train, But Escape Injury.

CLAYTON, Kas., Sept 23.—Sixteen persons lost their lives and thirteen others suffered injuries in the wreck early this morning, two miles east of the town, of west-bound Rock Island passenger train No. 27, which was due in Denver at 8:25 this morning from Kansas City.

The Dead.
F. PICKENBAUGH, Goodland, Kas., engineer.
A.V. KAUFFMAN, Kansas City, baggageman.
J.W. USHER, Denver, conductor.
WILLIAM MILLS, fireman.
HERMAN MUELLER, Smith Center, Kas.
JOHN SLOOP, Boyle, Kas.
W.E. SHIVELY, Agra, Kas.
GILBERT H. IVANS, Fullerton, Kas.
SEVEN UNIDENTIFIED.

The Injured.
C.D. BRACKEN, lineman, Goodland, Kas., arm injured.
MRS. H. F. SCOTT, Fennings, Kansas, right arm broken.
VICTOR ENGLE, Birmingham, Ala., bruised and cut; not serious.
MRS. T. H. EVANS, Langlon, Kas., head cut.
JOHN ZIGLER, Stratton, Col., head and face cut.
D. DUGES, no address, side cut.
A.H. AVIS, Blue Rapids, Kas., left leg broken.
MRS. ANNA SMITH, Colorado Springs, Col., head and chest cut.
C.A. SMITH, Colorado Springs, Col., hand and wrist cut.
HENRY AHLERS, Meta, Mo., slightly injured.
HELEN BENSON, Colorado Springs, Col., slight.
E.F. MURPHY, passenger, Goodland, Kas., slight.
F.L. ONLY, mail clerk, Burr Oak, Kas., slight.

Most of the dead and injured were in the smoke and one of the day coaches.

Caused by a Cloudburst.

The wreck was the result of a cloudburst, which carried out a heavy fill over what is normally almost a dry bed, turning the latter into a torrent many yards wide and twenty-two feet deep, and washing out nearly a thousand feet of track in the vicinity of the wreck. The train, running at full speed, plunged into the gap, the engine and mail car going down into twenty feet of water, and the chair car almost telescoped the smoker ahead of it, many of the passengers in these two cars being almost instantly killed. Others were carried into the raging stream with the wreckage, and it was many hours before their bodies could be recovered.

Passengers in the Pullman and other day coach, hurled from the berths and chairs by the shock, hurried out into the storm and rendered what aid they could to the injured and in extricating the mangled bodies of the dead. Others hurried to Clayton, where news of the accident was wired to division headquarters and within half an hour physicians and nurses and a wreck train were being hurried to the scene from Norton, Colby, Goodland and Phillipsburg. It was not until late this afternoon, however, that the last bodies were recovered from the wreck.

Members of the Topeka baseball team of the Western league, on their way to Denver were occupants of the Pullman, but escaped injury.

Runs Right Into the Flood.

The train was running practically on time and was proceeding on a straight stretch of track. Evidently the first intimation that the engineer had of any danger came when he realized that the forward portion of the train was running in water which had spread out over the tracks near the fill. Reversing the engine checked the speed of the train, but not enough to prevent the engine, baggage car and the smoker remaining tilted on the earth bank, and the chair car ripped its way into the smoker, smashing it to pieces and killing or injuring many passengers.

The chair car itself was considerably damaged, and several passengers riding in this car were hurt. So far as can be learned here tonight, all the passengers killed were occupants of the smoker.

To the coolness and quick wits of Engineer Pickinbaugh, who lost his life, is attributed the saving of the lives of those who escaped, numbering a hundred or more. It is certain that he could have jumped and saved himself, but he remained at this post and did everything possible to prevent the train running into the ditch. Examination of the engine and airbrakes show that he had reversed the engine and set the air in an effort to check the train. The three Pullmans remained on the track and the occupants of these cars were unhurt.

As soon as communication was had with the division headquarters at Clayton, and Norton, wrecking crews and doctors and nurses were dispatched to the scene from Phillipsburg. The dead and injured were placed on the relief train and taken to Norton, Kas., where the injured were put in a hospital. None of the injured is in a serious condition, and it is reported that all will be able to leave for their homes in a few days.

The washout was repaired late this evening and traffice [sic] resumed..

The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, NE 24 Sept 1910

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Topeka Team in a Wreck.

DENVER, Sept. 23.-The Topeka team of the Western baseball league, which was scheduled to play a four game series with Denver here today, winding up the bal (sic) season at Denver, was in the wreck of Rock Island passenger train No. 27, near Clayton, Kas. The game scheduled for today has been postponed until tomorrow, when a double-header will be played.

The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, NE 24 Sept 1910

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BODIES TERRIBLY MANGLED.

Identification of Six Victims of Kansas Wreck Difficult.

NORTON, Kas., Sept. 24.-Six dead bodies, bruised and twisted into shapeless things, remained to be identified here today when officials of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad resumed their work of reconstruction, following the wreck two miles east of Clayton, early yesterday, in which sixteen persons were killed and eleven injured.

It is unlikely that the task can be completed soon. All the bodies were searched, and every clue which might lead to identification was carefully followed up. For this reason officials fear the full death list will not be made up until the remaining victims are traced through inquiries received from relatives.

In some instances steam, which arose in clouds from the engine as it plunged into the water, scalded the bodies, which increased the difficulty of identification. Survivors say the cars were filled with steam, and that it was possible to breath [sic] only when crawling along the floor of the coaches. Inquiry into the reason why no warning was given when the long stretch of track was washed away has been instituted by the railroad officials.

The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, NE 25 Sept 1910
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Transcribed by Stephanie . Thank you, Stephanie!