Odessa, MO Train Wreck, May 1909 - Cars Take a Tumble

CARS TAKE A TUMBLE

LOCAL TRAIN ON ALTON WRECKED NEAR ODESSA, MO.

FEW OF PASSENGERS ESCAPE

NEARLY ALL SUFFER HURTS, TWO PROBABLY FATALLY.

Engine Alone Remains on Track, Balance of Train Going Over an Embankment – Accident Not Explained.

Kansas City, May 15.- Two persons are expected to die and thirty-five others are more or less seriously injured as a result of a local Chicago & Alton passenger train No. 14 being derailed two miles east of Odessa, Mo., today. Only the engine remained on the track, the tender, combination baggage and passenger car and two passenger coaches being derailed. The coupling of the rear coach broke and it rolled down the embankment, turning completely over. It was in this car that the serious injuries occurred, and none of its occupants escaped unhurt.

Miss Jennie Donaldson and Myrtle McNeel, both of Odessa, are in critical condition and their recovery is despaired of. Many of the others are bruised and internally injured, but physicians say they have an even chance to live.

No explanation of the wreck has been found. It has been learned that the front wheels of the tender were the first to leave the rails and the following trucks were thrown off by them, but an examination of the track shows nothing to indicate why the tender was derailed.

Investigation to Be Made.

Chief Engineer W. B. Taylor of Chicago and other officials of the road will hold an investigation at the scene of the wreck tomorrow.

As most of the injured live in Odessa or surrounding towns they were taken home, almost every vehicle in Odessa, being pressed into service. A relief train was sent from Kansas City, but none of the injured were brought here. Those who were bound for eastern points were able to continue their journey.

The dangerously hurt:
Mrs. Mary Cox and two daughters, of Stilwell, Okla.
Miss Ames Donaldson, Odessa, Mo., will probably die.
Miss Alvin Stewart, Odessa.
Mrs. M. C. Moore, Columbia, Mo.
Myrtle McNeel, Odessa, arm broken.
Mrs Richard Powell, Odessa.
Miss Vera Hammond, Odessa.

The less seriously hurt:
Mr. and Mrs. McGuire, Springfield, Ill., bruises.
Press Owens, Baes [Bates] City, Mo., cuts and bruises.
Grace Campbell, Bates City, not serious.
Argyl Dougherty, Odessa, not serious.
Norville King, Bates City, Mo., cuts.
Maggie and Lizzie Jeffry, Odessa, bruises.
Herbert Dean, Bates City, head cut.
Eva Williamson, Chapel Hill, Mo., legs hurt.
Miss Parker, Chapel Hill, Mo., bruises.
J. Sauvain, Higginsville, Mo., bruises.
Herbert England, Girard, Ill., shoulder and head injured.
J. Z. Adams, Dallas and brother, J. E. Adams, Sarcoxie, Mo., both cut by glass.
Robert Lewis, Bates City, back wrenched.
Miss Ada Finch, Bates City, leg broken.
Kingyoun Gillespie, Bates City, head injured.
Ora Oliver, Bates City, seriously injured.
Miss Buleah Gammon, Odessa, head injured.
Miss May Drake, Odessa, arm and leg broken.
Mrs. James Drake, Odessa, bruised.
E. Hughes, Mexico, Mo., head and side hurt.
W. R. Belt, Higginsville, Mo., leg hurt.
George Hamilton, Independence, Mo., arm broken.
Fred Hall, Rosedale, Mo., head injured.
Conductor A. J. Fell, Slater, Mo., scalp cuts.
C. E. Higfill, Columbia, Mo., head and legs hurt.

All Three Cars Derailed

The train was made up of three cars and engine. All the cars and the tender left the track. The engine stuck to the rails. The rear car turned over two or three times and most of those hurt were in this car. None of the passengers in the smoker was injured.

Several of the dangerously hurt were rendered unconscious, and it was a long time before their names were learned. Those of the crew and the passengers not hurt immediately set to work giving the first aid to the injured. In response to a telephone message sent from a nearby farmhouse, all the physicians in Odessa were rushed to the scene. While a relief train was started out of Kansas City All kinds of vehicles were pressed into service at Odessa, and the injured were taken into that city and to farmhouses skirting the track. The sufferers were cared for in the hotels and in private homes.

The injuries of many were confined to cuts and bruises.

The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, NE, 16 May 1909