Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 226, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 September 1910 — TRACTION WRECK KILLS 37 PEOPLE NEAR BLUFFTON. [ARTICLE]

TRACTION WRECK KILLS 37 PEOPLE NEAR BLUFFTON.

Head End Collision of Traction Cars On Wabash Talley Line Probably Caused by Carelessness. Thirty-seven people, mostly men, and largely residents of Bluftton, were killed and 8- injured in a head T on collision between two trolley cars on the tracks of the Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley Traction Co. The superintendent of the company stated Wednesday night that the responsibility for the wreck probably lay with B. T. Corkwell, motorman of the southbound train, who is supposed to have had orders to hold his train until the north bound train had passed at Ossian. The disaster is rated as the worst in interurban history and occurred at a sharp curve one-fourth of a mile north of the little town of Kingsland, 6 miles from Bluffton? The road is operated on the block system and the trails run subject ? to dispatcher's orders. All of the train crews escaped with their lives, and Corkwell is in a Fort Wayne hospital with slight scalp wounds.

Most of the deaths were instantaneous and after the shock of the crash there was a maddening yell for help from the injured and dying who were pinned beneath the wreckage. There were forty-six passengers on the two trains and 37 were killed, 8 injured, two of whom may die, and only one escaped injury altogether. The crash made by the trains running together was heard by farmers and residents of Kingsland and soon many had gathered at the scene of the wreck and were aiding in getting the bodies out. Relief trains were sent out from Bluffton and Fort Wayne, carrying physicians. Conductor Spiller. of the Bluffton local, was practically uninjured and it was this fact that enabled him to perform a deed of heroism which probably averted another accident of even larger proportions. When Spiller saw the extent of the catastrophe be ran back toward Kingsland and flagged and Btopped the Indianapolis Limited, which was coming at full speed. In a few seconds, had it not been stopped, it would have crashed into the struggling and dying mass of humanity which was left in the wake of the crash.

John R. Boyd, of Marlon, Ind., was probably the only passenger aboard the 111-fated local car who wholly escaped. He was the last passenger to get aboard th© car at Bluffton, where a large number of people en .route to the local fair had taken passage. The people were packed tightly In the rear end of the car arid it waß some little time after the car started before Mr. Boyd managed to get above the steps on the rear platform owing to the crowded condition of the car. Especial local interest is given to the wreck by reason of the fact that former Rensselaer people live near Bluffton, viz. James Babcbck and Harley Lamson. A list of the dead and injured follows: THE DEAD. Pearl Sayler, Bluffton. Prank King, Warren. Myrtle Falk, near Bluffton. Mrs. Frank King, Warren. H. D. Cook, grocer, Bluffton. Ernest Crouse, Bluffton. R. L. Folk, traveling man, Bryan, O. Joseph Edens, city fireman, Hartford City. Ben C. Cramer, umbrella mender, unknown. S. E. Thompson, student in University of Michigan, Warren, Ind. Harry Daugherty, Warren, Ind. Jacob Schwartz, Uniondale. Alex. Hyde, Pennvllle, Ind. W. E. Bowman, Bluffton. Thomas Gordon, Bluffton. Fred B. Tam, liveryman, Bluffton. George Smetherst, .Warren, Ind. O. P, Zimmer, hardware dealer, Bluffton. J. W. Tribolet, real estate, Bluffton. W. D. Burgan, real estate, Bluffton. James Reed, Soldiers* Home, Marion, Ind. Mrs. Hiram Falk, near Bluffton. L. C. Justus, Bluffton, general manager Bluffton. Geneva & Cellna line. Lloyd Brown, Bluffton. S. Stuckey, Vera Crus. William Beers, night policeman, Bluffton.. . - - Joseph Sawyer, Bluffton. Jesse E. Huffman, Marlon.

Seymour H. Robinson, Democratic canditdate for auditor of Wells county, Bluffton. Charles Raber, Uniondale. Mrs. Blanche Smith, Mdhtpelier, Ind Harold Nelson, Bluffton. John Johnson, Markle. Daniel Debach, Petroleum. Joe , Bluffton, a Greek piano polisher. Unidentified man, 60 years old, supposed to be of East St. Louis, 111. Unidentified woman, believed to be from Hartford City, Ind. - THE INJURED. F. A. Parkhurst, Bluffton, broken spine and head wounds, will die. Fred W. Jones, Warren, banker, crashed bones both llmbß. C. M. Brown, Warren, both legs broken; may recover. Miss Margaret Tribolet, Bluffton, concussion of thb brain and-, internal injuries. John Eichenberger, Berne, legs broken and Internally Injured. Mrs. W. D. Burgan, Bluffton,-broken leg and dangerous body wounds. B. T. Corkwell, Fort Wayne, scalp wounds, wjll recover. ~ Charley Van Dyne, Fort Wayne, motorman. Injured about head.