Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1912 — FATAL WRECK ON THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL. [ARTICLE]

FATAL WRECK ON THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL.

Former President Haraban of the Illlt* nois Central and Others Lost Life Sunday Night. A rear end collision occurred at about 12:30 o’clock 'Sunday night at Kinmundy station, 111., on the Illinois Central railroad that cost the lives of James T. Harahan, former president of the road; F. O. Melcher, vicepresident and general manager of the Rock Island road; E, B. Peirce, general solicitor of the Rock Island, and E. E. Wright, son of Gen. Luke Wright, former secretary of war. The wreck occurred when a south bound passenger train crashed into the rear of the New Orleans flier at the Kinmundy, 111., station. Mr. Harahan’s private coach, which was coupled to the rear of the New Orleans train, was demolished by the Impact. The former railway president was on his way to Memphis, Tenn. The New Orleans train left Chicago at 6:50 yesterday afternoon.

Thirty-five passengers, most of whom were unidentified, were taken from the wreckage injured. At an early hour tnis Monday morning it was reported that many passengers were still pinioned under*the debris of the splintered coaches. Hundreds of citizens hurried from their'homes to the scene of the tragedy and helped the survivors drag the dead and dying from beneath the mass of wreckage., ■ > , Fire from the overturned locomotive communicated itself to the coalfehes and to the horror of the first catastrophy was added the fear of the death of many injured persons in the flames. Mr. Harahan’s train, No. 25, had just drawn into the Kinmundy station, when without warning passenger train No. 3 running at a high rate of speed swung into the stationary coaches. The rear lights of train No. 25 are supposed to have become extinguished in some manner and the engineer of the following train failed to see the danger in time to apply his brakes. With a .crash, that was heard for nearly two inilfes the pilot of train No. 3 drove into the beavy private coach uot the ex-railway president Mr. Harahan, with his friends,-was seated in the rear of the coach. None was aware of the danger. The pilot of the oncoming locomotive pjdwed for twenty feet into the vestibuled private coach, instantly killing every person in that part of the car. Mr. Harahan was tossed through the splintering roof of the coach and was picked up dead a few feet away from the wreckage. His body was fearfully cut and bruised and many bones were broken.,. j A few feet from hie body of * Mr. Harahan was founa. the body of Mr. Peirce. The bodies of Melcher and E. E. Wright were found partially pinioned beneath a fallen mass oT -crushed wood and twisted ironwork. They were dragged out by railway men andplaced at the side of the track. The front end of the Harahan car telescoped into the coach ahead/and a number of passengers asleep in their berths were injured, some of them fatally. The fireman of train No. 3 jumped when he wap within fifty feet of the stationary train. He picked himself up uninjured and helped the other trainmen rescue the injured. A wrecking train was sent out from Central ia twenty minutes after tragedy, beaming a corps of nurses and doctors. The wounded were placed in one of the coaches of the forward train and taken to a hospital at Centralis. - In an open field beside the track a temporary hospital was established, and as soon as the injured were taken out they were placed under the care of surgeons. were performed by the light of -lanterns before , the victims were placed in the hospital coach.