Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 85, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 April 1913 — FORMER JASPERITES IN A FREIGHT WRECK [ARTICLE]

FORMER JASPERITES IN A FREIGHT WRECK

Residents of Davison County, S. Dak., Have Narrow Escape On Milwaukee Road. Six former Jasper county people, now all residents of Davison county, S. Dak., near Mitchell and Mt. Vernon, were in a railroad wreck on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road Sunday night, or rather Monday morning, at 2 o’clock, and all received bruises of greater or less severity. The persons who were on the train and who formerly lived in this county were, R. B. Porter an son, Bruce; William and Elmer Kenton, Will O. Clark and Samuel Parker. All were shipping stock to Chicago and were riding in a passenger coach attached to the stock train. The train was composed of thirty stock cars, all loaded, mostly with cattle and hogs. There were twenty-four shippers and on account of this large number a coach was provided for their use and the caboose was attached to the rear of the coach. It was this fact thjat saved the lives of all, quite probably. At Fairdale, 111., a wheel on the front stock car broke down, and could not be moved. The engine switched back to the rear end and started to back the train about four miles in order to get around the broken car. It was running without light, so it is reported, and was hit head-on by another section of the train, which was also composed of about 30 cars of stock. The second section was only running about 15 miles an hour when hit but was going down grade. Its engine hit the rear of the train in which the stockmen of the first section were riding and that engine plowed its way through the caboose and into the rear of the coach, splitting the coach right in two. The sides fell outward and most of the pasengers scrambled out. Bruce Porter, Sr., was pinned down some seats and was released by his son-in-law, Will Clark, and for soihe time they were unable to find Brute, Jr., who 1 had been (Concluded on Page Four.)