Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1893 — A BIG FOUR WRECK. [ARTICLE]

A BIG FOUR WRECK.

Frightful Causalty Due to Carelessness Near Kankakee. Eight Killed and Sixteen Injured, Many of Whom Will Die. At 9:20 Monday night, the second section of the south-bound Big Four passenger train crashed into the rear of the first section, that had stopped unexpectedly at a point ten miles north of Kankakee, teleescoping one sleeper and two coaches, killing eight people and seriously Injuring a large number, some probably fatally. The rear cars of theft rst section were the Ohio <fc Mississippi sleeper and tiyo chair cars, all fairly well filled with passengers. As soon as the extent of the disaster was realized physicians were telegraphed-for to Kankakee and Manteno, and ten arrived *t 11:40. The work of rescue was Immediately begun, and one by one the horribly mutilated bodies of the dead were removed

from a pile of wreckage, in n in the forward can. although tuey -received a severe shaking up, and many were badly cut and bruised, were foremost in the work of caring for the injured. They were taken as soon as possible to Manteno, where they are being cared for under the direction of the railroad officials. f None of the trainmen are ableto account for the wreck, as a man was sent back from the first section as soon as the stop, which was made necessary bysome defective machinery in the locomotive, was made. This flagman has not been seen since the wreck, and he is probably the only man who can give the real cause of the disaster. It is thought by the railroad officials that the second section was running at a pretty good speed, having no intimation that the first section would stop at this unexpected point, and that the flagman failed to get back a sufficient distance to enable the engineer of the second train to reduce, his speed. .’ The coroner’s inquest at Kankakee, Tuesday, developed the fact that Thomas Amos, the engineer of the second section was criminally negligent. The evidence showed that both sections of the train were late. The details of the casualty are heartrending to the last degree. The ; Big Four officials believe that the responsibility for the wreck will not fall upon their employes, as the accident occurred on the leased tracks of the Illinois Central. Trains of the Big Four on that division are run by motive power burnished by the Central and all trains are run under its rules and subject to the orders of its dispatchers.