Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 October 1893 — MORE RAILROAD WRECKS. [ARTICLE]

MORE RAILROAD WRECKS.

Twenty-Five Killed at IfcOtleCreek. Mich. 0 Another Wvaek mi the Illinois nnesmi greeba Near KxalikM —Hmrrikle Hceini, Ths worst railroad accident known foi years occurred about 4 o’clock. Friday morning, in the yards of the Chicago <6 Grand Trunk road, elose by the roundhouse of Battle Creek, Mieb., by which at least twenty-five persons lost their litei and double as man? more were badly injured. A Raymond <fc Whitcomb special train of passengers from New York and Boston, who were returning from Chicago, was in charge of conductor Scott and engineer Wooley, and took orders at Battle Creek station to meet at Nichols No. 9, the Pacific express going west, due at Battle Creek station at 1:35 o’clock, but which was nearly three hours late. The conductor or engineer, or both,of the Raymond special,disobeyed orders,passed Nichols station and their train collided with the Pacific express coming west at the rate of about thirty miles an hour. The twe engines were driven into each other and are a total wreck. The engineers andfiremen, when they saw that a collision was inevitable, shut off steam, reversed their engines, put on brakes>nd all jumped and escaped withput serious injury. The engineer of the Pacific express was named Gril Granshaw and the conductor was named Burk. The latter was badly hurt by 'being caught in the cars. The passengers in the four coaehes were more or less Injured, and from one of them (No. 13) called “the unlucky coach,’’ which has been in several accidents before, there were twenty-five dead bodies taken from the wreck in the morning by the firemen. They were pinioned under leats and jammed up against the end of the coach by the next coach, which had telescoped it, and then burned to death. The accident happened a mile from the sre station, and before water could be turned on the cars were all destroyed and the bodies burned so as to be unrecognizajle. Nearly all had their heads, arms or egs burned off and cannot be identified ret. As the second coach crashed through it swept the people in the north end of the third car to the vicinity of the stove, where most of the bodies were afterward found. The car immediately took fire and nan instant was all ablaze. The night rardmen and neighbors in the vincinity ■ushed to the rescue as soon as possible. Those who saved themselves smashed out the windows and climbed through. Three inly got out on the left aids' and about six 'rom the right of the coach; all the rest perished. The New Orleans limited over the Illilois Central road, with every coach full of >f World’s Fair passengers, was wrecked >y colliding with a coal train, three miles >eyond Kankakee, at 11 o’clock Thursday light. Eight persons were seriously ininred and many more suffered from bruise that did not require the attention of a turgeon. A head-on collision occurred on the’ Pittsburg, FL Wayne & Chicago railroad sear Monroeville, 0., Sunday morning, because of a dense fog. A bad wreck resulted. The engineer and fireman of one train were badly injured. Two lives were tost