Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1907 — COLLISION ON THE BIG FOOR RAILWAY. [ARTICLE]

COLLISION ON THE BIG FOOR RAILWAY.

Twenty-five Persons Are Killed in Disastrous Wreck. MANY ROASTED ALIVE Queen City Special Smashes Into a Freight at Fowler, Ind. Combination Car of Paaaenger Train la Crushed. to Splinters and Takes ' Fire—Those Who Did Not Die by Shock Are Slowly Burned to Death —Fog Obscured a Signal. Twenty-five persons were killed in the wreck of Big Four passenger train No. 38 near Fowler, Ind., Saturday, twenty of whom were burned alive, and forty others were injured. Those killed were nearly all in the combination car, which took fire and burned. The sleeping cars were not wrecked. The wrecked train was Queen City Special, east-bound, front Chicago, and Was going fifty miles an hour. Owing to a dense fog the engineer of the flyer was unable to see the light on the semaphore, which directed him to stop, as a west-bound freight had the right of way. The train dispatcher, knowing that the dense fog would prevent the trainmen from seeing the block signal, went outside and waved his lantern frantically and fired at least half a dozen shots from his revolver, but the train went crashing by and a moment later the crash came, the passenger running into the freight, head on. The tender of No. 38 telescoped The baggage car, the rear end of the tender cut through to within ten feet of the rear of the smoker. The firemen of both trains were killed instantly, but the engineers escaped by jumping. The report of the collision was heard all over the town. Fire bells and whistles called the people to the aid of the injured. Immediately following the crash The wreckage caught fire and the people were burned before they could be extricated from the ruin& The heat of the burning cars was so intense that the rescuers could not gos near enough to help.

Crushed Like au Eggshell. The trains met three-quarters of a mile east of Fowler. Both were at top speed. When they struck the engines were welded together. The combination car, first in the passenger train, was crushed like an eggshell under the impact of the sleepers behind. Before the grinding, splintering mass had time to settle bright flames sprang up in half a dozen places. The combination car was smashed to kindling and much of its wreckage, tossed up on the hissing locomotive wreckage, burned fiercely. In a few minutes the wind had driven the fire back into the first sleeping car. Its occupants knew the car would burn and before the fire attacked it had fled, some of them in night attire. All the coaches, except the sleepers and the private car of Vice President Schaff, were destroyed. Of the pasengers known to have been in the combination coach at the head of the train only five were rescued. Most of the others died horrible deaths by fire and steam, pinned in the wreckage of the car.