| Show PLUNGED INTO ABYSS MANY LIVES LOST IN RAILWAY ACCIDENT IN COLORADO passenger tra n crashes through bridge passengers and crew be ing drowned in the rag ng torrent the wreck of the world s fair flyer on the denver rio grande ra broad near eden seven miles north of pu eblo colo proves to have been one of the greatest railroad disasters in the history of this country two crowded passenger cars and a bag gage car were engulfed in the tor rent that tore out a trestle spanning stee e s hollow otherwise known as dry creek and so far as known only three of the occupants of these cars escaped death fortunately two sleepers and a diner completing the train remained on the ack at the edge of the abyss and none of their occupants was killed or injured how many perished probably will never be definitely ascertained for the treacherous sands are drifting over the bodies at last reports sev enty six bodies had been recovered and of these fifty had been identified two bodies were taken from the stream eight miles from the scene of the disaster it seems that the train crew were on the lookout for washouts and en gincer charles hindman was running cautiously about fifteen miles an hour as he approached the arroya which is spanned by a bridge ninety six feet in length the condition of the bridge was not known until the loco mothe had nearly crossed fire man frank mayfield with a large torch that the engineer and fireman had been using to ascertain the con of the track was in he gang way when engineer hindman felt the tremor in the great machine and caught a glimmer on the water he shouted his last words put out that torch evidently thinking that in the accident he felt certain was corn ing the flames would serve to spread alre but before mayfield ld could obey the bridge gave way as it it had been a stack of kindling wood and the locomotive dropped with the hissing of steam through thirty feet of flood to the bottom of the arroya crosswise to the track the baggage car smoking car and chair car followed the locomotive into the stream and were sept away all the occupants of these cars save three men perished and had not the roof of the chair car burst asunder not one would have escaped the fireman as the locomotive went over was thrown out and managing to grasp a piece of krecl age from the bridge floated th that to a curve made by the cading bank and crept out of the water he then rushed to a telegraph office nearby and gave the alarm two sleep ng cara and the diner stopped at the brink of the hungry chasm |
