KANSAS CITY, KS – A Missouri Pacific passenger tain, north-bound, leaving here at 9:15 o’clock Sunday night, was wrecked at Wolf Creek, Kan., one and one-half miles east of Hiawatha at midnight Sunday night, by running into a bunch of horses. The engineer and fireman were killed, express messenger, baggageman and conductor badly injured and three passengers hurt, one of them severely.
The dead are: Ed Nye, engineer, Kansas City, aged 40 years, leave wife; Patrick Connor, fireman, aged 32, Kansas City, leaves wife and three children. The injured are: John H. Meyers, conductor, Kansas City, slightly injured; Jack Appleton, Kansas City, slightly hurt; H. A. Kemp, express messenger, badly scratched and bruised; Mr. Meadows, traveling man, Atchison, Kan., two legs broken; L. F. Bacon, Kansas City, traveling passenger and ticket agent of the Santa Fe, slightly injured. Two of the other passengers, names unknown, were badly bruised. Bacon sent a message to his wife in this city, stating that he was able to be around and would be home.
The train consisted of engine, baggage and two chair cars and one sleeper, and carried a light load. All but the sleeper were overturned. The engine turned over on Engineer Nye and Fireman Connor and crushed them to death. The passengers managed to escape with comparative ease, but it was some time before aid from Hiawatha was received for the injured. A train bearig physicians left here for the scene and will bring the dead and injured to this city. Engineer Nye was one of the oldest engineer in the service, having been on the road for fourteen years.
J. B. Meador, one of the injured in the wreck, died at 9 o’clock Monday morning. Meador traveled for a Leavenworth grocery house and lived in Atchison. Five horses on the track caused the wreck. The grade was down hill. The horses were standing in a bunch on a curve and could not have been seen till within seventy-five yards. Evidently the engineer caught the first glimpse of them as he rounded the curve and realized that he could not stop, and pulled the throttle open. Four of the horses were thrown clear off the rails. The fifth went under the wheels. The engine turned entirely over, laning with its nose pointing in the opposite direction to which it had been traveling. The baggage, smoker and chair car were piled up in a heap. The fireman and engineer jumped, but were caught under the engine. Connor being killed instantly and Nye living but ten minutes. Drummer Meador of Atchison was seated in the middle of the smoker. The car fell over against the engine and his leg was caught and smashed by a heavy timber. Before he could be extricated, steam from the engine cooked his flesh horribly. He was cared for as well as possible, but died in terrible agony. Austerland will probably die. The Kansas City Sun, Kansas City, Kansas. Tuesday, March 16, 1897. Page 1. (c) Transcribed by Darren McMannis for the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies, Inc.
