MILLER, Franklin Perry
Source: Pueblo County, Colorado Adobe Train Wreck March 16, 1906
Telluride Daily Journal - March 16, 1906 -
Frightful Wreck - Fast Passenger Trains Meet in Head On Collision - Flames Consume Wreck Cremating the Dead and Dying Victims - Accident Happens 30 Miles West of Pueblo at 2 O'Clock This Morning - Over Fifty Killed; Nearly as Bad as Eden Wreck - Telluride People on the Train - Pueblo, Colo., Mar. 16 - In a blinding snow storm which prevailed last night in the Arkansas Valley, trains No. 16, east bound, and No. 3, west bound on the Denver & Rio Grande collided head-on near Portland, Colorado, about thirty miles west of Pueblo, about 2 o'clock this morning. Latest reports say about forty are killed and it is known that at least seventeen are injured. Confusion of orders is said to be the cause. Many wild rumors are in circulation to the effect that 150 are killed. It is not believed however, the dead will exceed forty although both trains were well loaded. A heavy snow storm continues and the suffering is great. The worst railroad wreck since the memorable Eden disaster occurred at 2 o'clock this morning on the D. &. R. G. near Adobe. East bound No. 16 crashed into west bound No. 3, telescoping the forward cars on each train. The coaches at once took fire and flames completed the horror begun by the collision. The number of dead is estimated at from fifty upwards. The number of injured is placed at twenty-five. The cause of the wreck is attributed to a failure to deliver orders to No. 16, so that No. 3 could pass here. Among the physicians who rendered assistance was Dr. F. N. Cochams, of Salida, who was on No. 16, but escaped injury. He at once entered upon searching for the wounded. He was assisted by doctors from Florence, who were soon on the scene. Most of the victims were pinned under the wreckage and burned before help could reach them. Most of the injured were on No. 3, which was heavily loaded. No. 16 carried comparatively few passengers and these escaped with slight shaking up. One name, whose name could not be learned, was the only one of a family of ten who escaped. He lost his father, mother, wife, three children, brother and two other relatives. Three of the crew of No. 3 were killed and two of No. 16. One of the engineers on No. 3, which was a double header, was found dead with his hand on the throttle. McParland, a relative of the famous detective, an express messenger is among the dead. Many of the bodies will never be identified because of the fact of their being burned to a crisp and unrecognizable. Part of the mail was destroyed, and also the express matter. Relief trains were at once dispatched from Pueblo and Florence, but were necessarily slow because of the smoke and cold. The first train bearing the injured reached Pueblo shortly after 6 o'clock. The recovered bodies of identified dead are: William Hollis, engineer No. 16; E. M. McParland, express messenger No. 16; Hugh Sudluth, fireman of No. 16; Walter Coslett, engineer first engine No. 3. A. H. Smith, fireman to Engineer Coslett, stated he saw the headlight of train No. 16 as it rounded the curve about 200 yards distant. He went to the engineers side and saw him at the emergency brake. Grant Kelker, engineer of the second engine on No. 3, and Harry Hartman, his fireman, both noticed the headlight of No. 16 as it rounded the curve. Kelker yelled "Look out" and applied the emergency brakes. Both escaped by jumping. Engineer Kelker stated he barely recovered himself when the whole train seemed to be on fire. Train No. 3 was composed of a mail car, express car, two day coaches, two tourist and two standard sleepers. All the sleepers were saved, none of the occupants being injured. All three engines are practically demolished and piled on top of each other. The first three cars of No. 16 were piled on to each other, but before the wreckage took fire, most of the passengers were removed. According to a statement of a passenger in the front coach of No. 3, there were only eight or ten vacant seats. Two men, J. L. Lawton of Bellflower, Missouri, and S. H. Sweeny of Trenton, Missouri escaped with slight injuries. Sweeny was pulled from the mass of wreckage just before the fire reached him. The place where the trains came together was near mile post 147. The trains were rounding a sharp curve, around a high bluff. It was impossible for the enginemen to see the other train until within about two hundred yards of each other. At this point the Santa Fe and Rio Grande tracks run close together and it was easy for the enginemen to suppose the oncoming train was on the Santa Fe tracks. Snow began falling at midnight, and severe cold added to the suffering of the victims. According to the first orders the trains were supposed to meet at Adobe, within half a mile of the scene of the wreck. At Florence No. 16 received orders to meet No. 3 at Beaver, five miles east of Portland. It is supposed No. 3 was to have been given similar orders at Swallows, but failing to receive these ran on to Adobe. The injured are: T. H. Webb, Yampa, Colorado, slight; Bert Meyers, Pottsville, Missouri, slight; W. L. Hewitt, Lebo, Kansas, slight; Claude Robinson, Denver, serious; E. Goldbery, Denver, slight; W. R. Page, Yampa, seriously; Ralph Britton, Brighton, Iowa, seriously; Mabel Fields, Wolcott, Colorado, seriously; Arthur E. Hewitt, Lebo, Kansas, seriously; N. W. Phillips, Codyville, Illinois, slight; C. C. House, Chama, New Mexico, slight; J. Percano, Florence, slight; Jack Scott, Montrose, slight; Ed. Brannet, Leadville, slight; Jno. Scott, Denver, cut about the arms and legs; A. Garber, New York, ear; Ralph Boniton, Brighton, neck; L. C. Ranscottom, San Francisco, neck; Dave McCullam, Chicago, porter, inhaled gas; Sarah Calligan, Cleveland, cut about the head; Myron Phillips, Salt Lake, ankle hurt; W. F. Paul, Portland, foot cut; Tom Webb, Chama, New Mexico, foot cut; Claude Robinson, Denver, leg broken; George Bradshaw, Chicago, foot smashed; S. W. Fields, Laramie, leg broken; Phillip Peters, address unknown, ribs broken and head cut; Chas. T. Rociene, Florence, leg lacerated; R. I. Jones, mail weigher, chest and head injured; A. E. Smith, fireman, slight; W. A. Watkins, Denver, head cut. One of the peculiar features was that of the Hewitt family, out of a family of eleven, only two escaped. The others were burned to a crisp. During the progress of the flames, one man was seen hanging from a car window, "For God's sake, save me," he cried, but the heat was too intense for the rescuers to reach him, and he slowly roasted to death before the crowd around the burning wreck. Pueblo, Colo., Mar. 16 - 2 p.m. - Shortly before noon, a train arrived with the bodies of 16 of the dead. They were taken to undertaking establishments where the work of identification began. At noon it was said, only two bodies, those of Engineer Coslett and Engineer Hollis had been identified. The bodies are so blackened by fire as to be difficult to identify. How many more bodies are at the scene of the wreck it is impossible to establish at this hour. It can be stated positively that sixteen are killed and 34 injured. Denver, Mar. 16 - Local officers of the Rio Grande state that early reports of the wreck are exaggerated. They claim only sixteen people were killed, none in the Pullmans and that none of the injured are fatally hurt. All the killed were in the smoker of No. 3 --- thanks Andy Z
Source: Eagle County Blade - March 29, 1906 - More Wreck Fatalities - Prominent Mining Man of This County and Relatives Lost -
It has just been positively learned that the terrible railroad wreck at Adobe on March 16th numbered three more fatalities not heretofore reported. The lost are W. H. Miller, of Edwards, this county, and his nephew and his nephew's wife of Hillsboro, Indiana. The young man was a son of Robert J. Miller, a prominent man of Indiana and formerly sheriff of his home county. This party of three was undoubtedly aboard train No. 3 and all were killed and their bodies incinerated. Robert J. Miller has traced part of his missing relatives' baggage to Glenwood Springs, where it was recovered. In addition, his brother and son, before starting west, each purchased a new watch. The numbers of these watches were secured and the watches have been recovered from the debris of the wreck, being identified by the numbers which were not effaced. W. H. Miller was an old resident of this county and had spent many years prospecting in the Lake Creek country. Just recently, through his brother, capital has been interested, and just as he was about to see the labor of years rewarded, his life, and that of his relatives, who were newly married, is snuffed out in a most shocking manner. Mr. Nels Nelson, of Edwards, writes The Blade the following connection with the tragedy: "W. H. Miller, of the Miller Mining and Milling company, on East Lake creek, was killed and burned in the D. & R. G. wreck at Adobe on the 16th inst. Mr. Miller went back to his old home in Indiana last fall. He and his nephew and wife left on the 14th for Edwards, Colorado. Not reaching his destination as was expected, a telegram was sent to his brother, R. J. Miller, notifying him that his brother W. H. Miller, and party had not yet arrived. Upon receiving the telegram, Mr. Miller at once went to the scene of the disaster, and to Pueblo, and all that could be found of the Millers was a small portion of their baggage. The many friends of Mr. Miller will regret hearing of this terrible accident, and extend heartfelt sympathy to the survivors of the Miller family." --- thanks, Andy Z
Source: Iva Lewis Obituary Scrapbook
Early on the morning of March 16, there occurred an awful wreck on the Denver Rio Grande railroad near Abode, a small station in Colorado. It was a headon collision between two heavy passenger trains on a sharp curve the engineers being unable to see each other until they were only 200 feet apart, and a collision was imminent. The wreck was caused by the failure of an operator, who had been on duty sixty hours, to deliver an order. The west-bound train was running one hour and a half late and was given an order to meet the east-bound at Florence four miles east of where the wreck occurred. This order was changed to meet at Beaver, a town east of Florence, and the east-bound train receiving it passed that place. The west.bound train should have received its order at Swallows some twenty miles east but the operator’s neglect resulted in one of the greatest disasters known in the history of that eventful road. Both trains were running at a good rate of speed and when they crashed together the scene that follows beggars description. 3. The moans and cries of the wounded and dying were awful, and hardly had the uninjured time to realize what had happened when a sheet of flames shot heaven-ward and in a twinkling the wreck was a seething caldron. Rescue was impossible as the intense heat forced the onlookers to leave the victims to their terrible fate while their cries pleading to be killed and end their sufferings, beggars description. It is estimated by the railroad company that thirty-five persons met death. The fire that swept the wreck engulfing the victims in a caldron of flames left only charred and blackened flesh and bones to tell the tale of slaughter, and alike to the many others we read about would have been given only the passing notice and forgotten had not the startling news been received the latter part of last week that it was feared that Frank Miller, son of Robert Miller, and the latter’s brother, William Miller, and Frank’s wife, a daughter of Bloomer Hershberger, were on the train and victims of the horrible disaster. It is well known by our readers that the Millers have been interested in lead and silver mining industries in Colorado for several years and recently the Mandy May Mining Co., was organized at Kingman with Robert Miller, president, and Wm. Miller superintendent. On Monday, March 12, a meeting of the company was held in Kingman at which time it was decided to send Frank Miller to Edwards, Colo., with his Uncle William and for him to keep the books and time for the company and on the following Wednesday Frank, his wife, and William took the train from Hillsboro via Peoria and the Rock Island for Edwards. The last heard of them was at Colorado Springs where they had to change cars. They left the Rock Island train at 3 o’clock in the morning and hastened to the Rio Grande depot a mile away and as they had an hour’s time to make the ill-fated train, their friends lost all hope as soon as this report was received and no news from them could be obtained. It was but natural as soon as Robert Miller heard of the wreck, and knowing that it was reasonably possible for his brother, son and wife to be on the train, for him to send word to friends in Edwards inquiring if the party bad arrived there, and on last Friday he received a reply stating that though they were long past due they had not reached Edwards and it was feared they were in the wreck Mr. Miller communicated at once with Bloomer Hershberger and they started Saturday morning for the scene of the wreck. They were able to trace the party to where they boarded the ill-fated train at Colorado Springs but no farther. They found their baggage at Edwards, it having been sent on a train that followed them, the baggage car on the train they boarded being too crowded to take it on. But they could not find a semblance of identification among the charred bones of the victims that would cause them to know it was their loved ones. Before starting for Colorado Mr. Miller secured the numbers of the watches of his son and brother of the Hillsboro jeweler, he having sold one and repaired the other. There was at least a dozen watches taken from the debris of the wreck all of which had been badly disfigured by the excessive heat but he was able to identify both his son’s and his brother’s watches. He arrived home Friday noon and was completely prostrated over the awful affair. He said that it was utterly impossible to identify the remains and that they in common with the many others that met the terrible fate were given a burial in the far away state while the only thing left to brighten memory of them as they left their dear ones was their baggage which he brought home with him. Thus the last hope has vanished and the many friends of Frank Miller and wife and William Miller must find consolation in, though their death was a most horrible, tragic and sad one, though it will be impossible to pay the last tribute of respect, it was the will of He who doeth all things for the best, and though we weak mortals cannot penetrate why it is so, it is only for our good that we cannot. – jlr