Image provided by: Library of Congress; Washington, DC
About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1926)
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN PAGE 2 The CHEMAWA AMERICAN Among the distinguished passengers on board who were injured was F. Marion Crawford, the novelist. Published Weekly at the Salem Indian Training School As a matter of fact, Chemawa was the place con verted in a general hospital. It was a night of horror. At that time the school was small and of facilities in adequate to meet the demands of such an emergency. The maimed, dying, and the dead were found in nearly every building of our school. Everything within the power of those here at that time was done for the un fortunate victims of what was probably Oregon’s great est train disaster. The papers of the land were full of the noble work of Chemawa on this occasion. Chemawa, Oregon. Please address all communications to Ruthyn Turney, Manager. JAS. H. McGREGOR SUBSCRIPTION - Superintendent 50 Cts PER ANNUM A BIT OF HISTORY The following dispatch appeared in the papers of Nov. 13 from Brooks, Oregon, a village a few miles north of Chemawa: Thirty-six years ago last night, November 12, 1890, which date also fell on Friday, old timers recall that a train bound for California points went through the bridge over Lake Labish, carrying 140 people with it, and of this number 130 were killed or injured. W. S. Conser was conductor on the train, and suffered injuries from which he declared it took him 14 months to recover, while many succumbed years later to in juries received at that time, so that the exact number of victims may never be known. N. A. Ambrose and A. S. Rand, mail clerks, received mere scratches, al though the mail car was totally demolished. The wreck was believed by trainmen to have been caused by the removal of a rail by a man who meant to stop the train and secure money from those on board for saving their lives, as several similar accidents hap pened at about that time, and a man named Richardson was arrested, after being praised as a hero for stopping another train. The accident happened in the evening in a heavy fog„ and every one of the train crew was killed or so injured that only a colored porter could manage to get out and flag other trains. The bodies of John McFad den and Fin Neil, engineer and fireman, were dug from beneath the engine, buried out of sight in the soft earth. Two tramps were killed outright and a travel ing man died the next day on the relief train just pulling into Portland. Henry E. Reed of Portland was a reporter for The Oregonian at that time and was sent to cover the wreck. The late Tilmon Ford, a lawyer, lived across the swamp from the disaster, and laid the foundation of his fortune by adjusting the claims of the injured out of court, many thousands of dollars being paid by the Southern Pacific company to victims of the accident. Farm homes were converted into hospitals, and it is said that an Indian boy ran the distance from Chemawa to Sa lem, about five miles, to bring news of the wreck. LOCAL The Logan brothers were visited by their brother and sister on Armistice Day. Mr. Kline is the advisor for the Winonas! From a man’s point of view the Winonas have made quite a stride forward! Master Robert Downie spent the day with Master Robert Sanders on Thursday, while Mr. and Mrs. Downie saw U. S. C. defeat O. A.C. at Portland. Chemawa was represented at Monmouth last Satur day evening at the concert given by the Elman String Quartet. Our people declare the music to have been, wonderful. Nellie Rinehart, Josephine Alberts, Gertrude Caisse, Florence Sheravoloff decorated the stage for the Sun day evening services. It was a fitting setting for the splendid talk given by Mrs. Preston. Mr. Iliff left on Monday evening for Seattle, Wash. He is engaged in inspecting some wooden piping that the government is purchasing for shipment to Sho shoni, Wyo. Mr. Iliff will probably be absent for several days. Local radio fans report having “tuned in” last week to hear the artist music students of Dr. R. W. Hans Seitz of Salem when they broadcasted a delight ful program from Portland. The verdict was that it was a superb concert. Dr. Seitz also has a class of private music pupils at Chemawa. Buffalo county, South Dakota, has returned to the dominion of the redmen as a result of the election Tuesday when a full county ticket of Indian candidates was victorious. This is said to be the first instance in American history since the coming of the “pale face” government, of such an occurrence. The men on the winning ticket are Thomas Eagleman, clerk of court; Charles Fish, auditor; Thomas Gaut, register of deeds; Wallace Ashley, sheriff; Joseph Iring, assessor, and Thomas Tuttle, county commissioner. All of the men measure up to white men holding similiar positions in other counties in education and experience, and are all of a progressive nature.
