John Arnold Wife and Six Children

Unfortunate Victims.

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WORST ACCIDENT EVER RECORDED IN STATE

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New Ulm Railroad Men Were Engineer And

Firemen On The Train.

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H. G. Hartl, engineer, Harry Klingler, fireman of New Ulm and conductor H. G. Butler of Winona, were in charge, of the passenger train on the Northwestern railroad which crashed into the seven passenger Oldsmobile near Eagle Lake Thursday afternoon. John Arnold, a farmer of Diamond Bluff, Wisconsin, with his wife and seven children were on their way to Minneota to visit with friends. As the car in which they were driving neared the railroad crossing, it is evident that in attempting to put on the brakes, the car started zig zagging across the road, stopping on the track directly in front of the on coming passenger. The car was undoubtedly traveling at a fast rate of speed as the right of way of the railroad is practically unobstructed save for a little timber on the north side of the road. The dead are: Mr. and Mrs. John Arnold, and six children, Anna aged twenty-two,Marvin aged eleven, and baby aged two, and May Martin and Lillian whose ages cannot be learned at this writing.

Saw Car Approaching.

Mr. Klingler was the fireman on the Northwestern passenger train No. 6which struck the Arnold automobile. He said he saw the automobile approaching up the road about forty rods but did not pay any attention to it until he saw it again about 200 feet from the crossing. He said he had blown the crossing, whistle and also the Eagle Lake station whistle, and now much alarmed blew several short blasts. He saw the car zig-zag he said and thought it stopped right on the track as the engine plunged into the family car.

Mr. Hartl, engineer of the train, sitting on the opposite side of the engine cab, did not see the approaching auto, he knew nothing of the impending danger until he heard Fireman Klingler yell to him to apply the emergency brakes.

Looking straight ahead, Hartl saw the radiator of the automobile as it came up on the track. The car came to a stop he thought. He saw bits of the car fly in all directions through the dust that shot up all around. The train was traveling at from forty to forty-five miles per hour, he said but he applied the emergency brakes and stopped a short distance beyond the

Bodies Mangled.

The bodies were thrown out along the railroad in the following order: The first was a small boy or girl about six years old. The body had been rendered unrecognizable. John Arnold, was the next victim hurled aside as the train crashed on. He was about thirty-five or forty years old and had sandy hair. A small boy probably fourteen also with reddish hair lay a few yards beyond. A few more rods and the lifeless form of another small lad probably six years old was found. He too had a light complexion. The next child was about nine years old and had the characteristic complexion. A grown woman probably thirty-five or forty years old and weighing possibly 185 pounds was the next person whose career so suddenly terminated. Next to the last of the bodies in the human death row was another woman. A tiny blue-eyed girl with light hair about three or four was the final bundle that had once contained life.

The engineer alighted before the train came to a stop and rushed to the front of the engine, picked up the babe and laid it on the grass as further investigations were made to determine the extent of the tragedy. The babe died immediately following.

Coroner Dahl To Scene.

Dr. G. A. Dahl, coroner of Blue Earth County hurried to the scene of the accident and took immediate charge of disposing of the dead. Owing to the wide scope over which the dead were scattered, and the mangled condition of the bodies the work of investigation progressed slowly. The mangled bodies together with bits of the wrecked car were strewn along the track for a quarter of a mile.

Inquest Held.

The official session of the inquest was held in the Landkammer Bros. Undertaking funeral parlors, Mankato Saturday afternoon. Three eye witnesses of the accident were called. Each witness stated that his attention had been attracted to the scene by the unusual whistling of the passenger train. The engineer had whistled, and the firemen grabbed the whistle immediately after the engineer had stopped. It is estimated that the train whistled for a quarter of a mile.

The jury retired and returned with a verdict.

That “death was caused by negligence on the part of the driver of the automobile carrying the Arnold family,”was the substance of the verdict rendered.

Son Recalls Accident.

Luther Arnold, aged nineteen the only surviving member of the accident, lay in his bed at the Immanuel hospital and smiled sadly through his burden of grief.

He remembers little that happened. I don’t remember being hit nor hurt. I was sitting in the back seat opposite the train with my two sisters. I do have a faint remembrance of seeing the engine just as it was right upon us and hearing mother scream faintly.”Then something happened; I don’t know what. When I came to the first thing I saw was my feet and I thought it was so funny. I remember that my right shoe was torn off my foot and that my right sock was torn to shreds. Next I saw a man holding me in his arms and people standing all around.

I don’t remember more but as if in a dream I heard the continual shriek of an auto whistle and I had the faint feeling that I was riding in an ambulance and was being rushed somewhere. The next time I awoke I was lying here in this bed.”

Luther did not recall whether his father’s car stopped on the crossing. This was the first accident his father ever had and he was known as a very careful driver.

Luther is suffering intense pain, but he bears it all with the utmost good humor. He is a refined, intelligent young man, a junior in the high school at Ellsworth, Wis. He has taken an active part in all school activities such as oratory and debate. He was the president of his class.

Son Reached Mankato.

Seward, another son, remained at home to care for the farm while the family made their visit in Iowa. He came to the Landkammer undertaking pallors yesterday morning and here he received the first realization of the terrible catastrophe which had occurred, when he viewed the six white caskets containing the children and the pearl gray containing his parents.

The shipment of the bodies was made Saturday to Minneota where the funeral was held at two o’clock at the home of the Teigland brothers in Minneota. Rev. Christensen Wilmur preached the funeral sermon assisted by other ministers, who are friends of the family from other points. The funeral was held out of doors.

New Ulm Review,

July 9, 1924

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