Word was received last evening of the death of James Barnett,
an old character, who is known by nearly every Phoenix resident
as a hermit who for the past fifteen or twenty years has lived
by himself out on the desert in an adobe hut. Among the
several peculiar incidents which surround this unique character
was the incident of a few years back when Barnett thought he
had discovered a petrified man while digging for ore. The
petrified find was brought to Phoenix and placed on exhibition,
drawing for a long time fifty cents a look. The petrified
figure was afterward found to have been made of cement. The
exact nature of the malady which has attacked Barnett is not
known, although it is supposed to be a series of complications
brought on by old age.
ANDREW J. BATES
Feb. 7, 1909
Andrew J. Bates, brother of J.C. Bates and K. Bates of Kelvin
died on Sunday morning, the 31st. and was buried Tuesday at
10am at Greenwood Cemetery, Az.
MRS. ALICE BENNETT
December 17, 1909
Flagstaff -- A terrible rear end collision occurred this forenoon
near Winona, a flag station fifteen miles east of Flagstaff
when No. 4, the eastbound flyer ran into No. 8, an eastbound
passenger train killing one person and injuring eighteen others.
The dead is Mrs. Alice D. Bennett of Hartford, Conn. The
injured are Mrs. M.E. Hart of Albuquerque, N.M., a broken
nose and badly bruised face; Alolph Rettig of St. Joseph Mo.
injured in the chest and a gash in the right arm, J.W. Hill
of Lillian Texas, a contusion o the right chest, Mrs. E.F.
Purchase of Milwaukee, contusion of the body, Dr. D.L. Parker
of El Paso, a scalp wound, Mrs. Walter Scizer of Mishcatt,
Wis, contusions in both arms and chest, Mrs. M. Margaret
Lincoln of Kansas, scalp wound and bruises about the body;
H.F. Donohue of Oakland, Cal, inured on the arm was en route
to Ireland; Miss L.B. Chumar of Elizabeth NJ was bruised
about the face and left arm; Mrs. Eliza Mitchell of Fruitvale,
Cal. nervous shock; Miss Florence Moore of Elizabeth NJ, a
wrenched back; T.R. Escals of Chicago; colored porter,
contusion of the right arm; Mrs. S.E. Frank of Media Pa.
a scalp wound, Bryon Redhart of Lillian Texas, injured in
the right leg; W.H. Thorpe, general manager of the Arizona
Overland Telephone Company, contusion of the right leg,
not serious; W.M. Tiller, of Los Angeles, contusion of
the right arm; M. Jorit, chef, contusion on back and arm;
Mrs. J.H. Hazel of Chicago, bruised body and right arm
and Charles Herngartner of Chicago, dining car conductor,
contusion of left knee.
The body of Mrs. Bennett will be brought to Flagstaff tonight
and taken in charge by Undertaker Whipple who will await
advices form her relatives in Connecticut. J.O. Harrington,
justice of the peace at Flagstaff left this afternoon with
the coroner's jury for the scene of the wreck where he held
an inquest over the body of Mrs. Bennett.
A rigid investigation has begun to place responsibility for
the wreck. There are various rumors as to the cause but the
report which has most credence here is that the flagman on
No. 8 failed to go back far enough to warn No. 4.
The local Santa Fe physician hurried to the scene of the
collision on a special train where he found Dr. Parker,
the injured physician working heroically to alleviate the
sufferings of the wounded. The wounded were taken to the
Santa Fe Hospital at Albuquerque. None of them will die.
Coroner's Inquest
December 21, 1909
Flagstaff--In the matter of the inquest of Mrs. Alice Bennett,
who was killed in the Santa Fe wreck at Winona last week, the
coroner's jury did not complete its investigation until this
afternoon when the following verdict was rendered, "We, the
jury find the resident of East Hartford, Conn. came to her
death on the sixteenth day of December through criminal
carelessness on the part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa
Fe Railway Company. Furthermore we recommend that the
coroner take the necessary steps to bring to the notice
of the grand jury at the next session of the district
court, the fact that the railroad company or its employees
caused the body to be removed from the scene of the wreck,
thereby interfering materially with the coroner's jury in
its investigation of the matter and preventing them from
securing promptly the effects on or about the deceased."
BENSON TRAIN DISASTER
December 20, 1909
Benson--The Golden State Limited, eastbound, was wrecked a
mile west of this place at four o'clock this morning. The
engineer and fireman were killed and a number of others were
badly hurt and about forty more or less injured. Four cars
were demolished, among them the mail car. What is left of
the train is now in the yards here. The wrecked cars were
thrown from the track and rolled down the grade, a splintered
mass. The cause of the wreck is not yet known. Within a few
minutes after news of the accident had been received, a relief
train was on the way to the scene.
William W. Walker of Tucson, one of the oldest engineers in the
service of the Southern Pacific in the southwest was killed as
was his fireman, P.W. Bauer, also of Tucson. Thirteen
passengers were seriously injured and thirty others cut and
bruised.
The most seriously injured are Willard M. Knight , Los Angeles,
mail clerk, may die; John Lawrence of Soldiers Home, Los
Angeles, a fractured arm; W.R. Walker, mail clerk of Los
Angeles, badly bruised; Mrs. L.A. Bellows of Boston, fractured
rib; A.H. Foster, mail clerk of Los Angles, scalp wounds; Wm.
Collins of Oakland, bruised; James A. Wilson, wounded in the
face, Col. William Fife of Cananea, bruised, Helen Horton of
Los Angeles, back injured; Miss Nellie Corbett, bruised,;
Edward G. Edmunds, mail clerk of Los Angles, scalded, and
Edward Tenn of El Paso, ribs broken.
William Walker, the dead engineer was well known in Phoenix.
He was a brother of J. Elliott Walker, former sheriff of this
county. He had been a resident of Tucson for thirty years and
for almost twenty five years he had been in the service of the
Southern Pacific, along with his brother, Wood Walker, who
lives at Bowie and is also an engineer.
C.S. BLAINE
December 22, 1909
C.S. Blaine died yesterday forenoon at 1:55 o'clock at his
home, No. 903 West Jefferson Street ,after an illness of only
two days. Death followed a very sudden and acute ptomaine
poisoning but from what origin has not been learned. No other
member of the family is ill and so far as known Mr. Blaine had
eaten nothing recently to which the poison could be attributed.
He was taken ill Monday night and grew rapidly worse until
Tuesday evening when a physician was summoned. Yesterday the
patient's condition seemed to be greatly improved and he was
cheerful. In the middle of the forenoon he was taken suddenly
worse and between 11 and 12 he expired.
The dead man has been a resident of Phoenix for the last
eighteen years, and was 48 years old. Beside his wife, Mrs.
Lillie E. Blaine, he is survived by a daughter, Miss May
Blaine and a son, Clyde Blaine who is employed in the Union
Bank and Trust Company. The deceased owned considerable
property on West Jefferson Street and for two or three years
past has been conducting an agency for furnishing and
maintaining clean towels in offices, stores, and other
public places under term contracts.
The funeral will be held Friday morning at 10 o'clock at the
family home and will be under the auspices of the fraternal
brotherhood.
NEAK BLOOZEVICH
March 9, 1909
Neak Bloozevich, who was sent to the county asylum for the
insane from Navajo county in 1907 died this week. He was
afflicted with tuberculosis which was the cause of his death.
His father Martin Bloozevich is a resident of Winslow and is
expected to arrive in the city this morning to take the remains
to his home for burial.
BEVERJORD child
June 23, 1909
The seven year old son of A.J. Beverjord of Safford was crushed
by the wheel of a baler which he had made an attempt to get onto,
his foot slipping, causing him to fall under the cruel wheel of
the baler. He died immediately.
