The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-09-18


The story ~ Told 81 . Westen
Boy who was ON the Train.
We copy from the Weston Dsmocha
the following account Of the recsutrsil
rod collision on the Central Ohio road
near Independence; Ohio. Our reader
hsve already lssrned MANY OF ht par
ticulars Of the accident, but the follow
ing account written by young Louis
BENNETT, OF Weston, in a letter to, bis
mother, tells the story so we'll spd 10
such a graphic manner that We deem
it worthy place in our columns:
n NEWARK, O. September 8.
y = 80 80 ~
I started for Mansfield to attend the
State Eair. as l wrote father intended
doing. and Hugh Butcher being very
anxious to gn 1 took him with me
We started for the depot
about halLpast five o'clock. and we're
Just in time to jump on the tran. Fhe
oars, fourteen in number, j were very
much crowded, and for several miles
Hugh and sat on the nlaporm, bang
unable TO get q seat inside. .lu . short
time got q seat by q little girl, and
Hugh went into the forward car. L
learned that the little girl was going to
get out at the station we were approach
ing and started to tell Hugh that be
could get seat by me when she left. l
returned. however, to pick up m UNI
brella, VII tch had fallen son the floor,
and this act probably saved nv life.
As soon as had done 80, / started to
the next car to hunt Hugh, but had
scarcely opened the door when 1 felt a
jsr-several persons fell from, the
platform, and splinters flew in every
direction, and tremendous crash fol
followed. The next thing / knew l
found myselilying in the nextcar. com
pletely stunned. having struck my head
against thesiie Of the door OF that car
as was thrown forward, and tell upon
poor, suffering hoy. whom, at the
time, | took to be killed, In q Devil.
dered state rushed back into the car l
had left, it having been driven into the
next car, and foot more would have
thrown the whole weight OF 1t upon me
The first person l met was the little girl
l had left, who was screaming at the
top Of her voice--as indeed WAS every
one else Every exit in our car WAS
closed except the windows, and ju nping
hal, way through one, caught the lit
tie girl in my arms and let both OF us
drop to The ground. rolling ten or twelve
feet down the hill. The little girl
WAS covered with blool. l rushed
Onward along the side Of the train,
passing several mangled persons on tire
wsv, in search Of Hosh, whom I found
looking for me. He was considerably
bruised, but otherwise safe and souud
Nearly all who were uniniured had
gotten out by this time, and then be
gan a scene, which, rom its agony,
defies description. Seeing man lying
on the track towards the rear OF the
car, | ran towards him. and several
had already reached him, but he was
dead. Another lay dead on the other
side of the track. While we were car
rying him into the field, his wife came
IN and recognized him. turned
away from the scene in horror; and
remembering the boy / had been
thrown on. climbed into the car again,
and found that he was not dead, but
was fastened tight in the ruins by his
foot, which was badly crushed; and.
as could not get him out, / tore mp
seat and placed it under him an that he
might rest as easily as possible, and
lett him. | then found that we had
had collision, and that the car | had
been thrown into had been forced two
thirds of its length into the car in front
OF it. As / reached the end Of the Car
a man begged me to liz, his wife down
for him. She was badly hurt, as was
he himself, and both were covered with
blood. | then climbed into the car and
helped put Others out through the win.
dows. This car was the most complete
wreck of them all-every SCAT was
broken into pieces, and passengers and
all thrown into the few ieet that were
not filled u" by the crushing Of the
back car. After we had helped all out
we could, | stopped down and looked
between the floors of the two cars
and saw a hat lying aid reaching
in to pick it up, found it was on a po'r
bows head, who was crushed into a
jelly. l put the by out OF window
to some persons below was 80 sick +.
ened by this sight that had to get out
into the fresh air or believed should
ave tainted. the people then went 10
~"rk to remove those who were Iast'
ened. Seven OF them could not br
taken out for three or fur hours. One
died before h. could be relieved, and
another almost as SION as he Was taken
out. One man, whose head and one
loot could be seen sticking from be-
tween the two cars that had crushed
his entire body like paper, could not be
taken out unit morn NJ. 1t was sad
sight to see that field filled with killed
and wounded, their faces rendered
more CHASTITY by the light OF
bonfire-, and above all to hear the
groans Of the wounded and the cries OF
those who had lost trends. They were
all moved away az soon ss possible by
the people OF Independence. who did all
they could to relieve them. Seven
we're killed and the wounded will num-
Der thirty or forty. don't see why hun
reds were not killed, tor there were at
least one Thousand prisons on the train.
MY umbrella, which had in my hand,
was torn into a thousand pieces, and it
was almost miracle that was saved.
Every car had both ends smashed in,
and some of them were bursted entirely
through each other. Nearly all the
killed were on the plst'orms-many
just getting ready to get off at their