The Red Cloud chief., 1879-11-13
4 Travellers STORY Of the Late Rail.
way Disaster.

Rev. Neil Dcrmott, a Scotch Pres
bytcrian minister. who Was on hi. way
from Guelph, Canada. Ia Elmira. III.
1" supply 4 congregation, said h. hoped
never la look upon such 4 seen. again.
The picture IF the horrors h. had Wit
Messed wa, iuIclibly impressed upon his
mind. II would he easier, he said. la
write it in tear, Of blood than in or
binary ink. He SAID - was seated
in the third car, which WAS crowded
with sleeping passengers. ~ were the
two ears preceding il; men and women
lying upon and across the seat, in all
positions and directions, and all or near
~ all of uS were wrapped in sleep. The
train WAS coming at the ate of ~ miles
an hour, | should jndgc. The collision
came without a moments notice or
warning. was sitting near the end Of
the car. My last impression was Of the
crowd of sleeping people all around me.
The next instant, a. il Were. | saw
only half Il dozen around me.
The rest were all buried in u
mass of debris before INV eyes. The
ears had been ~tcle>cupcd. The outer
edge of the car WAS smashed by the edge
of the one prcccdin" it coming in and
forcing il outward from the inside al
most the entire length IF our ear. Men
were groaning, women screaming and
shricking, and children CRYING. The
mass of ruins. Splinters and fragments,
with the engines piled upon each other,
was only half visible. The only light
WAS from Il lantern that was hun. Ia the
extremity Of one Of the slrcpcrs, but the
darkness was full of horrible cries If an
guish and suffering. | should suppose
there were 40 or POO people crowded i'm
the three first ears which were wrecked.
! was thrown out of my seat. the cdwe IF
the a smashing like kindlin"-wood.
Looking around me, | could SCI. blood
flowing from almost every face. The
faces were contortcd with agony, and
looked up ri me with an ex-
preston | can never forget. Arms and
limbs had been torn off, and law seat
tered around. II looked like a huge
human Slaughtcr-houSe, erected on a
mass of blIckcncd and splintcred ruins.
.AS soon a. we and the men in the sleep
cr> got up and aroused We began la ex-
trIcate the poor. suffering creatures,
who were CRYING pitifully Ia H. for help,
Or cur>lng. some of them spoke in En-
"llsh, but mostly in Canadian French.
We pulled two men out of the wreck,
who had sat close together and been
side by side. But the women,
God help them, One of them had lost
her little one, and wandered up and
down distracted and not knowing what
/" d", except Ia cry, "Dh, God, save
my child" W. pulled one little fellow
,ut of the wreck, who had lost his father
ind mother and sister. He had broken
his lrg, too. but he bore his awful calam-
ty like Il man. There were many wom-
N on board. and we We're very thank
nj for that. too, before we got through.
'o>t of the passengers Were young
men -Canadian-Frenchmen. bound
the lumber regions. They could
peak English, many of them, and |
lad talked with several of them in nv
nipple way during the evening about
he Savior. You know I'm Il minister
# the gospel. and | have the love to
AIRY my tidingS Ia every creature
wherever | 90. In many eases the
were fastened in 10y the timbers
n~cNtricably. We had Ia take axes and
ut them out. They Were dead before
'c could reach them. | guess we were
I work IN hour before any help ar
wed. Ii was = 80 in the morning by
ny watch when the accident happened.
nj it was most 1 when the doctors
anne from Jackson. They did every
hing they could. and the railroad hands
nj officers worked like troopers. The
-ounded We're placed in the houses near
V. One house had Six-two men and
'ur women, and another had nearly as f,
lauy. q,