Plateau gazette and east Tennessee news. (Rugby, Tenn.) 1883-1884, 1883-03-24
A Burning SiGeping.Car-Narrow Es.
capeS.

PITTSBURGH, Pa, March Is.
The passengers occupying one of the Pull
man pers drawn By the Western express,
on the Pennsylvania Railr ad, had a thr l'ire
experience ut Wilmore Station, few II l,s
this side of Altoona shortly a ter FIVE o'circk
tbs morning. Tho ira" had passed Cresson,
end WIS nearing Wlmo'e g, with all aboar
obliv Gus If their danger, wnen tiny tongue
cf il'lne shot ont If IN among the culta n
re + the end o the re'r Ga raduNlly but
sur " developing into an alarm ng blaze.
a passenger in Der h No !, Mr. Pallern, of
Ba timorr, who was not sleeping very heavily
at the time, was aroused by the smell of tie
burning tapestry, and an insta It later he
spr'ng cut o. his berth, fully alert to he peril
Of he moment, and gave the alGrm lmme-
diately all was confusion, and the occupants
of the berths jumped ouF to find the CIR en-
veloped in fame. foien perso rs ran TO the
doors, but finding the train still in motion
pulled the bellcOrd. Ow ne TO the right signal
net BEN 2 ven, however, the engineer paid no
attention to it until t had been pulled several
times. In the meantime tn widest excite
IN nj prevail G ,, and the passengers ran HI her
and ththet not knowing what to do. Several
ladi ainted ard a number were with diff
Guilty preyente from jumping oT.
The train was finally brought to stand still,
and tho occupants Of the car rushed out. Some
of them We're in their n;ght-cl0thes, while 9th.
ers sue, ecded in saving enough of their eff
fects TO make themselves appear resp 0ctable.
The fire had not been discovered moment
100 soon, rs by the time the train stopped and
the occupants of the burning car had escaped,
the whole sleeper was one mass of fame, ana
inside of twenty minutes was heap of smoul-
deiing ashes.
OF the twenty-six passengers who had occu-
pied the burned car, twenty were gentlemen,
four were ladies, and the others were children.
Fortunately none of them were injured. AS
they stepped from the train they presented
motley appearance. Some of them were
wrappe in blankets; others were without
hats and bonnets, and still others had no shoes.
Among the passengers were Generalpe Pension
Agent Dudley, Colonel Benjamin Wilson, an
eX-Cong, essman of West Virginia; General
Ca.kins, of Indiana Colonel Davidson; of
Beaver, Pa; and Colonel Porter, Postmaster
of c, nnellsyile. Pa.
The makeup of number of the gentlemen
was ludicrous. Colonel Porter had on one
boot and one slipper and was hatless. Colonel
Davidson had his head done up in newspa-
per, while Colonel Ben Wilson, attired in
world like an Indian chief on a foraging expe-
dit on. General Dudley is said to have been
the coolest person on the car, and by his wise
counsel did much to allay the fears Of, tho la.
dies and children.
The fire originated in the rear of the car, and
! is supposed to have been caused either by the
overturning of lamp or from the stove. Con-
ductor Harry Hawkins, who was in charge of
the sleeper, did all in his power to aid the pass.
| cnyers to escape, and was the last man to leave
the burning car.
The loss can not be approximated. The
Pullman Company estimate their share at
about S20, 0O0. The loss to the passengers was
considerable in clothing, watches and iewelry.
Some of them also lost considerable sums of
money. Upon their arrival here the unfortu-
nate were kindly cared for, and were soon put
in presentabe condition.