The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-09-04
CREMaTED CIRCUS MEN.
Orton's AngiO-American Circus Car I'm
F1ames-Terrible Loss of Life.

Orton's Authorization Circus Car In
F1ames-Terrible Loss of Life.
GREELEY, Col, August S0.-The burning
of circus car nine miles north Of this
place, was attended with indescribable hor-
rorS. The burning car was next to the en-
CINE in a train of seventeen cars, contain
Orton's Anglo-American Circus, which left
Fort Collins about midnight for Golden,
over the Greeley, Salt Lake & Pacific Road.
The train was nearing Windsor, small
station near Greeley, running about twenty
FIVE miles an hour, when Engineer COllepriest
discovered that the car was ON fire He re-
veIsed the engine and threw open the whiS-
tie valve. There were sixty men in the car,
arranged in three tiers of berths on either
side. The forward side door was closed
and men in hunks sleeping against it The
rear side door was also closed and the men
who awOke discovered the lower unOecu-
pied berths next to it containing rubbish on
fire, filling the car with smoke and cutting
OFF escape in that direction. The
ONLY MEANS OF EGBEsS
was through a small window between tho
car and the engine John Rive, of Edger.
ton. Wis, and Elmer MiIlet, OF
Iowa, crowded through the opening and
tried to pass in water from the engine
tank. Owing to the suffOcating gases
it was difficult to arouse the sleeperS. Some
were kicked and bruised in a shocking man
ner, and finally pitched out of the window.
Tine screams of those unable to get through
the blOeaded aperture were terrifying. The
wild glare of the flames of the burning car
showed the victims outside who writhed in
fbo haHc and napSa1 tho
wild beasts in the adjoining car to become
frantic with terror, making an appalling
scene. The performers who occupied the
rear car gazed with white faces at
THE AWFUL SPECTACLE.
In the midst of the confusion, two OF three
heroic souls appeared equal to the occasion
and bravely cut way to their companions
to find them already in the agony of death.
Albert Lake, in charge of the animals, and
his friend Kent over the cactus in their bare
feet poured buckets of oil on the bis
tered unfOrtunateS and wrapped them in
blankets. An Old Pacific coast sailor named
Mcdonald, formerly with FOrepaugh' show,
was terribly burned. the flesh hanging in
ShredS. The heartrendlng cries of the men
on the prairie, the SmOthered appeals of the
dying within the car, the roar of the flames
and the bowling of the animals made the
Sttlt DCNOllu SCIiptiOI- lIlC VI
roasting flesh, and the distant
CRY OE THE COYOTES
added to the hOr or of the scene. The voices
of the dying g-,w fainter and soon ceased.
meantime tho engine had gone to Greeley
for aSSiStP zee, returning with DIR. Jesse
HOwes, Resident of the State Medical As
ISOLATION. Many of the rescued, on being
pulled through the small window, had their
limbs broken, joints diSlOcated, hands and
feet burned off. and roasted trunks. A
body was found in one place, legs in an
other, and piles of roasted, shriveled car
cases were pulled out of the ruins. At
daylight fiat car carried the charred
bodies into Greeley for interment. The
County Commissioners buried the remains
in a huge coffin, seven feet wide and ten
feet long, in the Greeley cemetery. Rev.
Mr.. Reed of the Presbyterian Church, con-
Quoted the funeral services The Coroner
empanelled jury, who were
UNABLE To LEARN
the cause of the fire or any
with the remainder of the company left i'm
mediately for Golden, to fill an afternoon
engagement. 1t is impossible to get COM
plete list of the dead, as many had been en-
gagged but day or two, and their naGreS
are unknown. The names of the dead as
far as learned are as follows: Alex Nc
LeOd, Marinette, Wis; Thomas Mccarthy,
Independence, Iowa; John Kelly, New
York city; the others were known as Silver
Thorn, Andy, French. Frank, George,
Smithie and one unknown.
DENVER, COL, August 30.-The follow
ing is list of the sufferers of the circus
car FIRE now at St Luke's Hospital, this citF:
E. E. Fairbanks, aged twenty-five, arms,
legs and face badly burned; Albert Borden,
aged eighteen, Logan, Kas, arms and fare
badly burned; Thomas Golden, aged seven
teen, Detroit, Mich, very badly burned on
back and legs; NJ. j. Simmerman, aged
eighteen, st. Louis, arms, legs, back and
face badly burned; Frans King, Menomi-
nee, Mich, badly burned about the hands
and feet; Michael McGlinR, aged twenty
eight, of HOltOn, Mich, face and hands
badly burned. He will probably die
A number of the rescued agree that in the
car were two barrels of gasoline which
were exploded either by sparks from the
engine or from torch with which the men
were accustomed to light themselves to bed.