Omaha daily bee., 1886-09-15
A List Of the Dead and Wounded---Cause Of
the Accident Stories Of tbs
Passengers.

names of the killed are as follows:
". W. Looms of Erie.
HENRY MEyuAET and son.
,lOHN f. MEDHART OF pIttsburs.
STEPHEN CAMERON, mayor OF Waterford, Pa.
lOHN SUnEU Of li tsburg.
DAVID SHARP.
". W. ROsTATTER.
CHARLES HfRsCH of Erie.
Mr. LYrHtR of Erie.
WILL AN REYNOLDS, Dunkirk, n Y.
JOHS MEYERS OF Erie.
AARON PARKHURsT, Maysville
The fatally injured are:
?. Harrington superintendent Ere Forge Co.
Louis Laucey, Erie legs and arms crushed.
G. W: Marble, Eie, legs and arms horribly
crushed and bruised.
Charles Schneider, Erie same injuries
Henry Hut Of sierra HHnia, same injuries.
Phil kutln Erie, same injuries.
VIM. Zimmerly, hersage. same injuries.
Samuel Nj. Tracy hersGge, skull crushed and
arms and legs broken.
Charles Dillon. Erie same injuries
The severely injured;
A. ". Cobury OF Titusvilc. crushed; A. Camp,
bell Eric, arms broken: John Sherliuer Erie ann
broken; Charles McSparren Erie, bndy bruised.
One man living in Silver Creek, and who
was standing al the side of the track, was
driven away by his friends before his name
could he learned.
Two bodies have not been identified. One
is thought to be a son of Loomis.
There are various causes given for the
fatal wreck. Engineer William Harris of the
freight train is blamed. 1t is said that ne
DdQ OIutIe 10 meet Iltt EXCURSION al lfNllH.
He failed 10 obey the instructions and was
running at full speed when the collision oc-
Cured. The train men VIII not talk regard
ing who is TO blame. A gentleman who was
on the excursion train says that the freight
train had orders to go to Silver Greek and
the passenger train TO Irving, which is this
side, and 1t was these orders chat caused the
| collision.
The passenger and excursion train CON
| sisted of fourteen coaches. The excitement
| on the train among those who escaped Is in
| tense. The scenes in the smoking can
! can hardly be described The first warning
| given was a slight jar caused 10y
| the heavy pressure of the air
breaks. Some of the passengers bracgd
| themselves III their seats seemingly appre
hensive of danger. Then came the terrible
| Shock followed by the smashing of windows
and the roof of the car.and all was mass of
! bleeding and struggling humanity. Men were
| locked lin each others arms, covered with
| blood while underneath them and all sides
| lay the poor unfortunates. who We're in
| stRntly killed, crushed out of all human sem
biance. The sight was a terrible one
| and it required the stoutest nerves to induce
one to take second look. The wounded
crowded out of the debris and We're assisted
| to neighboring houses People brought bed
| ding. etc, on which to lay the dead and
dying, and ell that could then be done was 70
wait until help, which had been Immediately
sent for arrived.
Mrs. J. II. Sigel of Erie, Pa, passenger
| on the Inflated excursion train, was on her
way to Buffalo She arrived there safely
this afternoon. In an interview she said:
| Il was in the first coach next to the sleep
ing car. The passenger train was large
| one and carried u large number of excursion
| lists as ell as regular passengers. The first
| we knew of the collision was terrible crash
like an explosion. Nobody was hurt except
| terrible that could not look
at it. Not single was
thrown from the track, but
the smoker was completely telescoped 1t
Nfra1 10 lint had
! also. 1t was narrow escape. One young
man in the smoker saved himself by drop
ing on the floor, and escaped with d few
| bruises did not learn the cause of the ac-
| cident, but We're going very slow while
| the freight was coming al high rate of
| speed. We We're just one coach-length off
| the trestle when the collision occurred The
| people of Silver Greek were very kind and did
| all IN their power. The ladies turned out and
! sent up bedding, etc, for the wounded.
| Some of them were taken to different houses
and one OF the coaches was turned into a
! hospital. IN another coach the dead were
| placed Most of the e1cursiOnists remained
| at Silver Creek, intending TO return home.
! The regular passengers for Buffalo and other
points came on this afternoon on another
! train.
The following gives additional particulars
| of the horrible wreck: The accident hap
| pened al Silver Greek, small statisa just east
| of DunklTk Here the engineer received or
| ders TO run ahead regardless of the local
| freight, No. 6, which the order stated would
] side track for him below the station. He nc
| cOrdingly pulled out his train OF eleven cars,
| loaded 10 the fullest capacity, and had pro
| ceeded as far as the curve, few miles be
| low the station, when he Eaw smoke floating
| over the hilltop around which the curve went.
| The locomotive sounded warning whistles. but
| il was too late for the local freight running
! twenty miles an hour, TO make the Silver
| Greek side track and 1t cOllided with the pas
senger train, causing one of the worst acci-
dents ever known on the shore of Lake Erie
| since the ASltabula disaster.
As soon as the engines came into collision
! the shock lifted the baggage car of the eX-
cnrsion train from its trucks end drove it
backward into the smoker, filed
with passengers. Starting in at the
forward end OF the car it literally moved
down the seats and crushed the occupants or
ground them into an unrecognizable mass
upon the floor Out of the thirty-five occu-
pants OF the car but two escaped with slight
| injuries.
The scene of the accident was in a deep cut
| just where the curve commences. The shock
aroused the passengers in the rear cars
and the sound of the escaping steam
aroused the neighborhood. In ten minutes
| $40 men, besides the eXcuIsiOnists, We're on
the ground. The Lake Shore and Nickelplate
roads, upon receipt of the news of the acci-
dent, sent special trains from Buffalo and
| Erie with physicians and medical appliances.
| At the wreck the sight was horrible The
smoker had been burst by the telescOp-
| ing, and from the cracks in the corners
and seats on the floor oozed blood in
streams, making large pools upon the
ground. One boy about Is years of age was
caught between the telescopiug ears and the
window casing, his body half projecting out
into the air through the window. His legs
were crushed 10 jelly hetWeen the cars, ana
he called piteously on the bystRnders TO put
him out OF his misery, From all parts Of the
car came the mOans of the dying and injured.
A large number OF men, using trimmed
fir trees which they had cut IN the woods
as levers, worked faithfully for two hours
before the first imprisoned man was released.
When the entrance 10 the car was gained
the progress toward the interior for the pur-
pose Of getting out the dead and wounded
was slow, as the entire woodwork had TO be
chopped away. The dead We're crushed al
i mOsf aRVOud raeOpuition some of Inc budies