Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-11-05
BURNED In A SLEEPER.
THIRTEEN PERSONS ROASTED ALIVE
A WESTERN EXPRESS TRAIN DITCH
ED-THE CARS SOON A MASS OF
FLAMES-ALL ESCAPE CUT OFF
FROM ONE--THE PASSENGERS
MEET A TERRIBLE FATE.

FLAMES-ALL ESCAPE CUT OFF
FROM ONE--THE PASSENGERS
MEET A TERRIBLE FATE.
MILWAUKEE, WIS, October 2S.
Soon after midnight last night
the west.bOund limited was ditcbed
at East Rio siding, a small station
about twelve miles east of Portage,
Wis, on the main line of the
Chicago, Milwaukee and st. Paul
Road. There are two side tracks at
the place, and at the time the train
was due there last night both were
occupied by freight trains, one by a
wild train and the other by train
No. II, Conductor III. p. IIankey,
of Portage, which had just pulled
in from the west TO allow the limit.
ed to pass. No. IA was very long,
and the conductor was ut the head
of the train, relying upon the
brakeman to attend to the switch.
One report says that the rear brake
man, whose business it was to close
the switch after the train, for some
reason neglected altogether to do
80. The other and the more prob.
able story is that he started back
to close the switch, but before he
could reach it the limited, which
does not stop at any except large
places, came tearing down grade at
fifty miles an hour and left the
rails at the open switch. The sid
ing is in a cut where the road
curves so that the switch light can
not be seen from the east until a
train is within a few rods. The
engineer Of the limited, therefore,
could not see the switch light turn
ed wrong until too late to stop
The engine lett the track, ran
short distance, and brought up
against the side of the cut, tOppling
over. The baggage car and the
two regular coaches followed, while
four sleepers kept the rails. The
engine and the cars that went off
were badly smashed, and soon took
fire from the stoves, and Engineer
Little and Fireman Egan crawled
out from under the locomotive
badly bruised and scalded. The
baggageman had leg broken. All
passengers in the sleepers got out
uninjured, except slight bruises,
but in one day coach thirteen were
pinned in and literally burned to
death. Many others were injured
by the severe shaking.
The whole train except one sleep
or, which they were able to un.
couple and draw away, was burned
up. Superintendent w. e. Collins
was on the east.bound passenger
No. ., which was waiting at the
station a few miles this side of the
wreck for the limited, and was
soon on the scene.
ALL persisted BUT TWO.
Of the passengers in the day
coach all perished except two small
children of G. r.. Scherer, of !
Winona, Minn. Mrs. G. r. Scherer |
and her mother.in. law, Mrs. Rosina |
Johns, were in the ear and perished,
but were able to put the children
out through a window to the out
siders. The children were sent
home. The coach contained about |
twenty people, and the momentum
of the sleepers behind it raised the |
center up like letter A, when the
bottoms came together, smashing |
everything to pieces aud pinning
the people down with the seats.
General Manager Miller, who
went out to the scene of the rail-
way accident at 4 o'clock this
morning, returned this afternoon.
He said, in response to a question,
that he had little Information to
give beyond what had already been
told. lie believed that twelve
persons lost their lives in the
wreck. Of these, he had been
able to get but a few names. There
were Mrs. Scherer, of Winona, and
her mother.in.law, Mrs. ROsina
Johns, of the same place. Those
two children we're saved. The
poor mother, almost enveloped in
flames, thought of her children
first, and succeeded in pushing them
out of the window. There we're
two women wearing the garb of
nuns, both of whom had passes.
One was a mother superior OF some |
convent. Information received
here leads to the belief that she |
was the mother superior of a con-
vent at New Castle, in Fond du !
Lac county. The order is known
as the Third Order of Franciscan
Sisters. A merchant, at whose
store the sister bought goods, says |
there were three of them, and that |
they had their packages taken to
the depot, to go up on the night |
train to st. Paul. The other |
victims, whose names Manager |
Miller had, we're Louis Brinker, of
and Emil WOldersdort, &
merchant of Columbus, Wis. The |
only man who escaped from the |
burning car was DR.. Smith, OF
Chicago.
If the merchant is correct about
there being three instead Of two