The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1888-10-18
DEATH IN AWFUL FORM.

000OV0S0O VvO00000
Number Forty-DlstresslnE scenes.
accident on the Lehtgh Valley road ct Mud
Run Wednesday night grows moro horri-s
BILE as the details are made known. Tho
official reports place the number Of killed
at fifty seven, all but ten of whom have been
identified. It 10 impossible to tell the mum
Der of injured, but the best estimates place
the figure ct forty. Twenty five Of the
seriously wounded were brought here to
the hospital. :.
The collision occurred between the nth
and sixth sections Of an excurson train,
consisting altogether of eight sections and
ffty-seven coaches, which were convey
ing 5,5O5 passengers from the st. Mat
thew's celebration at Hazelton. The
first four sections passed Mud Run
! IN safety. The fourth and fifth SEQ
ular train pass, when the fourth section
pulled out The fifth section then ran
down to the depot ready to start after the
expiration of ten minutes, the time fixed
as the division between the running of tho
excursion sections
While 1t was waiting the accident o.
| Cured. The ill-fated rear car was sud.
denly illuminated by the headlight Of tho
locomotive of the sixth section, and tho
next instant the engine plunged its
full length into the crowded mass
Of humanity. The shock drove the
rear car two thirds its length
through the next, which in turn was forced
into the third. Not single occupant Of
the rear car escaped. The lights were ex-
tinguished by the shock, adding darkness
medtately the shrieks Of the injured ind
the groans Of the dying arose on every.
side. making the strongest heart quail.
After the first shock those who were
uninjured sprang to the work Of rescue
and were soon busy with hands and axes
! releasing the injured and recovering the
dead bodies from the wreck. The collidiug
| engine was stuck fast in the middle of the
wreck It had caused, actually cooking
the unfortunate victims with its escaping
steam. An effort was made to withdraw
the locomotive from the car into which it
had plunged, but the first movement
brought forth shreks of agony from the
imprisoned victims, and the attemlt had
to be abandoned.
Many horrible sights were met by the,
rescuers. In one place young woman
was pin oned in such q way that her log
had to be severed with an axe in order to
set her free. A man was found with
| one arm held tightly in the wreck,
| while with the other he was
clasping prattling babe. A young
woman was damned between two seats in
the agony Of death, while her father lay
! dying upon the smokestack of the snorting
engine.
Physicians were summoned from White
| haven and responded promptly. The bodies
| recovered were taken to Whitehaven,
| where undertakers prepared them for re-
% ~ md
here last evening.
Tho scenes at tho Lehigh Valley depot
here beggar all description. Hundreds of
| men, women and children, all of whom had
friends or relatives on the Inflated train,
thrOngcd the platform and waiting rooms
anxiously waiting for news from the scene
of the wreck. The company posted bulletins
of the dead as rapidly as dispatches were
received, and as the names were recog-
nized the grief of the relatives and fir. ends
| was heartrending When tho funeral
| train reached here a dozen policemen were
| required to keep back the frantic crowd Of
! friends and relatives who had come from
Scranton and Pleasant Valley to meet their
dead. A special coach had been provided for
! those friends, but they insisted on entering
the cars contain ing the dead, and were
only stopped by force and the efforts of
l
body was removed from the cars at White
Barre. The train then continued on its
way up the Delaware & Hudson road to
Miners's Mills and Scranton. The people in
the special coach again began to clamor
for permission to enter the funeral
| cars, but were again refused, it being al
legged that no one had the keys. Several
who were in search of missing friends be-
came desperate and soon broke down tho
Car doors and began frantic search for
their loved ones. Clothes were torn from
the mangled and scalded bodies, re-
vealing the gay uniform of St Allow
sious men, cadets, and other members Of
societies. Those who knew that their rel
atives were on board also focked into the
cars and began rearranging the attire or
coverings Of the corpses. Many were dis
torted and in horrible attitudes, and
friends endeavored to lessen their fright
full appearance.
It was as the train drew up at Pleasant
Valley that the most heartrending scenes
| were enacted. Ropes had been stretched
about the depot, and guards kept the i'm
mense throng back. The shrieks and
screams of stricken friends and relatives
we're pitiful in the extreme The first body
carried out was that Of Oscar Gibbons, IS
years of age, borne in the arms of his
starwart brother; then one after another
forty-six white-sheeted bodies were car
ried out and given into the charge Of
friends. The shrieks and cries of the
women and the hoarse shouts and impre-
| cations of the men made terrible scene.
When all were out the train again pulled
ont to bear the remaining dead to Scran-
ton, Minooka and points beyond.
As far as can be learned the blame for
the disaster seems to rest upon the engi-
neer of the leading train, which was drawn
oy two locomotives Officials of the
road claim that the dagger signal
was displayed at Mud Run, and
that the rear brakeman Of the
standing train was sent back with
a red light, and that he signaled
Cook, the leading engineer of the follow
ing train, to stop, but the latter failed to
heed it and dashed by the signal. Hunni-
gan, the rear brakeman, corroborates the
latter part of this testimony, and says that
down the track.
| Coos, the engineer, was found at his
home in this city. He was in bed with q
bruised ankle. He did not care to talk
about the accident, but declared that ne
was neither asleep nor drunk. He said
there were no air brakes on his engine,
the train brakes being controlled by tho
second engine.
The loss to the Lehigh Valley Railroad
! Company will be over IL 00O, OOO
| Over 10000 Bushels Of Grain Held ut
Minneapolis Waiting to He Un,osded.
MINNEAPOLIS, MIMI, Oct. 12.-There has
been q wheat blockade in this city since
Tuesday. There are $50 cars on track
here waiting to find place to be unloaded.
The blockade is troublesome, and the
Manitoba and Milwaukee roads are said
to be holding back cars in the
country. loaded with wheat, to keep them
! out of q snarl hero. The !, $50 cars block.
aded repres ent SS5, 600 bushels of whe at
with more back Of it to be rushed in
here as fast as room can be made. Now
that wheat has declined, it is expected that
farmers will begin to sell, more freely. Re-
ceipts Of wheat at the terminal stations in
the Northwest are as largo as those y ear
e. a.