The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1888-01-05
4 HORRIBLE MISTAKE.
Fears Entertained that the Most Ter
rlble Part Of Saturdays
Wreck on the Cincinnati & Southern
Remains to be Told.
The Bones of Two Unfortunates Re-
dueed Almost to Ashes.
Other Evidences that More People are
Buried in the Wreck.

Greenwood, Ky. January 3.-The fear
grows hourly that the most terrible
part of the story of Saturdays wreck
remains to be told. As time wears on
and the wreck is being cleared away,
the presence of more victims in the
debris becomes apparent. When the
wreck occurred a number of paSsen-
gers who were IN the ladies' coach and
smoking car on the noTthbound train
succeeded in making their escape from
the cars with tri1ing injuries; Just
where and how many is not known.
Last night horrible mistake was dis
covered when the bones of two unfortu-
mates were found, reduced almost to
ashes, buried with the burned cars.
There is absolutely nothing by which
| they can be identified, and it is not Ger
male, female or both. Mr.. c. G. Giles
pie of Beaver, a small settlement near
this place, visited the wreck last night.
While digging in the ruins he discov-
cred hair attached to the scalp of wo-
man. The flesh was burned away, but
the long locks are in good state of
preservation. Almost in the same spot
where the hair was found Mr.. Giles
pie found a child's shoe. The other
shoe has not yet been found, neither
has any account been given of the loss
of child. A little deeper in the de-
bris in the same spot where the hair
and shoe were found Gillespie picked
up letter. TWAS written in a lgoOd
plain feminine hand, dated at st. Au-
gustine, Florida, addressed Dear
nothing in the letter to give any clue
| to the full name of the writer or re-
ceiver and the envelope cannot be
| found
After the accident search was made
for an unknown man who was seen to
enter the toilet room of the ladies
coach on the north bound train an
instant before the crash came. He
was never seen again and all efforts
to locate him prove futile. 1t is be-
lieyed that he was unable to get out
of the little apartment and was burned
to death in the car. 1t is believed that
the bones found last night are those
of the man and woman. The child
was probably with its mother and
died with her, its body being buried in
the debris. The suspicion grows that
there are more people buried in the
wreck than have been extracted.
DETAILS OF THE WRECK.
MEANWHILE, Pa, Dec. 31.-The de-
tails of the wreck which occurred on
the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio,
five miles west of this city, at $50 this
morning, proves the disaster to have
been the most horrible that ever oc-
CURED in this vicinity. The colliding
through train from Chicago,
an express. baggage, smoker,
ladies car and two Pullman sleepers,
due in this city at $50 a. m, and
freight train No. 23, west bound
double-header. Both trains were over
two hours late, and the freight, being
entitled to the right of way. was run
ming without orders, simply taking it
for granted that the express was in.
Conductor Murray, of the freight,
pulled out for Geneva, where he had
orders against trains No. % and
81. Almost simultaneously the
trains swept by the last two in
tervening stations Geneva ana
Buchanan, only four miles apart,
and as the word was sent to the dis
patcher's Office in this city, the inevita-
BILE result was certain. The two trains,
the ''thunderbolt'' running forty-fiye
miles, and the freight train fifteen
miles an hour, met on long, forest
hidden curve, with crash that was
terrible to witness. Passenger engine
No. So and freight engine No. "a
seemed to raise badly in the air, and in
an instant they were standing on their
furnace ends, pilots pointed to the
sky, and their drivers locked in an en-
brace of death. And SO they stood
for hours, held firmly by the ruins of
the two trains. Both engineers and
firemen of the two coliiding engines
were crushed between the iron drivers.
The mangled bodies of Engineer Swan
and Fireman Humes, pinned to death
just as they were on the point of leap
ing from their engine. The sight was
Sickening, but was soon covered from
view by friendly blankets. The bag
gage car, express Car and smoker were
completely wrecked. The baggage car
was telescoped into the smoker like
wedge, splitting it open and
sweeping every seat from the floor.
The total number of passengers on the
train was fifty-three, fifteen of whom
were in the smoker. All of these were
more or less injured and William H.
Stevenson. of Toledo, o., died shortly
after he was taken from the ruins.
The crash was heard for a great dis
lance, and soon the neighborhood was
aroused and men and women running
across the fields to the scene of the
ruin. The passengers who were not
injured seemed in daZe, and for few
| moments the people seemed
speechleSs with the horror of the acct
L
came from the ruins brought people to
a realization of the terrible situation,
| and in a very short time large force
of men were at work systematically
doing all they could for the wounded
| and dying.
The railroad company. after dis
patching two wrecking cars to the
scene of the disaster, soon followed
| with a passenger train on which to
| fv-a
wrecked train, and bring the
wounded. and such of the dead
as had been recovered to Meadville.
| The wrecking crew worked with a
will and soon a portion Of the mangled
| remains of Fireman Humes were taken
from the wreck. The almost unrecog-
niZable form presented a sickening
sight The limbs and lower part Of
the BODY were ground to pulp. En-
gineer Swan was exposed to view, but
so tightly was his body wedged in the
wreck that no attempt was made to re-
move it. A portion of the body of
George, and also the arm and shoulder
of Fireman Irwin, could be seen.
Those of the passengers who were
not injured were transferred and sent
forward on other trains, while the dead
and wounded were brought to this
city, the former to the undertaker's and
the latter to the hospital. Trains were
run around the wreck by the Nashville
and. LineSville road until the New
York, Pennsylvania s. Ohio was FULLY
cleared about O'Clock this afternoon
The railroad officials behaved nohly
in the matter and did everything in
their power for the comfort of the in.
jured. They seemed to realize thai
the most terrible disaster in the his
tory of the road was upon them, AMI
they accepted the gloomy responsible
: ity like men. Division Superintendent
G. A, Brumm, and Trainmaster Bah
cock, from this city, were among tn,
: first to arrive at the wreck, and bot
: remained and gave personal directiol
to the wreck. All Information posi-
bic was given cheerFuliy, and all don
I; that seemed right and proper unde
the circumstances.
The following is q list of casualties
KILLED.
Engineer L. L. Swan. MeadviIle