St. Paul daily globe., 1888-10-12

and others information concerning
the departure of trains for Mud
| Run. Many men came in with
the tears trickling down their
/ faces, and their questions were
put between heart-breaking sObs.
In each instance these stated they had
SONS on the i'll starred train, and be-
lieved them to be numbered among the
dead. As the morning hours advanced,
the crowds at the Lehigh Valley depot
augmented until fully a thousand eX-
cited sOrrowful people moved i'll and
out of the building in nervous tIepida-
ton. The company posted a bulletin
OF the dead in conspicuous place as
rapidly as dispatches were received,
and, when the first bulletin was dis
played containing the names of the four
who had been identified, the
MANIFESTATIONS OF GRIEF
were seen in all quarters. Many knew
some of the dead, and here and there
was relative. Eagerly the great crowd
waited for further intelligence. To the
anxious thr0ng the news appeared to
come too slow, but this was all owing to
the difficulty of Identification. Supt.
Mitchell telegraphed as fast as he could
all the identificatiOns, but the crowd OF
course did not understand this and cen
sured the company for what it supposed
was needless delay. Mr.. ESSOr, who
was at Supt. Mitchell'S Office all day,
said the road carried $3.50 passen-
gers on the excursion yesterday. There
were eighty-SeYen coaches in all,
and the tram was broken INTO eight
sections. Before the accident four sec
tiOns of the excursion train had passed
Mud Run. The train ahead of the one
that was run into laid at Mud Run,
waiting for the regular passenger train
to go by. When this train passed, the
train that lay ahead of the one that was
wrecked pulled safely out. The other
then pulled up, ready to start after the
expiration of ten minutes, the time
fixed upon as the division between the
running of the excursion sections.
Every precautiOn was taken to warn all
approaching trains that the section
was on the main track, and Oper-
atOr Slogan hung out red light at the
station, while James Hunnigan, the rear
brakeman, went back on the culyert with
a red fight, which he says could be seen
for half mile down the track.
James *. Mckinley, recorder of deeds
OF LuZerne county, was on the section
that ran into the preceding train. He
said: 81 was in the second car from
US. We were running at the rate Of tif-
teen miles an hour, should judge. l
realized that there would be Smash-up,
but l could not help myself. 1t was i'm
possible to get out of the car, and l did
not think it would be serious anyway.
TIE CRASH WAS TERRIBLE,
though none of us in the car in which l
was seated were injured, nor were any
of us thrown over the seats, but the
scene that followed makes me Shiver. L
have heard and read thrilling accounts
of railroad disasters, but never pictured
in my mind anything like this. The
horror OF that moment cannot be eX-
pressed in words. We ran to the cars
in which lay the injured people. One
would say, oh, lift that iron and take
me out; for Gods sake, help me- An
other would eXclaim, My leg Is fast; cut
off my leg; get an axe and cut it off,
Still others begged for help in various
ways and with the most piteOuS ap-
pealS. Every few minutes one of the
poor victims would die. Some were
being scalded by the escaping steam,
dying slowly of their awful injuries.
To look on and be pOwerless to render
aid was enough to drive man mad. l
hope l may never witness such a scene
again. The bodies of the dead were
removed to White Haven, where under
takers cared for them as best they
could preparatory to their removal to
this city. At 6 80 this evening the fun
eral train arrived in WilkeSbarre
bearing
FIFTY-SEVEN DEAD BODIES
They had been partially prepared for
burial, and lay upon boards placed upon
the backs of the seats in three passen-
ger coaches. 1t was an awful sight in
deed to look through the long coaches
at the bodies, each covered with white
cloth; here the form of a boy of twelve
years ana beside it stalwart man. AS
the train drew up to the Wilkesbarre
depot a dozen policemen were re-
crowd of friends and relatives who had
come from Scranton and Pleasant Val
ley to meet their dead. A special coach
had been provided for these friends, but
they insisted on entering the cars con-
tanning the dead, and were only stopped
by force and the efforts of five priests
who were on the train. One body was
removed from the cars at WilkeSbarre
The train then continued on its way I'D
the Delaware & Hudson road to Miners
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 alleged
that no one had the keys.
Several who were in search of missing
friends became desperate, and soon
BROKE DOWN THE CAR DOORS
and began a frantic search for their
loved ones. Clothes were torn from the
mangled and scalded bodies, revealing
the gay uniforms of st. Aloysius men,
cadets and other members of societies.
Those who knew their relatives were
on board also fiOcked into the cars and
began rearranging the attire or cover
ing of the cOrpSeS. Many were dis
tOrted and in horrible attitudes, and
friends endeavOred to lessen their
frightful appearance. At Miners
Mills the train stopped to leave
No lights could be obtained and much
of the work was done in partial dark
ness. 1t was as the train drew up at
Pleasant Valley that the most heart
rending scenes were enacted. Ropes
had been stretched about the depot and
guards kept the immense throng back.
The shrieks and screams of stricken
friends and relatives were pitiful in the
extreme. The first body carried out
was that of Oscar Gibbons, Is years of
age, borne in the arms of his Stalwart
brother; then, one after another. forty
SIX white sheeted bodies were carried
out and given into the charge of friends.
The shriekS and cries of the women
and the hOarse shouts and imprecations
of the men
MADE A TERRIBLE SCENE.
When all were out the train again