Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1888-10-13
THAT TERRIBLE WRECK.
MORE DETAILS OF TEE DLS4ASTER
ON THE LEHIGH HALLEY r. r.

rs At Least Fifty-Seven Persons Killed, an
es Nearly as Many More Wounded-Th
lg Engine Crashing Into the Mass o
m Humanity Grinding People to Piece
Horrible Scenes at the wreck-Re
"a turning With the Dead Frantic Effort
,ei of Friends to See Their Dead Relatives
W1KEsBARRE, Pa, October 11.-Th
q first word of the dreadful accident at Mu,
y River, on the Lehigh Valley road, was re
Il ceived at 10 O'Clock last night. There wer
y nearly six thousand persons from Luzern,
and Lackawanna counties on an excursion
Q at Hazelton. There were seventy eight carr
from Wilkes Barre, the number OF passen'
; gers being about $500. The sections wert
all crowded to suffocation, furnishing con
ditions for the terrible loss Of life.
= People focked to the depot wringing their
q hands in agony. The railroad officials
Q could not or would not give information,
: nor would they furnish facilities for anyone
to 60 to the scene, though the anxious ones
offered any price. Throughout the night the
depot was thronged by hundreds of people
who were
SUFFERING UNTOLD AaoNsEs
over their uncertainty. The throng was
loud in their denunciation of the company
for refusing all information, thus causing
needless suffering.
At $3.50 q. m. arrangements were made
for the receipt of q large number of the
| lod OF no itol 10 off aio 1S
expecting twenty five cars of the wounded
passengers. The public pulse stood still
over the horrible possibilities, and
thousand fainting hearts quivered in
dread.
Many persons, after waiting during the
long dreary hours from 10 to in the morn.
ing, took the south-bound train, which
passed here at $40, and went to the scene
OF the disaster, and there learned that a
third section of the excursion train had
stood on the track q few hundred yards
from Mud river waiting for the sections
ahead to get out of the way. The fagman,
some say, had been sent to look with Ian
| terms for
THE GUARD TRAIN FROM THE REAR.
Suddenly the passengers on the rear plat
form saw a train approaching at a high
rate OF speed. Several iumbed and escaped. !
In an instant flash of the headlight
Illuminated the interior OF the ill-fated rear
car.
There was frightful crash, and the en-
CINE plunged full length into the crowded |
mass OF humanity. The shock drove the
rear car through the next one two-thirds |
it's length. The second car was forced into /
the third. Not single person escaped |
from the rear car. The second car was Il
crowded with manned and bleeding bodies. |
The third car had but few passengers, who /
escaped. CHASTITY white faces peered into 1
the windows of the other cars, to be greeted /
by faces far more CHASTITY. Some OF the
dead sat pinioned in the seats, erect as in i
life, staring open-eyed, as if aware OF the
horrible surroundings.
As the steam and smoke cleared away /
from the rear car,
AWFUL SIGHTS WE'RE REVEALED.
Timbers were crushed and wrenched, while |
on all sides hung mangled bodies and limbs.
A few bodies not mangled were burned and
scalded by the steam and little remained
in the rear car which bore a human SEM
blance.
When the shock of the first crash had in
a measure subsided, the uninjured began
to do what could be done for their unfor-
+-.s.o ocn,panions; The few light tools
on the train proved feeble instruments IN
deed.
The st. Francis Pioneer corps, who were
on the train, piled with zeal the broadaxes
meant for the holiday occasion. They |
were, however, but little adapted to the |
work and were soon rendered useless. In |
the meantime the windows of the cars were |
smashed in and brave men entered and re- |
leased those least hurt or least entangled. |
John Lynch of Wilkesbarre, was hanging |
from the roof by one leg. His cries brought
friends, who stood upon the wreckage and
held his weight upon their backs until he |
was released. A young lady was found
caught by the lower limbs. One limb was
quickly released, but the other could not be
freed. Unfortunately
M1sD1REcTED BLOW OF AN AXE
severed it from the body. She heroically
bore the torture, but could not survive the
shock and soon died.
To free the bodies in the rear OF the car
| the trainmen attached a locomotive to the
wrecked engine and started to pull it from
the wreck. The first movement OF the
shattered wreck brought from the wounded
such awful cries OF distress that surround.
| ing friends ordered the engineer to desist on
pain of his life. They did not want to see
the mangled forms still further mutilated.
The few houses about the place were
thrown open to the suffering. Bontires
were lighted to aid the work OF relief.
The passengers on the rear train state
that they saw the train ahead when far
down the road. They sprang from their
seats and stared in wonder and surprise
that the train did not slacken it's speed,
Suddenly their engineer and fireman were
seen to jump and
THEN CAME THE SHOCK.
Engineer Harry Cook and Fireman Hugh
Gallagher sustained slight injuries. The
fireman saw the red light, informed the en-
gineer, and then jumped.
The passengers gave many different &C
lcounts OF the probable cause OF the accident,
isome attributing it to the negligence OF the
fiagman in not going back with red light.
A train from the scene of the accident ar
rived this morning, bringing number OF
those who went down to make inquiries,
and from them the foregoing facts were
cleaned. The scenes about the depot are
of the most distressing character. Aspecial
. train OF three cars arrived here at O'Clock
this morning from the wreck with twenty
four injured. They were placed in the city
hotel. Many OF the injured we're Daoly
burned by sparks from the engine smoke
stacks.
LIST OF THE DEAD.
The killed as far as can be learned are:
Mary Ellen Girton, Hyde Park; Miss Kate
Featherstone, Pleasant Valley; Andrew Tor
Barney Meighan and two daughters,
) Pleasant Valley; Thomas Ready, Pleasant
Valley; John M. Coleman and two sons,
Scranton; Owen Kilkullen, Scranton; Mike
Tyrrell, Dodgetown; Allie Reilly, Bellevue;
Mrs. Melvin, Hyde Park; Mrs. Callahan,
Hyde Park; Mary Conner, Hyde Park; M.
3 Gibson, Hyde Park; Willie Noon. Hyde
Park; Richard Powell, Hyde Park; E: Null
hayns, Pleasant Valley; Harry Burke,
Bellevue; Minte Roane, Dodgetown; J. s.
Whalsn, Pleasant Valley; Patrick Welsh,
4 Pleasant Valley; James Kline, Providence;
Mary and Ellen Durkin, Scranton; John
Welsh, Miners Mills; John Rogan, Win
ton; Anthony Mulligan, Olyphant; Pa
trick Dolan, Providence; Mike Dolan, Prov
8 tidence; Frank and Harry jackson, Pleas
!, ant Valley; Secretary Kelly, Pleasant
Valley; John Conabay, Minooka; Ratch