Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-10-13
A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT.

a lEkRlbLE ACCIDENT.
A special train on the Lehigh Val
ley Railroad, carrying the Wilkes.
Barre delegation home from Halle.
ton, Pa, from the Father Mathew
celebration Wednesday evening,
was wrecked above Penn Haven.
The fifth division of the excursion
returning from Hazleton was wreck
ed and the cars piled IN a shapeless
mass, one being stood upon it's end.
All the cars were crowded and the
fatalities will run into awful figures.
The only information is from pas
sengers on the Central Railroad
trains, who report a horrible condi-
ton of affairs, the groans' of the
wounded being heard across the river
where the tracks of the Central run.
At the depot at Wilkesbarre, Pa,
hundreds of people gathered on the
platform, mauy weeping for the safe.
ty of their friends supposed to be on
the wrecked train.
WILKESBARRE, Pa, October. IL
The Lehigh Valley Railroad wreck
of last night is one of the most hor-
rible disasters of the year. Fifty.
seven persons were killed and TWEEN.
ty-eight wounded. Several of the
injured died to day, aud six or eight
are lingering in agony and praying
for death to relieve them.
There were five sections. AS the
train dashed along at full speed
Fireman Hughey Gallagher, of the
fourth, directed the attention of his
engineer, Harry Cook, to the signal
lantern of the third and jumped from
the cab. The engineer followed him.
An instant later the crash comes
The fretting, tuning, putting engine
plows it's heated body through near
ly the entire length of the rear car
scalding, jamming and killing the
unfortunate occupants. Not sin
gle person escaped from the real
car. The second was crowded with
MANNED and bleeding bodies, and
the third car had but few passengers
who escaped.
One young woman mOaned that
her father and sister we're dead
another a brother, and so it went
The crowd became wild with excite.
ment. At $50 Thursday evening
the funeral train arrived in Wilkes
barre, 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 passenger coaches. 1t
was an awful sight, indeed, to look
through the long coaches at the
bodies, each covered with white
cloth-here the form of boy of II
years, and beside it stalwart man.
A young lady was found caught by
the lower limbs. One of her limbs was
quickly released, but the other could
not be freea, and an unfortunately
misdirected blow of an axe severed
it from the body. TO free the bodies
in the rear of the Car, the train men
attached locomotive to the wreck
ed engine and started to pull it from
the wreck. The first movem MT OF
the shattered wreck brought from
the wounded such awful cries of dis.
tress that the surrounding friends
ordered the engineer to desist, on
pain of his life. They did not wish
to see the mangled forms further
mutllated. The shattered engine
was pouring streams of scalding
steam and water, which hid from
their eyes the fullest measure Of the
horrible scene, while Its kissing
sound deadened the shrieks and
groans of those imprisoned in the
wreck. CHASTITY white faces peered
into the windows to be greeted by
faces far more CHASTITY. Some of the
dead sat pinioned in the seats, erect
as in life, staring Open.eyed as il
aware of the horrible surroundings.
AS the steam and smoke cleared
from the rear car, its awful sights
were revealed. The timbers were
crushed and wrenched, while on all
sides hung mangled bodies and tim
Der. The few bodies which were not
mangled were burned and scalded
by the steam, and little remained in
the car which bore human sem.
blance.
The windows of the cars were
smashed in, brave men entered and
released those least hurt or least en-.
tangled. In one car they found
John Lynch, of Wilkesbarre, hang
ing from the roof by one leg. His
cries brought friends, who, to relieve
his suffering, stood up on the wreck
age and held his weight upon their
backs until he was released from his
terrible position.
For hours the railroad officials kept
the thousands of friends and rela
tives Of the dead and injured in
agonizing ignorance OF their fate.
Every means was taken to get infor-
nation, but to all no purpose.
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