New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-10-17
TIE WORST ON RECORD,
Srlghtfna Railroad Accident, In which Eighty
PERSONS are Killed and Many More Injured

a nj efsons were Killed and O. number ininred
me ne accldenU TOOK place near Mud Run Sta
~ 1ion. a grand parade of Catholic societies
took place at Hazleton and aIaroe ayc,1rsion
was run from Wllkesbarre for the occasion
= coAEsosed OF lodges, band and sight-seers
lrS'sf WilKesbarre Nanticoke and other points
4 along Uhe llne The excursion train was run
a IN Two sections and upon the return trim rho
8 I sectlon ran into the forward section at
81 MUG Run with disastrous results. Several cars
iii VI 1iie forward section were telescoped and
Is nearly eighty persons were killed outright
ana ABOUT an equal number injured MANY of
them probably fatally
"a The accident occurred nj nipbt Tho nax+
n day was a sad day at Hazleton. Az soon "a
One news OF the accident reached this CITY the
Hliuesb excitement prevailed. Thee depot was
1nfonged with friends and relatives of those
On 5ne 1ii-fated train, all seeking inform alton
OF Ghelr loved ones, but little was received.
and all had to wait for some ONE comino
rom the wreck. AS the hours adj
ssAgFe the suspense grew more and more ag-
onlsIng, and the scene was most narrowing.
"a large number of the relatives of the dead
and many who feared that friends were ON
the Inflated train crowded the streets of
E W llkesbarre from early morning An i'm
x lease thFong surrounded the Valley depot
ana surged backward and forward in their
anxiety TO obtain the latest particulars of
4 T vag saa af1air. The scenes at the Lehigh
Eailey depot beggar all description Hun
ureus OF men, women and children thronged
I cue platorm and waiting rooms, the sole
& Gop1c ofconversation being the awful disas-
I ter.
I AS the morning hours advanced the crowds
l gut 6he Leh1gh Valley depot augmented until
July "a Thousand excited, serrowful people
mSSed in and out of the building in nervous
Ureindation. MIR. Essor, was at Supt Mitehell's
4 office all day, said the road carried $3.50
\ passengers on the excursion. There
/ were eighty seven coaches in all and
ID into aicrht
" before the accident four sections of the ex-
h 'curs1on train had passed Mud Run The train
ahead of'the one that was run into laid at
/. Mud Run, waiting for q regular passenger
train TO go by. When this train passed, the
4 Train thatl lay ahead of the one that was
. WreckedIpulled safely out. The other then
pulled up ready to start after the expiration
Y OF ten minutes the time fixed upon as the
O. DIVISION between the running of the excur-
3 SIGN sections. Every precaution was taken
I TNWarn all approaching trains that the Sec
4 ton was on the main track, and Operator
{ Slogan hung out a red light at the station,
j while James Hunnigan, the rear brakeman.
/ was back on the culyert with red light
Whlch'he says could be seen for a half mile
down the track James K McGinlev, re-
corder of deeds Of Luzerne county, was on
the section that ran into the preceding train.
He said:
was in the second car from the engine,
and saw the train ahead of us. We were
hour, L should Judge. [ realized that there
4 would be q mlshap, but [ could not help my
Z self. 1t was impossible to get out of the car
and | did not think it would be serious any.
] W.. The crash was terrible one, though
none of us in the car in which was seated
were injured, nor were any'of us thrown over
the seats. But the scene that followed makes
J me shiYer [ have heard and read thrilling
\ accounts of railroad disasters, but never
. pictured in my mind anything like this. The
, horror OF the moment cannot be expressed in
words. We ran to the cars in which Law the
injured people. One would say, ''Oh lift that
iron and take me out; for Gods sake help
4 me-" Another wauld exclaim, "My leg is
fast; cut off my leg; get an and cut it off. -
Still others begged for help in various ways
and with the most piteous appeals. Every
few minutes one of the poor victims would
die. Some were being scalded by the escap-
ing steam, some were crushed to death and
some dying slowly of their awful injuries.
To look on and be powerless to render aid
was enough to drive man mad. | hope
Xay never witness such O scene again.
kE'he bodies OF the dead removed to
White Haven, where undertakers cared for
them as best they could, preparatory to re-
moVal to this city.
At $50 in the evening the funeral train ar
rived in Wikesbarre, bearing ffty-seven
dead bodies. They had been partially pre-
pared for burial, and lay upon boards placed
upon the backs of the seats in three passen-
ger 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 twelve years, and beside
it a stalWart man. AS the train drew
up to the Wikesbarre depot a dozen police
men were required to keep back the frantic
crowd of friends and relatives who had come
from Scranton and Pleasant Valley to meet
their dead. The train them continued on it's
2 &sway up the Delaware & Hudson road to
! Siners' Mills and Scranton. The people in
VShe special coach again began the camer 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 missng friends became desperate and soon
broke down the car doors and began q fran
tic search for their loved ones. Clothes were
torn from the mangled and sealded bodies,
revealing the gay uniforms OF st. Afoysius
men, cadets and other members of societies.
Those who knew their relatives were on
board also focked into the cars and began
rearranging the attire covering of the
corpses. Many were distorted and in hor-
rible attitudes, and friends fendeaVored to
lessen their frightful appearance. 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 tthrong back.
The shrieks and screams ofsstricken friends
EssnG relatives were pltlful IN the extreme.
The first body carried outSwas that OF Oscar
Gibbons, thirteen years of age, borne in the
arms of his stalwart brother; than one after
another fortyssix 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 impreca-
ttions of the men made a terrible scene.
When all were out the train again pulled
QUITO bear therremainingtdead to Scranton,
sMinooka and points beyond.
There are ten bodies still unidentified 1t
iis;impossible to tell thelnnmber of wounded.
Twenty five werebroughtto thehospital and
numbers of Others slightly injured have gone
to their homes cor are being caredffor else
where. The loss to the Lshigh Valley Rail
road company will be over 81, 100000.
TuosHurdereFs Doomed.