The Columbus journal., 1889-05-01

An AWFCL DISASTER.
Twenty People Killed anA Many weandet
o the Grand Trunk.
A heavily loaded train ON tho Crane
Trunk railroad jumped tho track yester
day near Hamilton, Ont, and the wrecl
immediately took fire, entaiing q fearful
los OF Life. Eighteen bodies are 90 bad
| " burned that even tho sex cannot b
told. Many OF the passengers were OF
their way to the centennial celebration
at New York.
TERRIBLE RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
HAMILTON, Ont, April 28-A terrible
railway accident occurred on the GfanG
Trunk railway near here at Z O'Clock thu
morning. The st. Louis express jump
ed the track and the engine ran into thu
water tank. Two cars were teleecopec
and immediately took fire. All the
dead, seventeen in number, have been
taken out. The only body identified i
that Of r L. Quincy, Of Chicago. BE
was instantly killed but not burned
An italian, name unknown, was also in
stantly killed. The other fifteen were
burned beyond all possibility OF identi.
fcation. About twenty persons were in.
jured, but only one or two seriously
None Of the train hands were killed
The fireman was slightly burned and re.
ceived q bad scalp wound. The train
was composed OF an engine, two baggage
cars, q smoker, q Chicago & Grand
Trunk through passenger coach, q Wa
bash coach, q Wagner first-class coach
q Pullman car and two Wagner sleeping
cars, IN the order named. The accident
occurred at the junction where "Y" il
built. The ''Y" is used to switch through
trains for the Toronto branch from the
main line. The train is said to have
been running at q speed of forty miles
an hour or more. When directly on the
crossing, the switch engine jumped the
track and plunged into q
water tank, which stood
in the space between the "Y," smashing
the tank into atoms and turning it al.
most mp side down. The baggage can
came directly after the engine, and the
first OF these was pitched over the engine
and thrown on the main track, leaving
its wheels behind it.
The other baggage car caught fire
from the engine, and they were soon in
flames. The coaches followed, with the
exception of the two Wagner cars in the
rear OF the train, and all were huddled
together by the shock and soon caught
fire from the baggage cars.
The passengers on the train numbered
over 15O, many of whom were asleep al
the time and had a terrible experience
The majority of those on board the train
were able to get out of the coaches be.
fore the fire reached them, but in the
confusion that reigned it is not known
Of the flames, penned in by the material
of the wreck and unable to extricate
themselves. L. s. Quincy of Brooklyn
n. n, had his head completely severed
from his body by piece of flying
debris. Rudolph Deerer was also in.
stantly 'illed. As soon as the engine
rolled over, after striking the water tank
Engineer Watson and Fireman Chapman
crawled out from underneath it, neither
# them being much hurt. An auxiliary
train was sent out from this city imme-
diately on receipt of news of the accident
and the passengers, including the injur-
ed and two of the killed, were brought
to this city. The Wagner cars in the
rear of the train were uncoupled from
the others and were saved from the
flames. A large gang of employees work
ed at the wreck, doing their utmost to
extinguish the fire. There was great
difficulty in securing water, owing to the
tanks being smashed and the fire held
sway for many hours before thorough
search could be made through the debris.
Up to 6 o'clock the charred remains of
eighteen victims were exhumed from the
wreck. In no case was there enough of
body left to identify the remains or to
tell whether the person was Of male or
female sex.
Here follows a list of the killed and
wounded, among them eighteen charred
bodies that cannot be identified.
It was 6 o'clock this evening before
the track was cleared.
The wounded in the hospital are all
doing we'll
As far a. can be learned, there was nc
negligence on the part of the railway
company. The train simply jumped the
track at the frog.
The screams Of tho men who were be-
ing burned to death in the smoking car
could be heard above the sound OF e.
Gaping steam and the roaring of the
flames. Conductor Poole says the train
was fifteen minutes late, but was not
running more than twenty miles an
hour when the accident happened, as
the orders are that trains must not run
at that particular place at a greater
speed than twenty miles. The place
the accident occurred is considered very
dangerous as there is switch on a sharp
curve, hence the precaution of running
slowly. Seven cars, q baggage car, two
first-class coaches, smoking car, q first
class day coach and two Wagner Sleep
ers were burned, there being not q vest
ige of wood or anything that would
burn left of the cars. The baggage car
was demolished and the engine was
most completely wrecked. The loss
to the company will be enormous. Many
Of those on the train were going to New
York to participate in the centennial
festivities. Most of the passengers lost
all or a portion Of their baggage and
clothing, and a large amount OF mails
were lost by the fire.
THE LATEST ACCOUNT.
SUSPENSION BRIDGE, N. Y, April o.
A special train on the Grand Trunk
came in about 40 this morning, having
on board about seventy-five passengers
who were IN the accident that occurred
q short distance from Hamilton this
morning. Among them were four men
who were badly cut and injured about
the head and body. Malcolm Mckay of
Boston, in relating his experience,
said: Il have no idea how I got out Of
the wreck, but would not be surprised
If I went through a window as doctor
took several pieces of glass from the cuts
i'm my head. have faint remembrance
Of two men helping me stand, but I was
half way here before 1 clearly under
stood what had happened" It is feared
that Bill Phillips OF Chicago, first base
man Of the Hamilton team, was among
the killed. He was expected to report
today.
Another report Of the accident says
that tn" remains of from sixteen to
eighteG-. men were taken out of the
wreck. They were cut to pieces al
most to a man and burned heyond all