The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1889-06-14
CIIILDRGN CRUSHED.
A Terrible Railroad Accident
Near ArmnusR, I'm
Ireland.
Railway Cars Dash Down a Steep
Grade, Colliding with Fol-
lowing Train.
Seyenty-twO Children Taken Ont OF the
Wreck Deal, IA @any More
Are Badly Injured.

DUBLIN. June -. The railroad acct
dent near Armah lis without n parallel
in the history of railroading in Ireland.
The train carrying the Sunday school
excursion bound for the popular little
seaside resort of Warrensport was made
up two sections, and fully 100 children
and their relatives and teachers were on
board. This train, short distance out
of Armagh. was ascending a steep grade
TO bank that rises to n height of fifty
feet, when the engine of the rear section
gave out and was unable To drew the
heavy train. In some way which is not
now clearly understood several of the
rear cars became detached from the bal
ance of the train and
STARTED DOWN THE STEEP GRADE.
In a few seconds the cars were going
down hill at a terrific rate of speed, with
the brakes either utterly useless or from
negligence on the part of the guard
without proper attention. Had the
track on the level Just below the grade
been clear for any considerable distance
the detached cars might have lost their
momentum and the terrible accident
that followed been averted, but, unfor-
tunately, the regular train from Armagh
followed just behind the rear section of
the excursion train, and with the loco
motive of this train the detached cars
CoLLIDED WITH TERRIFIC FORCE,
wrecking the locomotive as well as the
cars themselves. The scenes at the
wreck Immediately after the accident
were heartrending in the extreme. The
rear section of the excursion train, from
which the Inflated cars had become de-
tached, was stopped after proceeding a
short distance and the passengers as well
as those of the forward section ran back
to render what assistance they could to
those of the little children in the wrecked
cars, where manned and mangled bodies
still showed symptoms of life. The
DEAD AND DYING LITTLE ONES
were scattered in inextricable confusion
among the Jagged timbers and twisted
iron work of the wreck and the
groans of the imprisoned suffer
ers mingled in an awful din with the
shrieks OF their moro fortunate compan
ions who stood by powerless to afford
any assistance.
People from the surrounding country
flocked to the scene and set to work to
remove the victims of the wreck. PLY.
sicians were summoned from Belfast and
other points to attend to the wants OF
the injured while the dead were taken
from the ruins as fast as possible and
PLACED IN ROWS UPON THE GRASS.
The engineer, fireman and guard OF
the rear section of the excursion train
and the traffic managers clerk have been
arrested charged with causing the acct
dent, and remanded without pail.
DEAD NUMBER SEvENTYTwo.
The dead at this hour number seventy.
two, with almost a certainty that Others
among the large number of injured will
die. This makes the disaster the great
est railway horror that has ever beer
known in the United Kingdom, with tho
possible exception of the memorable Tay
bridge disaster by which seventy-foul
persons lost their lives.
The manner in which the doomed
coaches became detached from the traiI
of which they formed a part seems al
this hour to be unexplained. 1t is as
serted that they were deliberately un
coupled by train hand when it wa
found that the engine could not pull the
entire train any further. However thi:
may be, there is no doubt that the disas
ter is primarily due to obsolete applian
ces, the brakes being the old fashioned
hand brakes with worn links.