St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-08-20
STORIES OF SURVIVORS.

Boston, Aug. 19.-S. A. Holbrook, of
Brooklyn. one of the occupants of the
ill-fated train, came out of the wreck
without a scratch. He said he was
seated in the car back of the smoker
with a friend, and near him sat Gen.
Nat Wales, of the First brigade. The
train was express to Brockton, and from
Brockton express to Boston. 1t left
BrocktOn about 10:40. Just this side OF
Presidents bridge $50 called because the
homestead of President John Quincy
Adams is close by), the engineer whis-
tied to ''down brakes" The train
began to shake as if shivered by the
shock of an earthquake, Then came
crash, the engine left the track and the
tender remained, with the parlor cal off
the tracks. and the baggage car was
thrown on its side. The locomotive,
when it left the tracks, turned itself
alongside the rails and the train slid
along, leaving the engine about midway
of the train, opposite the second passen-
ger car from the smoker. In this car
all the scalding was done. Men, wom-
en- and children were crying for help
and twisting in their agony. The faces
and hands of the victims were as red as
boiled Holsters. As near as l could find
out four were killed and fifteen or
twenty men, women and children badly
scalded, inhaling steam.
The Train Rolled Over.
John Harrington was passenger in
the sixth car. He arrived at Boston at
2:2O. He was not injured. TO a re-
porter he said: ''It all happened so
quickly that | can hardly account Tor it,
but it seems to me that the engine
Jumped the track first, rolling over
partly on the bank; the first four cars
passed by without very much damage,
but the fifth struck the locomotive
suuarely, or else the locomotive t0ppled
| over on it. The forward cars were de-
rallied and overturned, and the passen-
| gers more or less hurt, but the fifth car
was terribly smashed. and the occu-
pants were nearly all either killed
or severely injured. The middle
| of the car was mass OF shattered tim
bers and mangled human beings, the
| seats being jammed together so quickly
as to entrap the passengers and press
| their lives out in an instant. Then the
steam from the locomotive rushed into
the car and Scalded those persons who
were not already badly enough wounded.
At least five or six were killed outright
and four or five times as many were
scalded and otherwise hurt. Those in
| our car were not seriously injured, so
far as l could see. The accident oc-
Cured between Quincy and Wollaston,
where they were mending tracks. Be-
| fore left heard that the steam flom
| the locomotive entered also the forward
cars, but the damage to theml dom know.
Snatched Up From the Earth.
In the fourth car William Fennell, a
carpenter and householder at II
Harvard Place, was passenger. 1t
was there that the major portion of the
| casualties occurred, and nearly if not
all of those who lost their lives were
caught by beams and Scalded to DEATH
He says: ''Our car swept like light
ming right on to the broken engine, and
was forced on top of it with a terrific
shock. We seemed Snatched right up
from the earth fifty feet in the air.
When the car descended on the engine
it had twirled over, and the wounded
passengers were thrown ruthlessly
about AS the car struck on its side
solidly the bottom of it was torn away,
and thus an opportunity was given us
to get out. That was the only thing
that saved my life ana those of forty or
fifty more passengers. Thirty seconds
after the car struck | would have given
$1,000 for drink Of any kind, from
suffocate The death-dealing steam
entered the car in dense clouds from
the locomotive beneath us. filling every
crevce, and almost suffocated those
whom it did not burn to death. 1t
caused all the deaths that occurred
to-day. Ten women were gaSping about
me as [ tried to shrek and shout, and
as they became weaker and weaker as
the steam filled their lungs could see
them push their hands or feet through
the torn windows, trying in vain to gel
breath of fresh air. l don't know
How Many Saw Die
before me. saw eight or ten at the
moment. but now l don't think there
were more than six or seven. There
were forty or fifty passengers in the cal
and nearly all of them were wounded
more or less. don't consider myself
injured badly, although l can hardly
walk, and there were perhaps ten OF
fifteen like me, but the rest, perhaps
TWENTY-FIVE altogether, were seriously
injured. | saw them III the car crying
out for help and did all l could l saw
the flesh burned from men and women
as that cursed steam enyeloped' them,
and l saw men groaning and shrieking
in their death struggles as the scalding
fumes became hotter and denSer. When
the bottom of the car burst out it left a
hole just large enough for my head,
directly over my head, and the edges OF
that l reached in some way, don't
know how. Then l pulled myself up
and looked through the opening. AL
] about was wreck and ruin. The pas
sengers from the other cars were not to
be seen, but over on fence bordering
the railroad track were ten or twenty
men-it seemed to me one hundred
watching the scene of ruin and power.
less from fright and dastonishmentt to help
us. l screamed, shouted and swore al
them but they would not move, and the
more l cursed, the more helpless they
became. These men-I hate to cal
! them that-saw me rise from my peril