The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1891-07-14
A RAILROAD MASSACRE.
DESTRUCTION OF LIFE AT
RAvENNA, OHIO.

Passenger Train Run Into from tho
Rear By - Freight Train, Train Fright
fully Wrecked and Set on Fire--Num-
bers OF the Dead Roasted to Crisp.
RAvENNA. o., July 3.-The worst
railroad accident ever occurring in this
vicinity happened at 3 o'clock this
morning. The horrible calamity has
fairly appalled, the town and nelghbor-
hood. Twenty people were killed and
their bodies burned to crisp. More
than that number were injured. The
charred remains of the dead were taken
from the ruins of the demolished pas
senger train as fast as the flames could
be subdued by the townspeople who
rallied to the rescue. Such terrible
sights as were witnessed in the early
morning hours made the people almost
sick.
An express, loaded with sleeping pas.
sengers, was run into by a freight train
while the express was at a standstill in
this city. The wreck of the passenger
train was terrible end complete. To add
to the condition of the unfortunate pas
sengers who were imprisoned in the de-
bris the train caught fire and was con-
sumed. In this way death fairly swept
through the wrecked train. BY day
light twenty bodies, nearly all of them
charred in horrible manner, were TAX
en- out. Twenty-three injured had also
been rescued. a large number of the
killed were glassblowers who were on
their way east from Findlay.
The freight train that telescoped the
express is the dressed meat express from
Chicago, and was running about thirty
miles an hour when it struck the pas
senger train. The accident was due to
caceleSSneeS in leaving switch open.
The passenger train, which was the
yestibule express with eight coaches
from Cincinnati to New York, on the
New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio
Railroad, was fOrtysix minutes late,
and the engineer was trying to remedy
the fault in the engine when the fast
freight was sighted in the rear. A
brakeman was sent back. but the heavy
freight train of twenty four cars could
not be stopped on the down grade in
time, and it crashed into the rear Of the
passenger train.
The rear coach contained forty.s
passengers, all glass workers recently
employed at the Richardson Glass
Works in Findlay, who were on their
way to their homes in New York State.
The car was completely demolished, and
a terrible slaughter occurred.
George Holman, the engineer of the
freight, said to reporter: 81 cannot
see that am to blame. Oh, my God, if
L could have got sand l could have
stopped the train, but the rails were
wet and the sand would not take.
was not warned in time, and could not
see the lights on the rear of the passen-
ger, owing to the darkness and fog. L
reversed the lever as quickly as possi-
ble, and with the fireman jumped from
the train, sustaining a severe fracture
of the right hand" Mr.. Holman seems
to think that the man of the passenger
train, Fred BoyntoD, could have Jagged
from a greater distance.
The fire department of Ravcnna was
soon on the scene, and eXtiDguished the
flames, but not before terrible havoc
had been wrought.
BESIDES the victims in the rear coach,
tour passengers in the Pullman car
next forward were killed. Two men
and one woman were burned to death
in this car. while their bodies we're
partly out of the windows. their at
temptS to escape having been fruitless.
one woman was heard screaming hor-
rlbly while being burned, but she could
not be reached. Two headless bodies
OF men could be seen caught in the out
rigging of the locomotive inside the
teleScoped Car, and another dead body
was suspended from the COW. w.catcher.
Ihe brakeman who was sent back had
got only about fifteen yards before he
met the freight train.
The scenes here at the wreck this
morning were heart-rendering. A
nurse girl, whose name is unknown,
and baby about year old, which she
was caring for, were burned to death
before the very eyes of the horror
stricken spectators. Heroic efforts
were made to save them, but they were
apparently bound down by the broken
timbers of the car. The poor girl
pleaded piteously for somebody in
mercy to kill her. TT Q flames almost
enyeloped the car and repeatedly drove
the rescuers away. Finally the workers
were compelled to fall Lack and aban-
don the girl to her awful fate. This
was but one of the awful scenes being
enacted.
When the great freight locomotive
mangled into unrecogniZable masses of
flesh and bones several of the passen-
gers. Their deaths, horrible though
they were, were easy compared to that
OF some of their friends. When the
locomotive had come to a standstill, five
forms were seen to be pinioned between
the head of the boiler and the torn and
twisted timbers of the coach. Two
were undoubtedly dead or unconscious,
but the other three weakly swayed their
bodies and waved their hands in an
agonizing endeavor to free themselves
from their frightful position. Quickly
the debris of the coach caught fire, and
in a few minutes the forms of the poor
fellows were enveloped in smoke and
flames.