Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-28
FORTY-THREE BODIES
TAKEN FROM THE WRECK OF THE
FRENCH EXCURSION TRAINS.

Heartrending Scenes at the House Where
the Bodies Were Taken-Thousands of
People Assembled in the vicinity-The
Cause of the Disaster.
PARIS, July 27.-The Town Hall of St.
Mande presents a fearful spectacle. The
blackened bodies of the dead lie in rows
upon the floor and upon the tables in the
building. In some cases the remains are
but little more than heaps of cinders, inter-
mixed with portions of limbs and fragments
of people who were but short time before
laughing, chatting and singing in jovial
contentment. One pile of charred limbs
and human cinders was especially conspicu-
Gus, as it consisted of a mass of unidentified
and unconnected bodies placed in leap.
lie Paris this evening states that an in
vestigation which has been made into the
railroad accident has disclosed the startling
fact that the disaster was Intentionally
caused by some unknown miscreant who de-
liborately altered the signals so as to bring
the two trains into collision. This an
nouncement has caused the most intense in
dignation among the relatives and friends
of the victims, and has aroused popular
feeling generally to a state of great excite
ment, There seems to be little doubt as to
the fate that awaits the cowardly wretch
who caused the loss of life should he fall
into the hands of the mourners now gathered
at st. Mande.
The majority of the victims were women
and children. The wrecked carriages con-
sisted of one frst-class, two second-class
and a guards van. The first was completely
shattered The work of rescue proceeded
slowly during the night until dawn. People
then began to flock to the scene by thousands,
many seeking friends who had not returned
from the fete by daybreak. There were 90
900 persons around the station, and the
of the dead were lying, were besieged by
distracted people.
A man searching for missing relatives
suddenly came upon the bodies of his wife
and daughter. His cries attracted his
brother-in-law, who in turn recognized
grandchild lying dead, and learned that his
wife and his mother were in hospital dy-
ing. A man who for a long time had been
rushing about half-demented seeking his
family stopped litter entering the school
room and found that it bore the charred
bodies of his wife and baby, the latter being
only few months old. Five of this mans
children were on the train, and only one was
rescued alive. The bodies of the others were
picked from the debris.
An inquiry into the causes of the acci-
dent shows that the second train left Vim
cennes at the regulation interval of five
minutes after the first train. The latter
train was delayed at st. Mande owing to an
enormous crowd of excursionists. The sta
tion master at Vincennes blames the driver
of the second train for the accident When
this train was starting the station master
advised the driver to go slowly as there was
a train in front of him, but the man paid no
heed to the advice and went ahead at full
speed. The driver now asserts that he has
been the victim of an act of revenge on the
part of some one who severed communica-
tion with the Westinghouse airbrake, thus
preventing him from bringing the train to
standstill.
A leading official of the railway blames
the public for crowding into the rear van,
which, he says, was intended to remain empty
The greatest number of dead were found
beneath the ruins of this van. From this
source of the collision the engine mounted
to the top of the rear van, crushing 1t to
fragments.
An official statement makes the number
of dead 43 and the number of injured 1O4.