The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-08-06
A TALE OF HORROR,
THE COLLISION BETWEEN THE
FRENCH EXCURSION TRAINS.

F"llV 200 Persons Killed OF Injured-
Many Slowly Roasted to Death and
Others Drowned-sickenings Scenes.
PARIS, July Pa terrible railway
accident occurred today near the viii
lage of Saint Mande. in the department
OF the Seine. Two excursion trains
colilded, owing to some error on the
part Of the driver of one of the trains
Both were loaded with people for a holi.
day. The collision was followed by a
scene OF frightful confusion. Three
carriages were utterly wrecked. and
many persons were crushed and injur-
ed ia the ruins. About fifty were res
cued, more or less hurt. Owing to the
greatness of the canfusion, the extent
OF the calamity is not yet known. Later
advices show that of the sixty injured
III the collision, forty are dead, includ-
ing two children mangled beyond rec
ognltlon: Most OF the bodies recover
ed are without legs, through the seats
being jammed together and cutting off
their limbs. Twenty thousand people
assembled at the scene, including MANY
relatives of the injured and dead.
The scenes were most heartrending as
the victims were eXtricated. The driver
and fireman Of the second train were
burned alive. The station master. on
whose oversight the blame is now placed.
has, it is reported, gone mad and disap-
peared.
PARIS, July GA dispatch lust re-
celVed from the scene of last nights
fearful collision between excursion
trains near Sainte Mande represents
the accident as having been of more
distressing character than at first ap-
peared. After the fearful crash the
train caught fire, and those unfOrtun-
ates who were hopelessly wedged in the
debris were slowly roasted. Many of
the poor creatures were so placed that
tor many agoniZing moments they were
forced to look upon death remorseless-
~ burning its way to them. All that
humanity could do to extricate them
from situat' on not to be described by
language was done, but in most in-
stances to no avail. The awe-stricken
multitude were forced to stand help
1essly by and listen to the awful din
made by the cracking ilames, the fall
ing iron work Of the burning cars, and
the shrieks. means and prayers of the
doomed. Occasionally a voice would
raise itself ABOVE the tumult, supplicat-
ing the mercltul to kill the unhappy
speaker and put him out of pain. In a
number of instances men and women
We're seen laughing. gibbering, and
tinging their arms wildly about. Fear
had dethroned their reasons.
The engine of the rear train tele-
scoped the last three cars of the train
ahead, and almost instantly the reser-
Volr IN which the gas was stored eX-
ploded with terrific force. The wreck
age then caught fire. A half hour
elapsed after the outbreak Of the flames
before the last faint cry of agony was
stllled in death. Fully two hundred
persons are known to have been killed
or injured.
1t now appears that in addition to the
other horrors of the collision, the death
by drowning of many OF the imprisoned
passengers is to be added. Forty min.
utes elapsed before the pompierS were
able to obtain water. When, however,
they did so. they poured torrents upon
the wreck, and seemed to be utterly un-
aware that they were drowning half of
the people whom they were trying to
rescue.
AN awful spectacle is presented at
the town hall of Sainte Mande, where
the charred and terribly disfigured
bodies OF the dead lie in rows upon the
floor and upon tables. In some cases
the remains are but little more than a
heap of cinders.
PARIS, July 28.-The Marquis and
Marchioness of Montferrat were among
the victims of the Sainte Mande disas-
ter. An artillery lieutenant climbed
upon the burning railway carriage to
rescue young woman. Both the lieu
tenant and the young woman fell into
the burning mass and were consumed.
PARIS, July 27.-An official state
ment of the dead and wounded in the
railway accident at Sainte Mande, Sun
day, places the number of dead at for
ty-three and of injured 1O4.