The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-07-04
A FRIGHlFUL WRECK
Nineteen People Killed on
the Erie Road.
STORY OF ONE OF THE SURVIVORS
A Fast Freight Dashes Into the Rear Of q
Passenger Train at Ravenna. O.-Heart
Rending Scenes-Locating che Blame.

| hour this morning in the most frightful
railroad accident of the present year. AT
3 o'clock the east bound express on the
Erie was lying at the station while some
repairs were being made by the engineer.
Flagman Boynton was started back with
lamp to avoid any possible danger from
the rear. Suddenly, without warning, the
headlight of locomotive flashed around
dashed down the steep grade
from the west, crashing into the
rear of the passenger standing quietly
at the depot. There was some dreadful
mistake, for nineteen precious human lives
were crushed out in a moment and twelve
persons MANNED and injured. The follow
ing is a list of the dead and injured: Killed
| Henry Gildea, John McAvoy, Patrick
Ryan, L. Boppa, L. Hauf, f. Burns, j.
Kimball, Owen Hardman, Thomas Nolan,
Thomas Keville, George Gildea, David
Betehian, j. Coyle, n. Newcomb, and d.
Ryan, ID. Cassidy, Henry McGill, all glass
workers, OF Finley, Ohio, and Corning n.
c.; G. Griffin, Brooklyn, n. Y; A. Gun
throp, Brooklyn, n. Y; w. Kahn, Brook
lyn, n. Y, passengers in the Pullman
sleeping car.
An unknown nurse girl and infant child.
Injured: Joseph Morgan, of Corning,
n. Y; Thomas Hanley, of Corning, n. Y:
George Smith, Of Corning James Dwicken,
of Corning; Dennis Ryan, of Corning;
won, James McGill, John Heating, A. p.
Jones and Jonah Clark. All of these are
seriously hurt and some may die.
l.. ID. Dating, j. Codt, NJ. Mosier, II.
Young, G. Reilly. w. G. Jones, a. Humph-
rey. II. Humphrey, John O'Hare, X. Nc
Main, Edward Perry, F. Maltby. OF the
forty glass blowers who occupied the rear
coach, seventeen were killed. All the 9TH
ers were more or less injured, two fatally.
The passenger train was about ten min
utes late, owing TO trouble with one OF the
cars. The train at the time of the accident
lay on the main track just at the bottom or
steep grade and though the Irainmen
knew they were followed by fast freight,
no one seemed TO think that the freight
was at their very heels. and once on the
down grade coming into the station, II was
hard matter to stop, especially as the
freight did not intend to make Ravenna q
stopping place. What might have been ex
pected actually happened. The freight was
making time and came down the hill with a
rush, the engine and tender being fairly
hurled through the rear cars of the passen-
ger.
When a correspondent arrived on the
scene after the accident the scene was
awful Piteous cries for help arose from
the heap of wrecEage and willing hands
were already tearing at the heap of broken
ana twisted timber and iron Suddenly
here and there tiny tongues of flame sprung
up from the crevases of the wrecked train.
Fire had added to the horrors OF the wreck
and fight as they would, the rescuers could
not drive the ugly element back one foot
from the writing victims who shrieked
and implored in vain for the help that was
willing enough, but was far too weak 10
tear aside the iron and timbers before
wreck and flames had done their worst.
There were very few injured who did not
die and very few dead who were not
bruised and broken and blackened and
burned out of all resemblance to the form
of their Maker.
Tom Hanley, of Corning, who was in the
rear car with score OF fellow glass
workers, on their way home TO Corning
after the seasons work in Ohio, says it
was a miracle that single occupant of the
car escaped to tell of what followed the
crash. II was half asleep" said he,
''when fancied heard man cry out in
alarm, too sleepy to fully investigate, /
glanced around the car and sunk back into
my seat. Opening my eyes the next mo
ment 1t seemed as if | had fallen asleep and
Weakened in another world. l seemed to
feel no shock, only a smothered crash and
ably, from terrific blow received on the
back of my head. Then the realization of
what happened came only too soon and the
most horrible groans and cries came from
every side. from poor fellows who an in
slant before had been exchanging some
CHEEKY remark. Then cane the fire, and
with the first blaze / stopped my ears to
the scream of pain and terror. / was
wedge6 in by some one, my friend
probably, but he was so bent, twisted and
doubled under and about my beuumbed
legs that could not tell what it was, ex-
cept it was human and living at one time,
but dying now. Many were caught and
pinioned to their seats or squeezed against
the walls of the car or against the engine
that had dashed into and through the cars
Wherever they were, there they stood or
lay pleading in vain for help and seeing
every moment the flames creep closer and
closer, winding about their limbs and lick
ing their faces and one by one their cries
were stilled.
"My escape was simply miracle and
came about through no effort of my own
/ was forced or knocked toward the break
in.the car and after hard work extricated
my legs from the mass of wreck and
human forms and found myself standing
in the outside air badly hurt but alive.
There was no delay in ready assistance,
but all efforts were fruitless until the ar
rival of the city fire department. The
flames could not be stayed until water had
been poured into the wreck for hours. 1t
seemed to ag0nize the onlookers, but IN
reality all that human power could do was
done. AT daylight subdued and fearful
crowd Of several hundred stood at the
station gazing on the sickening sight, while
all about them was the smother,ng odor of
burning human flesh arising from the mass
of blackness in the heaped up wreck Now
nd ha a. oh
shreds of clothing or charred flesh and
bones each and blackened and roasted to
horrible degree.
Possibly the most fearful sight if one
could be worse than another, was the ap-
pearance Of the boiler of the freight en-
CINE. In the first shock. the front end of
the boiler was broken in, and as the engine
ploughed Its way through the mass of
humanity, four poor fellows were actually
scooped up in the caldron, wounded and
helpless, and there they lay slowly roast
ing to death before the eyes of the specta-
tors, who would, but could not, aid them.
These We're afterwards hshed out piece
meal by firemen's hooks and covered with
sheeting. Aid for the wounded was soon
at hand; for the dead there was nothing
but to hide them from sight as soon as
possible"
The Aetna building was transformed into
q morgue, and as the masses of burned
flesh were hooked out they were hastily re-
moved there and either stretched at full
length or huddled in little heaps An
enormous crowd had gathered about the
morgue but the doors were closed. Some
morbidly curious persons crept up to the
windows only TO fall back aghast at what
they had seen. Nineteen remains Of what
had been human beings covered with sheet
ings, through which q bare BACKED limb
now and then protruded, while blood
.oako6 shrnu0h the ~hita cl0fh and md