Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-07-10
A Railroad Horror.

Two great trains. one a passenger and
the other a heavy freight rolling over the
track in the same direction at night and
but few minutes part. slight miShap
that causes the leading train already be
hind time to stop for few minutes,
brakeman who did not walk back far
enough with his warning lamp, and q
down grade section ofroad formed a combi-
nation of circumstances that caused a
wreck and holocaust at the station near
Ravenna, Ohio, last Thursday night, the
sudden death OF a dozen men on their way
home 20 spend the holiday, and the
horrible death by burning OF several men,
women and children.
II was on the Erie OF y. Y. p. & o. r.
r. The front train was passenger ex-
press, and at Findlay, o. an extra car had
been attached to it for the accommodation
of party of glass blowers who were going
home to Corning, n Y. The train was
already forty minutes late, when it stopped
at Ravenna, and something wrong about
the engine necessitated a further delay of
few minutes.
The second train was an immense one Of
twenty four cars, loaded with dressed meat
for the eastern markets, the road into the
depot was down grade, the brakeman of
the first train went back but short dis
tance, the engineer of the freight could not
stop his train, and his engine plowed
through the rear car of the first train,
crushing and mangling nearly everybody
in it and then the car took fire and severa
of those who had not been killed out right
were burned to death. Men and boys
were caught in the wreck and burned to
death while crying for help. The next to
the rear coach, sleeper, was also wrecked
and took fire and people were burned to
death in it. Two little girls were imprison-
ed in berth and were roasted there;
woman who had little baby in her arms
hung half way out of the car as it turned
and asked to be taken out. "0h, Godp'
she cried. "will no body do anything for
me. Come and cut off my legs; only get
me out in some way but no body could
do anything for her and the fire kept grad
ually creeping up to the seat where she
was pinioned. When she saw she could
not be rescued she wildly cried for some
one to tear her baby out of the wreck, but
they were burned together
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 in their terrible
march of death until water had been pour
ed in the wreck for some time-it seemed
hours tn the agonized onlookers. All that
human por or could was done.
At dayiis sht a subdued and fearful crowd
of sevelal hundred stood at the station,
gazing wiz fearful eyes upon a sickening
sight, wi ie all about the III was the smoth-
ering si.',ning odor Of burning human
flesh sing from mass of blackened
heaped-Hp wreckage. Nov and then ones
eyes CHANGED upoa little slreds of clothing
or scared flesh all bones. each and a
blackencl aud roasted to o horrible de-
gree.
Probably iAe most fearful sight, if any
one sould be worse than the other, was the
appearance of the front of the boiler of the
freight engine. In the first shock the
front end of the boiler was broken in, and
as the engine ploughed its way through the
mass of hu nanity, four poor fellows were
actually scooped up in the cauldron,
wounded and helpless, and there they lay,
slowly roasting to death before the eyes of
the spectators who would but could not aid
them. These are afterwards fished out
pieeemeal by TIE firemen's hooks and mer-
cifully covered with sheeting.
NEAR Charleston W. Va, on the 4th
of July, trestle that had been injured by
fire->went down with an excursion train,
and fourtesn persous were killed outright,
and many injured. Several pathetic Incl
dents of the wreck are noted, and among
them the case of an infant found alive in
the wreckage between its two dead
parents, with its fingers cut off.
THE Itata has been returned to San
Diego Harbor.
DEATHS.