The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-07-04


The worst railroad accident that ever
occurred in this vicinity happened at
o'clock this morning. The horrible
calamity has fairly appalled, the town
and neigh borhood.
Twenty people wero killed and three
bodies burned to crisp. Moro team
that number were injured. The charrcd
remains Of the dead were taken from
tho ruins of the demolished passenger
train as fast as tho flames could be sub
ducd by the town people who rallied to
the rescue Such terrible sights as
wcro witnessed in tho early morning
hours mado tho people sick.
An express loaded with sleeping pas
sengers was run into by a freight train
while the express was at q stand Still in
this city. The wreck of the passenger
was terrible and complete. To add to
tho condition OF the unfortunate passen-
gers, who were imprisoned III the debris,
tho train caught fire and was consumed
in this way. Death fairly swept through
the wrecked train.
BY daylight twenty bodies, nearly all
Of them charred in IL horrible manner,
were taken out. Twenty three injured
had also been rescued. A largo number
OF the killed were glass blowers who
were on their way east from Findlay.
The freight train that telescoped the cX-
press is.the dressed meat express from
Chicago, and was running a about thirty
miles an hour when il struck tho pas
senger train. The accident was due to
the carelcSsness in leaving switch
open.
The passenger train was the vesti-
bnle express, with eight COACHES from
Cincinnati to New York, on the New
York, Pennsylvania and Ohio railroad,
was fortysiX minutes late, and the en-
gineer was trying to remedy the fault
in tho engine when the fast freight was
sighted in the rear. a brakeman went
back to flag, but the heavy freight
train of twentY-four cars could not be
stopped on the down grade in time, and
it rushed into the rear of the passenger
train. The rear coach contained forty
six passengers, all glass workers re-
Gently employed at the Richardson
Glass Works, in Finlay, who were on
their way to their homes in New Yotk.
Tho car was completely demolished,
and terrible slaughter occurred
George Holman, tho engineer of tfo
freight said to the reporter, 81 cannot
II, I
l could have got sand l could have
stopped the train, but the rails wero
wet and the sand would not take /
was not warned in time and could not
see the lights on the rear of the pass
engcr, owing to the darkness and fog.
1 reversed the lever as quickly as posi-
BILE, and with the fireman jumped from
the train, sustaining severe fracture Of
tho right hand"
Mr.. Holman seems to think that the
man of the passenger train, Fred Boyn-
ton, could have tagged from a greater
distance. The fire department of Ra-
VIENNA was on the scene and cxtin-
guished the flames, but not before terri
bio havoc could be wrought Besides
the victims in the rear coach. four pas
sengers in the Pullman car next forward
were killed. Two men and one woman
wore burned to death in this car, while
their bodies were partly out of the win
dows, their attempts to escape having
been fruitless.
One woman was heard screaming
horribly while being burned but she
could not be reached. Two headless
bodies of men could be seen caught in
the outrigging of the locomotive inside
the telescoped car and another dead
body was suspended from the cow
catcher. Tho brakeman who was sent
back got only about fifteen rods before
he met the freight train.
PIrrsBURG, July 3-[Speciall-A Ra-
VIENNA, Ohio, special gives the following
list of the dead and injured:
Dead, David Relihan, T.. Huff, i.
Griffin, A. Dunthorp, w, Kane, +.
Burns, j. Kimball, j. Demeen, j. Coyle,
O. Harding, D. Ryan, j. Cassidy, w.
Nowbrub, p. Nolan, nurse unknown.
All of these were taken out of the
wreck dead, and all bnt three burned to
Il crisp.
Thos. Colville was taken out of the
wreck alive. He was terribly crushed
and burned and his sufferings we're
awful to behold. In an agonizing voice
he called to friend: "I5illy, for Gods
sake get an axe and kill me- He died
soon after. Harry Gildea was badly in
jured and died soon after being taken
to hotel.
Among the injured were George
Smith, John Cadween, Ii. C. Degraff,
James McGill, John Heating, Jacob
Clark and A. z. Jones. Their injuries
consisted principally of broken limbs,
and none arc believed TO 10 fatally in
jured. Thomas. Hanley and James
Morgan and two others are in a serious
condition, and it is feared will not re-
cover. The dead and injured were en-
ployed in Richardson Glass Works at
tinlay, Ohio, which shut down yester-
day for the summer, and they were on
their way to Corning, N. Y, their
home. They were on an extra car at
tached to the train, and only one
known to have been killed on the
sleeper was nurse.
CLEVELAND, O., July 3.-ISpeciall-
Capt. Wallace, Of Warren, o., was in the
third coach from the rear of the train,