The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-07-09
Death in "a Burning Wreck.

many more. The passenger train was
standing at the depot. on a short stop,
when fast freight train came plunging
along, at the rate of thirty-five miles an
hour. A switch had been left open, by
carelessness or design, and the freight
train, before the danger was discovered,
rushed into the rear OF the passenger
train, telescoping three cars, and crush
ing everything in the way. But few
minutes elapsed when the whole wreck
ened in the debris, but not dead, were
speedily consumed. Twenty dead bod>
les were taken out and more than that
number were badly injured large
who were on their way east from Find
Law. The freight train was the dressed
meat express from Chicago The pas
senger train was the vestibuled express.
with eight coaches from Cincinnati to
New York, on the New York, Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio railroad, which was
twenty minutes late, caused by a defect
in the engine The rear car was COM
pletely demolished, and terrible
slaughter occurred.
George Holman, the engineer of the
freight, said To the reporter, II cannot
see that am to blame. Oh, my God if
| could have got sand l could have
stopped the train, but the rails were
wet and the sand would not take. l was
not warned in time and could not see
the lights on the rear of the passenger,
versed the lever as quickly as possible.
and with the fireman jumped from the
train, sustaining severe fracture of the
right hand
Besides the victims in the rear coach,
four passengers in the Pullman car next
forward were killed. Two men and one
woman were burned to death in this car,
while their bodies were partly out of the
windows, their attempts to escape hay
ing been fruitless
One woman was heard screaming hor-
ribly while being burned but she could
not be reached Two ~headess bodies
of men could be seen caught in the out
rigging of the locomotives inside the
telescoped car and another dead body
was suspended from the cowcatcher.
The brakeman who was sent back got
only about fifteen rods before he met the
freight train.
Captain Wallace, of Warren, o., was
in the third coach from the rear of the
train, asleep in his berth, when the
shock came His story of the affair is as
follows:
The train was composed of vestibnled
sleepers. 1t was, as near as l can tell,
about 3 O'Clock When crash unlike
anything I ever before experienced
came l was thrown from my berth and
nearly knocked senseless, but finally
crawled from under a pile of debris and
found myself uniniured. ! looked about
me and the sight that met my gaze
will never forget. The three rear
coaches, including the one was in, were
piled up in an indescribable mass, and
flames shot up from two of them like
huge bonfires.
1.-THE air was filled with means and
shrieks OF the imprisoned passengers,
and strong men stood helpless with the
knowledge that before their eyes human
beings were being slowly burned or
crushed to death. My first thought was
for the people in the rear coach. When
| boarded the train my attention was
called to them by some one remarking
that there was party Of fifty three men
in the rear ear When the freight crash
ed into US it crushed this car into a
thousand pieces and the flames broke
out almost immediately. How any of
the passengers in that car escaped, if
they did, is mystery. | saw them take
some eighteen or twenty bodies from the
wreck, but do not think thar that is
half OF those who will be found TO be
missing when the last report is.in. lam
of the opinion that every 4 "a In the
rear coach was killed.
''The sight of the corpses as they were
taken from under the debris was sick
ening. Pieces of flesh. an arm or q leg
were found, and in this way it was im>
possible to tell how many were Killed.
Every piece that was taken ont was
burned to a crisp so that Identification
was impossible When | left the scene
the wreck was still smouldering and the
air was fairly thick with the odor of
burning bodies.
The story of the way the accident
happened is almost incredible showing
that there must have been gross careless
ness on the part OF some of the officials.
The No vestibuled limited from Chi
cago had pulled up at Ravenna to fix the
signal whistle which runs from the cars
to the locomotive. This was out of
order and while it was being repaired a
fiagman was sent back thirty five car
lengths to stop trains coming up in the
rear He claims to have gone back the
proper distance but fast freight came
laundering along at twenty-five miles
an hour and as there was a steep down
grade the signal was OF little use,
The brakemen on the freight worked
like madmen, but only succeeded in set
ting brakes on five cars when the crash
came The freight locomotive ploughed
its way right through the vestibuie
cars, tearing them into kindling wood.
The cars and their contents were blazing
two minutes after the accident, and soon
the three wrecked coaches were a smold-
ering mass of timbers and mangled
bodies.
Development to be permanent and to
command the support of capital must
have firm foundation and be regulated
by fixed and sound principles: No de-
Walton from this rule will be tolerated
for any length of time. Erroneous state
ments and deceptive methods will surely
end in disaster.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Co :.
has contracted for a new depot at Hin>
ton, Summers county, w. Va, to cost
$4,000 President ingalls, of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio has also donated to the
town of Hinton the money to build a
home for the Young Mems Christian
Association
w 4 q