The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1891-08-04
A TALE OF HORROR.
THE COLLISION BETWEEN THE
FRENCH EXCURSION TRAINS.

Fully 400 Persons Killed or IpJured--
Many Slowly Roasted to Death ana
Others Dr"wned--sickenipg scsnss.
PARIS, July GA terrible railway
accident occurred today near the viii
]iage Of Saint Mande. in the department.
of the Seine. Two excursion trains
col:ided. owing to some error on the
part of the driver of one of the trains.
Both were loaded with pebple for holi.
day. The collision was followed by a
scene of frightful confusion. Three
carriages were utterly wrecked, and
many persons were crushed and tnjur-
ed la 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
adylces show that of the sixty injured
in the collision, forty are dead, includ.
ing two children mangled beyond rec
ognition. 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 blameis nov placed,
has, it is reported, gone mad anu disap.
peared. 4.
PARIS, July GA dispatch just re-
ceived from the scene Of last nights
fearful collision between excursion
trains near Sainte Mande represents
the accident as having been Of a 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
tue poor creatures were so placed that
for many agoniZing moments they were
forced to look upon death remOrseless-
~ burning its way to them: AL that
humanity could do to eXtricate them
from situation 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
lessly by and listen to the awful din
made by the cracking flames, the fall
ing iron work Of the burning cars, and
the shrieks. means and prayers Of the
doomed. Occasionally q voice would
raise itself above the tumllt, supplicat-
ing the merciful to kill the unhappy
speaker and put him out of pain, In q
number of instances men and women
were seen laughing. gibbering, and
llinging 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-
voir 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
stilled 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 disfgured
bodies OF the dead lie in rows upon the
floor and upon tables. In some cases
Tthe remains arc but little more than q
heap of cinders. r-...
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 104.