St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-23


not until visit was made to the norge
and the hospital that the horrible real
ity of the accident became apparent.
Here, awaiting the undertaken, were
the bodies of five of those who died dur
ing the night. The bandageS had been
removed from the bodies, and the fear
full ravages of the burning oil were
plainly apparent. Scarcely one of the
five could be recognized even by rela-
tives. The oil, wherever it had touched
the skin. had burned deep into the flesh.
while such portions of the cuticle as es-
capped entire destruction were bliStered,
and in many places blackened by the i'll
tense heat. The lips we're terribly
swollen, and the eyes of all five were
Burned Out Entirely.
Every vestige Of hair was burned off
of the face and head and in many
places the skull and cheek bones were
exposed. Wives and mothers, sisters
and daughters, on being shown the
bodies Of the beloved dead, shrank back
in horror and could scarcely be con-
WINGED that the distorted features be-
fore them were all that remained of
those so dear to them and whose taking
away meant, in some instances, the loss
Of their sole support and reliance. The
cOrOner's inquest was held at the hOspi
tai while the reporter was there, the
jury having previously been in session
at the Wann and Alton Junction. The
verdict IN each case states that death
was ''caused by burning oil accidentally
exploded and thrown over them" The
funerals of a number of the victims of
the explosion will be held tomorrow
morning; others will be consigned to
their last resting place on Tuesday.
Edward Miller was buried this after
noon at Alton Junction.
A Distressing Rumor.
There was rumor on the street late
this afternoon that eleven students from
Shurtleff college had been missing since
the accident of yesterday. All efforts
Of the Associated Press representative
to verify the rumorS failed. however.
and it is the opinion of the ma Ority of
Alton citizens that there is no truth in
the statement. But the fact that there
were found this morning, near the
scene of the wreck, bodies additional to
those reported in last nights dispatches,
gives rise to a probability that there
may be yet more bodies which have not
been found. When Mrs. William
Mantz reported to the Alton police de-
partment this morning that her husband,
who had started for the scene of the ae-
cident about 10 o'clock yesterday
morning, had not yet returned, search
ing party was organized, and after a
long time the dead body of Mantz was
found near Wood river, over half mile
from the place where the explosion oc-
CURED. The suppositjon is that he
started to run in the direction of his
home as soon as the explosion took
place, and was
Caught by Shower.
of the seethlng fluid. He, however,
must have run some distance after he
was burned, and probably fell dead Oh
reaching the spot where his body was
found. Reports about the time of the
finding of MantZ's body of others miss
ing led to the finding Of the other bodies,
and when the reporter left the city
other parties were out searching
for additional victims. The scene
of yesterdays dreadful catastrophe was
visited by hundreds today. Every avail
able vehicle In Alton was pressed into
service to convey sight-seers to their
destination. Every train running be-
tween the two places was crowded, and
scores made the distance of four miles
on foot. Most of this crowd was at
tracted by mere curiosity, but among
them were many seeking for some relic
of departed lost ones, some trinket of
jewelry or piece of the clothing worn
at the time of the accident. Others. too,
when they went away, carried with
them mementoes in the Shape of twisted
bits of the wrecked tanks, and still
others, mostly boys, Scraped around in
the ruins Of the baggage and buffet car
to see if aught of value remained of
which they could obtain possession. Of
the hundreds who visited the place,
however, few cared to remain long. 1t
seemed to some as though the ShriekS of
pain and
Cries of Horror
that aWOke the echoes yesterday still
lowered in the crisp atmosphere, and TO
others the memory of the grief and
anguish OF those who today are in homes
of mourning impaired SacredneSS to
the surroundings which even the Sab
bath could not give. Even the wreck
ing crew, GuSily at work clearing away
the debris Of the wreck and fire, worked
in SuOdued manner, as though i'm
pressed with the solemnity OF the sur
roundingS. No trace had been found
up to O'Clock Of the runaway switch
man, Richard Grattan. A rumor that
he returned to his work this morning
proved on investigation to be unbound
ed, and it is thought he has skipped
out for good. The total loss to the
company, so the officials state,
tonight, will be between $1250 900 and
S150,000. 1t includes the engine, COM
bination baggage and buffet car and
twenty oil tanks and freight cars ana
their contents. The fact that the three
palace cars were drawn away from the
wreck by switch engine before the oil
exploded, is all erroneous report, as
they were also burned. The railway
company sent the remains of the dead
engineer, Webb Ross, to Mattoon last
night, and also sent the brakeman,
Dick White, who sprained his ankle
when he jumped from the engine, to his
home. None of the other trainmen we're
so seriously injured as to incapacitate
them from duty.