St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-05-08

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struck that sharp curve it left the track,
followed by the cars
In An Awful Swirl.
and they piled UP on each other ono
hundred feet away, after crashing
through trainsheds and bringing down
tons of structural iron to add to the ter
roIs OF the situation. The by-standers
went to work at once, and police and
fire departments quickly responded, the
latter rendering valuable service i'll
promptly checking the angry flames,
which threatened the lives of scores Of
others in addition to those killed out
right, who were imprisoned in the
mountain of debris. Supt. Bender ar
rived at an early hour, and under tine
direction of trained wreckers the tracks
were soon cleared and ready for the re-
sumption of traffic. The injured have
been removed to their homes or to the
hospital and no other fatalities are ex-
pected than those heretofore noted.
The officials of the Big Four are we'll
represented, and everything possible is
being done for the comfort of the VIC
TINS of the disaster.
The Air Brakes Did II.
The Big Four officials, who made n
thorough investigation OF the wreck
, today, are unable to give the definite
cause of the awful disaster. There was
but one conclusion, and that was that
the air brakes were faulty, but the
cause could be known only to the en-
gineer and fireman, the occupants OF tho
cab, and both of these were dead.
j. L. Malone, the travelling engineer,
and an expert on air brake appliances,
and Master Mechanic Lawler were at
the scene of the wreck early in the
morning, and during the day other
officials OF this division of the system
were at the scene of the disaster. All
are inclined to believe that it was
through some fault Of the air brakes
that the speed Of the train could not be
checked. 1t is possible that the stop
cock at the rear of the tail of the engine
was opened by tramp or mischieVous
person endeBVOring TO steal a ride.
There is no evidence to this effect. how
ever, that could be considered direct.
from the fact that that portion of the
train is baldy smashed up and
All Evidences Removed
The officials are at loss to under
stand just how the brakes could be out
Of gear, IRON the fact that the stops
from Kankakee down had all been
made etfectiVelyand with precision. The
first stop was at 1empletOn, fifteen
miles west of Lafayette, and the train
officials assert that there was no difli-
Guilty there, whatever The engine is
the largest and most powerful of the
company's and has oneOf the
best air pumps known. From the
officials at Lafayette 1t was learned
that the train was entering
Lafayette promptly Oh the second,
1t was / "a when the engine jumped
the track, and this is the schedule time
the train should pull up at the station.
The grade at Lafa yette from the west
is from forty to fifty feet TO the mile for
two or three miles, and the momentum
to be aimed without steam help is suf-
fcienJ to run the train into the tram
shed.
The engineer was running at a speed
Of about thirty miles an hour rs it has
been computed that train can only
consume this amount Of time. When it
left Templeton it was
On Sch edule Time,
and thus the officials dscredit any
rumors that it was laundering along at
such speed as was stated today fifty
miles an hour. The superintendent
said that the throttle on the engine was
reversed, indicating that everything
possible was being done to control the
movements of the train.
"At the station and where the aCCi-
dent occurred" SAID lie, 1.-THE curve is
unusually sharp, being one OF about
nineteen degrees When the tram struck
h. tf ttu F,ttff it4ah
gained from the grade behind, it
is evident the wheels refused to turn
and the heavy engine flew of at q
tangent, turned over on its side from
the terrible force and made 4 humping
post for the cars and coaches IN the
rear. The postal car ran over the
engine and the second postal car grazed
alongside, also smashing into the posts
atfording the support OF the roof The
combination baggage and smoking car
was peculiarly wrecked, having been
completely reversed. The ladies' coach,
parlOr car and sleeper were unharmed."
Altogether
Ten Cars Formed the Train,
and the only coaches that will be a total
loss will be the postal cars and the com
binatiOn car, which will not cost much
to repair. 1t was estimated that the
damage TO the engine would amount to
$500. All the missing are now account
ed for. The wreckage caught ire from
the engine shortly after the accident,
but the prompt work Of the fire depart
ment, which had been summoned, eX-
tinguished the blaze. OF the ten deaths,
all were due TO the crushing of the vic
TINS. The engineer and firman were
found under the engine. The postal
clerks met their death in their car.
They were crushee by the jamming of
the car upon the engine. Myers, the
hackman; Lehman, the mail transfer
mau, and Gesels0n, the theatrical agent,
were killed while standing upon the
platform. The train ran them down.
Not man was burned, but many were
friehtfully mangled. The wrecEage is
about removed The official investiga-
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