Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-10-27
IN A FIERY FURNACE
Three Employees Of the Ann Arbos
Road Burned to Ashes
CAUGHT IN BLAZING DEBRIS
They Meet . frichtfui Death - The
Accident Caused by the sinking
OF the Track


trainmen we're burned % death Dear
this village in manner that vas ss hor-
rible as il aus peculiar. The accideat
occurred on the Ann Arbor railroad .
little after o'clock last evening.
The dead are: s. H. Beaulieu. en-
gineer; George Albert fireman; Thomas
Miiligan. front brakeman. All live In
owosso. Between this station and Pet
tysvillc is sink hole that has given the
railroad officials no end Of trouble and
expense ever since the road was put
through. Accidents have often been
averted by the sheerest chance. IL was
at this place that the northbound freight
train drawn by extra engine No. 81 was
wrecked last night
The track gave way. ditching the en-
gine. which lies In the ditch total
wreck. The train. consisting OF twenty
cars. was badly demolished. many Of
the cars being thrown on top of each
other In chaos and ruin. Directly back
OF the engine were two tank cars of oil
and behind these four cars heavily
loaded with coal.
Burned Like Moths.
The six cars. filled with highly infiam-
able material, were thrown in one heap
upon the engine. Ia moments time
they ignited. Nothing could stop the
fury Of the flames. which shot up into
the air at great height. and we're seen
for miles around. The heat was terrific.
making il absolutely impossible Tor the
train men TO do anything toward
qacnching the fire. even II they had any
facilities for doing so.
On the engine was Engineer Beaulieu.
Firemen albert and Front Brakeman
Milligan. Before they realized what
had happened they were penned up ia
the wreck Of the engine. aud il was
utterly impossible for them to extricate
themselves. Their cries for help were
heard. but nothing could be done. The
rapidly spreading flames overlook them
too soon. 1T was a quick death The
fire must haye esnothefed them before IL
began to consume their bodies
Once started in the coal. nothing could
stop the flames They were still going
at late honr this afternoon. Under
such circumstances it was long before
the bones OF the unfortunate men could
be reached. The flesh had been burned
into ashes. leaving only the bleached
and charred bones to indicate that hu-
man beings had perished In the most
frightful manner possible.
Ii was evident that the men had all
been etandiog by the tirebox door, for
there the bones were found close to-
gether.
Miiiigan's Remains Identified
BY the most diligent search the sur
vivors were able TO identify only the
bones OF Brakeman Milligan. There
was a switch key near by and half
burned cap. to which portion of his
scalp had adhered. There was abso-
lutely nothing to indicate which bones
were those OF the fireman. Milligsns 3
remains have been sent TO Howell.
Trainmaster NJ. ID. Fahey, Conductor
Flu1der and the rear brakeman OF the
wrecked train were in the caboose and
escaped unhurt.
A coroner's inquest will be held at
once, and every effort will be made TO
fix the blame il any. for what Is prob
ably the worst disaster in the history OF
the Ann Arbor road
Where the accident occurred there is
a steep grade, which Of course rendered
the pressure on the track particularly
ttIOuS. du tuc AitiEnt aoth ctOWtg
crawled up Thousands OF dollars have
been expended in filling up the sink
hole. and during the past few weeks men
have been at work on the road bed. The
wreck was undoubtedly caused by the
ground going down. as the track whore
the engine topplcd over Is several feet
below the ordinary level.
Passenger Trains Escape.
Passenger train No. 4. going south.
about o'clock. had a narrow escape
from a similar wreck. the ground sink
ing away from the track ten feet as II
passed. IL has been impossible rs yet
to clear away the debris. and all passen-
gers last night have been transferred TO
special trains sent from Ann Arbor.
Owosso. Mich. Oct 3-The crew OF
the wrecked Ann Arbor train lived here.
y. III. Beauiieu. engineer. leaves a wife
and two children; George Albert. fire
man. a wife and one child. Thomas
Milligan. brakeman. was single. Beau
lieu belonged 10 the Masonic order.