The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-08-02
MAuGLED IN A WRECK.
A TERRIFIC RAILROAD COL
LISBON AT NEWBURG, N. Y.


a Freight Train in the Freight
Yard-A List Of Those Killed and
Injured-Heroic Rescuers.
Six persons killed outright and twenty
two mangIed human beings, three Of whom
were fatally injured. Is the record o: rail-
way disaster at Newburg, N. Y. The Chica-
20 Express, on the West Shore road, due
| there at 1904 p. m. was running forty miles
an hour when the locomotive left the main
| track. and, running about 500 feet, collided
head on with locomotive No. 20G, standing in
the yard ready to 60 out as soon as the e1-
| press had passed.
The train was filed with people in Ave
| coaches. one OF them q Wagner. Coach No.
| 1.-THE third from the locomotive-struck
against freight car which stood on side
track. The west side Of the coach was torn
| away and the passengers thrown to the CEN
| tre OF the aisle. When the collision with the
locomotive came they were again hurled to
| the rear OF the car. It was In this coach that
nearly all the casualties occurred. The dead
| are:
Mrs. Eliza Kemm. wife ofAntoine Klemm, OF
| Highland Falls, N. Y. An unknown woman,
| apparently about thirty-four years old, Of
! Hebrew cast Of countenanoe. She had an
| open-facod gold wetch, turquois eardrops. .snd
| wore blue calico dress with white stripes.
| Mrs. Pauline Wright, Brooklyn. mother Of
Mrs. Leopold Michael. Miss Ross Reilly:
three, Of Setauket, Long Island; skull
| crushed. Julia Michel, aged ten; fractured
skull and right leg broken.
Tho train was composed of locomotive No.
| 200, q baggage car, three passenger coaches
and q Wagner parlor car. The train was
| filed with passengers. Every seat In car No.
/ II, which was attached to the baggage car,
was filled. At Cornwall, the first station
south Of Hewburg, the express was twelve
| minutes behind time, and to make 1t up the
| train ran at the rate Of forty miles an hour
between those points.
A mile south Of Newburg station and atthe
end of a bend in the line Is the West Shore
Railroad yard. A freight train stood on a
siding In the yard ready to move on to tho
main track and go south to New York City.
The nose OF the locomotive OF the freight
train was about $50 feet from the switch at
the main line. Engineer Fred Holland was
lathe cab. The freight was not to move un-
til, the north bound express had passed.
James T. Quinn Is the switchman at that
point.
The express came whizzing along, and for
some incomprehensible reason the switch
was open, so that the train ran on to the sid
ing, and was rushing into the engine OF the
freight train. Both engineers saw the dan
ger. and though the time was short. Sicily
Of the passenger train whistled down brakes
and shut of steam.
The distance was 80 short that Skelly's
precautions were Of little avail, An instant
later his engine struck the locomotive OF the
freight. By the awful force Of the impact
both engines reared up and then dropped.
completely wrecked and enveloped In
| clouds OF steam. The flremen and engineers
Jumped from the cabs before the engines
came together and, though the men wore
badly hurt, they saved their lives.
The weight Of the cars behind No. II and
the immovability OF the freight train In
front crushed No. II into junk. Twisted
iron, huge slivers Of wood and trucks were
piled up In the utmost confusion, while hue. IN
the middle of this mass OF wreckage half q
hundred passengers were fighting for their
lives. The cries of the imprisoned ones, the
groans and shrieks OF those who were
wounded were agonizing. Car II was so
completely destroyed that nothing but the
wheels were unimpaired. A panic seized
the occupants of the other cars, and In the
mad rush to get out many Of them had their
clothing stripped of. Many were 80 scared
that they broke the glass in windows and
crawled out head first and dropped to the
ground. ........
william Fl. Callihan, OF the Pennsylvania
Coal Company's force, whose Office is near.
by, telegraphsd to Newburg calling for all
the doctors in town. Axes and levers were
procured and the work Of rescue wont on
like wildfire. A row Of workmen's cottages
to the left OF the road were thrown open for
the reception Of the wounded who wero not
badly hurt. Those seriously hurt were laid
on the grass on the right side OF the track.
where they were attended by the physicians.
Tha dead. bodies Of two women we're found
pinIoned under q lot Of broken seats. An
other dead woman was taken from under
the remnants Of the front trucks. The
fourth dead woman was discovered beneath
the fragments Of the rear end ofthe car. The
dead child was rot found until two hours
later, when ono Of the compsnys wreckers
removing cars came upon the Little one
crushed In between two cross ties.