Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1893-11-15
About Railroad wrecss.

AHN ttCNS va tHS
with the Kissing of escaping steam. A
the instant the crash came frenzied erie
began to fill the ar"
| 1t is no joking matter. but in thes'
days of railway horrors it is To be ob
served that the shrieks and The his>iu!
steam "minge" and the cries iuvariabl,
"fll" the air. These are stereotyred Bit
of description. bat are they true? b. the
injured shrek. and dies Il sound Of wal
ing come with the crashing aud tearing
of cars
Some people say not.
A man who lay in a nest OF greasy
trucks while eight cars battered them
selves to piece, and piled up Jagged
pyramid over him gave his impression
us fellows:
First. merely confused awakening,
for | had been asleep; then an awful
sound of grinding and breaking some
where abnve me in the pitch darkness
then panse aud another sound of rip
ping and fracluring. which seemel tu
last five minutes; then all at once a
deep silence, broken only by a soft puff
ing sound then sudden realization
that was hurt and that ime hing harl
was under my back then from sme
where away in the distance Il shout or
two aud call, Bring up that lantern !
then another pause, nothing heard but
the coughing of the wrecked engine
then a slow aud dim eff,rt To analyz
this sound and to remember what hal
happened before | woke up. and finally,
like a fash. the thought that was bur
led under the ruins Of The car IN which |
had gone to sleep.
Even then did not shout. | began
to grnpe aud crawl, aud finally | saw a
patch of he night sky and clim ied To
ward il. and when felt the fresh breeze
against my face, instead of revivins. |
rainred, and the next | remember | was
in the hospital.
again had to think and think be-
fore knew how came there. | could
i'll hear the wet breathing OF the engine
aud the cry, Bring that lantern
"1hey told me that every other man
in the car had been killed. but / could
not understand or appreciate what they
said.
"a month after that. when cIull sit
and coolly figure out my situation and
the manner of my escape, the cold sweat
would come out OH me.
A man who was in the third cIach at
Battle Greek last Friday morning rode
into Chicag, Saturday afiernoon aud told
some of the things he remembered.
"The most horrible part Of it all. " said
he. "was the interval of dead silence
which came between the awful shuck OI
The collision and the breaking out of tie
fire. / suppose nearly q ] of us were
asleep. Those who were not Knocked
half sense'ess by The terrific jnlf. W rt
drowsy. The lamps went nut. ] awoke
to find myself in darkness, with weight
across my breast. liflel it and felt t'
see what il was. II was piece of woOc
with torn end.
1.-The silence was so deep that | coulf
hear the rain beating on the roof ant
dripping down the windows. got VI
on my knees aud began 10 feel about me
Nv hand touched some one else, bu
neither # US spoke. had not heard 1
sound in the car until then, bat | be .ar
to hear a scrambling about me. Tx
passengers were getting out from under
the broken seats and the scattered splin
tiers. Some of them were badly hurt, al
found out afterwarl. but they dill nn
groan or scream. They must have beer
ike me-breathIess, dazed aud weak.
"The first sound OF a human voice
came when some one askeI: What /
the maiier?'
"Anolher said: we have fallen int
a river
The noise of splashing water led ms
to think the same. At that moment the
flames which hal hrnken out in the can
ahead threw dim light among us. Al
of us seemed to be reused To the sense o
danger in that moment. Oue wnmaI
began breaking The glass from window
SO she could crawl out. the others di'
the same. Then began the shouts an'
imprecalions. When / jumped expect
ed To find myself in the water. Ia th'
moment that paused on the shatiere'
sill fully debated whether or not
would rather die by wa;er than by hhm