The Portland daily press., 1894-09-07
ON A BURNING TRAIN.
Thrilling Episode Of the Minnesota
Forest Fires.

Forest Fires.
the Flames-The Engineer Almost
Roasted In His Cab-FIeeing People
Overtaken by the Flames and Burned
to Death.
rFrom the Minneapolis Tribune.
One man to whom great credit is due,
and who is also hero in the eyes OF the
passengers, is Hermann Mannhart, the
news agent of the limited, who lives at
10 Goodrich avenue, St. Paul. He was
brought to his home yesterday afternoon
with his clothes half burned from his
body, and was interviewed while lying
in his bed suffering from the pain his
eyes, The story he tells of the experience
on the train is thrilling. When speaking
of it Mannhart passed his hands over HIS
eyes as if to shut out some horrible slght,
and there was some emoJion noticeable
when he spoke He said he had never
witnessed anything half SO horrible, aid
fervently hoped he never would again.
The train left Duluth at 2 O'Clock Sat
urday afternoon. All the way down the
smoke was so heavy that no one could
see hundrd yards away. Daylight was
shut out, and the train proceeded slowly.
At Carlton day had turned into night,
for the smoke had increased greatly In
volume and density. So. dark was II
that the brakeman was Obliged to l1ght
the lamps in the coaches. 1t was very
noticeable at this time that the passen-
gers were growing uneasy, especially the
women and children, who looked anx-
iously from the windows to the male
passengers as if seeking help. There
was
AN EXPRESSION OF FEAR
on their faces, many of which were pale
and white. Ten miles farther on the
darkness was intense. 1t was difficult to
breathe and the coaches were filed with
smoke. There was no relief from it and
the men one by one, grew frightened and
weak. The passengers were gasping for
breath, and the train men, realizing how
serious the situation had become passed
through the coaches, imploring ali to
keep cool, and offering what encourage
ment they could They could hear the
roar of the flames to the right of the
train, however. and the encouragement
offered fell on needless ears. Conductor
Jerry Sullivan, Brakeman Moynahan,
Baggageman George Morris, Porter Blair
and News Agent Mannhartt preserved
their usual cool delneanor, and assured
the ladies that all was we'll, and no dan
ger was to be apprehended. They knew
right we'll, however, that they were in
dangerous position. 1t soon became ap-
parent to all that they had little CHARGE
for their lives. The children began to
cry and shrek and cling to their mothers.
The mothers sank to the floors of tie
coaches and offered up fervent prayers
for deliverance from the flames. They
shrieked and cried, and this in a meas
ule unnerved the men. The men sought
in every way to still the cries of the
women and children, but it was useless.
They were thoroughly frightened and
had lost their minds temporarily.
But these scenes were nothing COM
pared to those that were enacted when
the train approached close to Hlnckley.
The crew of the train had no knowledge
of the destruction OF the city, and could
not see hundred yards away even with
the aid of the powerful headlight. Be-
train and the town. However, citizens
who were
FLEEING FROM THE STRICKEN
CITY
tagged the train. and more than a hun
dred half burned and half crazy men and
women jumped on board and begged the
conductor to hurry the train back from
whence it had come. The train was
within mile and a half of Hinckley
when tagged, and the fire was then
advancing with railroad speed in it's Ii
rection. At first Engineer Root thought
of putting ON all speed and rushing
through the city. but reason caused him
to abandon the idea. The fire was COM
ing with the speed of the wind, and
such an effort would be worse than mad
ness. The roar OF the fire became more
distinct, so the train crew hurried all
the people on board, and Engineer Root
reversed his engine and sent the train
spinning back over the track Hat rapid
rate.
The fire now became descern1 BILE. 1t
was coming like whilrwind, and Root
could see that it was going faster than
The train. He increased the speed of the
locomotive. 1t was no use. The fire had
caught the rear coach, and the people
were rushing into the Others This. TOO
proved futile, for the fire surrounded the
train. 1t came in through the skylights
and under the seats. The heat was in
tense, and the excitement among the pas
sengers was uncomfortable. The women
and children shrieked wildly In their
fright, and appealed to every body for
aid. AS the fire began to crack the
glass i'll the windows one man lost his
mind, and with cry sprang through
the window and was swallowed up in
the flames. Another, and then third
followed his example, and all were
caught and destroyed by the fire. A
panic ensued, and under the severe strain
others went mad and sought their own
destruction, jumping through the win
dows. The scene can better he imagined
than described, for the horror of it all
can never be fully told. Strange to say,