The farmers' union., 1894-08-16

The most disastrous wreck in tho
history Of Nebraska occurred At 1890
o'clock Thursday night. when the east
bound Oklahoma ami Texas express on
the Chicago. Rock Island and Pacific
plunged through an overhead bridge
afty fect high into . creek below, kill
train crew burt . brake / IN, and wound
ing many others. The killed are:
Is &C Depew, engineer.
{. d. Standard. conductor.
Fireman, name unkn knOwn.
Three coma ercial travellers, names
unknown
Two farmer names unknown.
Two women names unknown; sup
po> ed to be burr Ell in the wreck.
Twelve others were badly injured.
sonae lerhaps fatally.
The disaster occurred five miles
south of Lincoln. To add horror to
the awful 4 air the entire train WAS
consumed by tre, which ollowed the
plunge. and many bod es were lost in
the wreck. The train was composed
OF an express. baggage. day car. chair
ccacn. and through S eeper for Chica-
60. An obstruction was on the track
at the point where il crosses a ravine
high over the ira Ks of the Union Pa
cite Railroad. The train was running
1t q high ate Of speed, and crashed
through the trestle t. the ground be-
low in al instant, carrying every wheel
from the track.
Flames Com plrt~ tho Awful Work.
The flames began to envelOp tho
wreck within few moments after the
train went down, starting from the
lamps in the baggage car and ignittnG
the debris. 1t was some tiEe before
the confusion. intensified by the
absence of the trainmen, VINO had been
fatal m ngled ut their posts Of duty,
was sufficiently lessened to enable the
surviving passengers to work with any
thing like efficiency. The passengers
imprisoned in tho day coach and chair
car, which we Q under tho heavy
sleeper and on top of the battered en-
scalding team, added to the horrible
CONFUSION b. the cries of alarm end
| screams to be relea ed.
Those passengers in the rear OF tho
train who We're not injured in the
| wreck at once went to work to save
their less fortunate companions. The
alarm was carried to the surrounding
farmhouses. and shortly the entire
community was present aiding in the
work of rescue This was attended
with the greatest difficulty as q result
of the terrible manner in which the
cars were thrown together and twisted
| into tangled mass that was not only
| difficult to penetrate, but was ap-
preached at the greatest risk OF the
| reScuerS lives.
Many of tho lifted from tho win
dows and gaping holes in the burning
| cars cnOpped by the rescuers were
suffering from the effects of the flames
q, we'll as in Juries from the ,umb ing
of the train into tho ditch. In q short
time medical assistance was ON the
ground from Lincoln, and tho work OF
caring for those most seriously injured
was begun in q systematic manner.
A hos ital was established in q
neighboring field and by the light OF
the bun ming coaches the grOaning
victims of the terrible affair were
brought and laid in O~ on the ground,
some of them breathing their last
while in the hands of their rescuers.
Relief expe Tito S were media ely
organized for distan of several
miles along tt Q tracks by the farmers
and people in the smaller towns. For
several hours there was no chance to
reduce the work to system because
of the great excitement, the ra,sen-
ge who escaped being killed outright
screaming over tho agony of their
wounds and dragging themselves
around pleading for something to al
lay their sufferings, other, seeking for
their companions and obstructing the
work of rescuers by their crazy efforts
TO enter the burning debris.