St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-09-03
ON THE BURNING TRAIN.
Jim Root Fell or His Seat But
Stuck to the Throttle.

G. Fl. Vandever, of Davenport, To-,
was passenger on the Inflated st. Paul
Il Duluth train that left the Zenith
City at 1850 Saturday afternoon. He
finally reached st. Paul yesterday fore
noon and is now under the care of
physician. He is not burned badly,
but his eyes were in such condition
that for a time 1t was feared that his
sight might be lost or at least seriously
impaired. The hair OH his head and his
hands and his eyebrows was sInged
badly. His story Of the experience he
passed through will give the best idea
of the situation:
when we left Duluth" said Mr..
Fandever. I'VE saw that terrible fire
was raging somewhere. but it was about
$3.50 when we realized that we were
Rushing Right Into Danger.
'At that time it became as dark as mid.
night never saw it darker, and at 4
O'Clock we ran into the fire. The wind
was blowing at the rate of sixty or sew
enty miles an hour, and there was a
real cyclone of flame. The coaches were
afire before we knew ii. The train
stopped and we took on board a lot of
people who had fled from Hinckley, from
which place we were then about four
miles distant. and we then tried to 90
on. We got within about mile and a
half Of the town when the glass in the
train was broken, and James Root.
the engineer, was injured by the
glass. The brave fellow stuck to
u IL
We made about six miles in that direc-
ton, when all the cars were on fire and
it was absolutely necessary to stop. We
were on high ground, or rather on a
high grade. with a lake Oh one side.
into which large number of the people
OIL the train dropped, and rolling in the
mud and water tried to protect them
selves. did not know of the lake, and
with Mrs. II. W. Milliman and several
others, rushed off on the wrong side.
We got on as high ground as we could
find, and there we stood. Our clothes
would catch fire every few minutes, and
think we must have persisted had it
not been for a precaution had taken
before leaving the train. l took my
night shirt and made it soaking wet.
Occasionally we would wrap this
around our heads and thus get few
draughts of pure air. Mrs. Milliman.
who is st. Paul woman by the way,
when we stepped out of the burning
cars felt little nervous, but after that
She Never Lost Her Nerve,
and was me bravest woman 1 ever saw
under such circumstances.
There on that track we were huddled
together" continued Mr.. VaDdever,
till 2:SO this morning, when We were
taken into Hinckley on a hand car.
None Of us could see, but the men ON
the car counted twenty-seven dead
bodies in those four miles. They had
already seen seventeen when they
reached US. In one place there was
woman and four or FIVE children all
huddled together and all dead. 1t was
terrible night, and no one who has not
been through it can have an adequate
idea of the situation. The conductor
was out all night and when found this
morning
Was Raving Maniac.
SIN another place was a woman with
two children sitting up alongside her,
and all three were found dead"
MIR. Vandever saw little girl on the
relief train that did not know where
she belonged, and number of babes
and small children were picked up
| whose parents could not be found. In
another case one little boy was all that
was left of family of seven. To Jim
Root, the engineer of this train, Mr..
Vandever gives the credit for saving the
lives of all the people on the train, for
had he not stuck to his train, badly as
he was injured, all must have been de-
| stroyed.