Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-06-06
BURNED IN THE COACHES.
Terrible Accident on the Wisconsin
Central Railway at
MedfOrd.

Marshfeld, Wis, May 30.-The st.
Paul limited south-bound train on the
! Wisconsin Central road which passes
here at 1903 q. m., met with a horrible
| accident which has never been equaled
in Northern Wisconsin, and adds another
long list of victims through disasters Of
this kind The train, which was in charge
of Conductor Gaven and was made up
of seven coaches and sleepers, left
Abbottsford behind time and while rum
ming at fifty miles an hour struck de-
fectiVe split switch at Mannville q de-
serted station, derailing the entire train
and piling engine and cars in a heap of
broken tmbers To add to the horror
the entire mass was soon in Il sheet of
flame, which, mingled with the groans and
cries of the injured, made a scene that
turned the hearts of the bravest. The vic
tins are:
JAMES HUBBARD, engineer. of Stevens Point
GEORGE GEBHARDT, fireman, Of Stevens
Point
JOHN BIGELOw, head brakeman, of Stevens
Point
W. B. RUSSELL, civil engineer, Stevens Point
AGED MAN AND WOMAN, names unknown,
burned in the ruins, it is said they not on
the train at st. Paul.
INJURED
HENRY CHESTER, Marshfeld, legs and spine
o. w. BOzELY, news agent, Stevens Point, in
ured int rnally.
ARTHUR TURNICE, Chicago, head cut and
otherwise injured; will recover.
DIR. WEITZEL, Glidden, hurt internally.
FANNIE BURTLE, Springdale Ill., hand bad
ly cut.
WILLIAM RYAN, Sturgeon Bay, ribs broken
E. A TWITCHELL, attorney-atlaw, Mime
apolis. head cut.
w. D. HOGAN, Butternut Wis. bruised on
legs and under arms; no bones broken, and rest
ing fairly well.
HENRY CLIVERT, Marshfeld, Wis, shout
der bone broken, right arm bruised and badly
shaken up.
MRS. q. H. BROWN, Irene, S. D., one rib
broken, taken to Waupaca, and doing well.
No. ) nOrth-bOund passenger passes No.
at this place, and as soon as word was
received of the accident No. 3 went to
the scene with a number of physicians and
ed were brought back and the depot was
turned into a hospital, where everything
was done to make the unfortunates COM
Portable
Meanwhile, the scene of the accident,
was once a lively saw-mill town, but of
late years has gradually sunk to nothing,
until now all that remains is q few
scattered buildings. During the forest
fires last fall the dept burned, and about
all that is left to mark the place is q heap
of burned ruins and a number of side
tracks. The accident occurred at the
HFSt switch, where supposed broken bar
caused a switch to open sufficiently to de-
rail the train.
After leaving the track the train plOwed
along over the ties for a distance of ten
rods and then tOppled and rolled over. the
engine and tender going into the ditch
and the cars piling on top of each other.
All were soon set on fire from the stoves
From out of this tangled mass men and
women who were lucky enough not to be
pinned down crawled, many making won
derful escapes. The bodies of Russell
and Jud Bigelow, who were caught in
the timbers. were not recovered until
about o'clock this morning and were
burned to a crisp.
AS near as can be ascertdfned, about
fifty passengers were on the train. and as
the work of clearing away the wreckage
goes on others may be yet found to swell
the list OF those who met death by burn
ing.
Under direction of Division Superin-
tendent Horn, who happened to be on
the north-bOund passenger, a special train
was fitted up and left here for Stevens
Point at Z o'clock, bearing the remains Of
Engineer Hubbard, Firemen Gebhardt
and Russell and passenger.
When che body of Bige1ow, the head
brakeman, was recovered, it had a watch
in one hand and a lantern on an arm.
The injured who are distributed among
the different hotels. it is thought will
recover, except, perhaps Chever, OF this
city.
w. B. Russell, who was Killed, was an
employee of the chief engineer and had
been up the road on business for the COM
pany. He was q young man, employed
as rodmaD, and came here from England.