Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-07-31

Clutched Toy Shovel.
Horribly cut and bruised so badly that
recognition was out Of the question, there
lay, little further off. the body Of another
child, covered with a blanket. In one hand
1t clutched a toy shovel, such as children
use in playing in the sand on the beach. 1t
was covered with the life-blood Of the little
one, and was placed on a board with its
unfortunate owner and carried to the
morgue.
just above the tower house the number
OF dead was appalling. In the gathering
darkness. with nothing but the faint glim-
mer of the lanterns In the hands of the
rescuers, to tell curiosity seekers of the ter
r:ble slaughter, were a number of corpses
That were laid alongside the track, waiting
removal to the morgue.
Thieves Mt Work.
Amidst all the terrors of the groans of the
dying and the scenes Of desolatfon the
sneak thief piled his nefarious vocation.
One big burly colored man was caught in
the act of stealing the watch from the body
OF a man horribly mangled. The daring
thief was arrested, and but for the precau-
ions taken by the police he would have
oeen strung up to nearby telegraph pole.
Another man was caught in the act of re-
moving a valuable diamond ring from the
finger of woman. He had started to cut
the finger off with knife when he was
caught and hustled off to the Jail. And so
IL went the tlme OF the accident until
the wreck was partially cleared up.
Survivors, Story.
Among the people on the Reading train
We're Mr. and Mrs.A &C Milliken and Stewart
Wyeth. two wealthy Philadelphians who
occupied chairs in the parlor car. When
the crash came they were somewhat Jared,
but did not realize what had happened. Mr..
Wyeth, in speaking of the accident, said:
The first thing We knew was when the
J crash came l was sitting in my chair chat
tins with some friends, when suddenly
there was a crash that raised me off NV
chair and l bounded heavily against the
chair in front Of me- We didn't know
what had happened, and the conductor re-
FUSED to let US go out the door to investi-
gate.
In remarkably short time the car be-
came enVeloped in steam Then we made a
rush for the door. The conductor again
stopped u.s. but when We threatened to
throw him from the car he stepped to one
sloe ana let US pass. 1 could hardly real
re then what had happened. SO great was
the volume OF steam which was shooting
upward and around the cars.
In a moment, however l realized that
terrible accident had occurred and l.
with several other gentlemen in the car,
dld what we could to rescue the dead and
dylng. The sight was most horrifyirg
The agonizing cries of the injured were
heartrending in the extreme"
Talk With a Rescuer.
g. E. Crowley Of Atlantic City was
among the first to reach the scene of the
disaster. when l got there" said Mr.
crowley, the cries of the dying and in
Jured were terrible. saw at a glance that
help was needed, and 1 went right 10 work.
One of the first victims 1 helped to rescue
was poor young fellow about eighteen
years old When took hold Of him he be-
Sought me to send for a priest There
happened to be one nearby, but before he
had time to administer the last rites of the
church the poor fellow fell back in NV
arms and breathed his last. We placed him
car"
The Operator Arrested.
William Thurlow, telegraph operator in
the tower house,wa arrested late last night
and held pending an inquiry.
Another Survivors, Story.
Albert Moseback of 10 North sth street
Philadelphia, tells a story that is more
than thrilling of the awful wreck He was
| riding on the car of the Reading train
next to the baggage car, which was tele-
scoped, and was hurled from his seat when
| the crash came. He says that the third of
the Badgeton cars was thrown high in the
| air. and fell upon q mass Of grooming,
snrieking people. The two middle cars Of
the Bridgeton train were cut in two before
any one knew what had happened, and
bodies were strewn all along the tracks and
wedged in under heavy trucks.
The sight was awful said this survivor
Several men broke through the windows of
one Of the telescoped cars and dashed across
the meadows like mad men. Dozens of wo-
men tainted. and went into Mysteries In
my car legs and arms were broken on every
hand. If God spares me from such a scene
again I'll never take a risk / can see blood
and mangled bodies before me all the time
My God. the re are men and women lying
over there In the ditch with tons of iron on
them, praying for death When l came
away the escaping steam was scalding a
woman till the flesh was dropping off her.
A Graphic Narrative.
One of the most explicit narratives of the
| wreck is told by Charles c. Rynick of
Bridgeton. He was on the car which was
partly telescoped. and had his lip and chin
cut. His six-year-old son, Telford Rynick
escaped unburt. Mr.. Rynick saw people
manRled right in front of him. The third
car of the train was splintered into atoms
He said
Il don't think a single one of the pa
gers escaped death or fatal injury There
were about fifteen cars in all. and every one
was shaken up. We saw the two trains
racing up the meadows, but never imagined
that we were going to cross in the way of
the Reading express The catastrophe was
as unexpected as it was terrible and every
soul aboard our train expected death when
the snock came. Inc Headings engine was
smashed into bits and the boiler exploded
The engineer was killed outright The first
Reading car was telescoped and the ba g.
gage master was killed In my car Miss
Bell. daughter of Mr.. and Mrs. Frazier Bell
of Bridgeton, escaped unhurt while her
parents were killed Death was on every
hand. 1t was terrible.
Such scene L never saw, and such cries
and means never heard. One woman tried
TO dash her brains out on the broken en-
gine's driving wheels, wounded though she
was, when she discovered that her husba nd
was dead. Several men grabbed her and
sent her on the first relief train to Atlantic
City. This was only one of many such
scenes. 1t was horrible"
Excitement mt Atlantic City.
Atlantic City is wild with excitement.
From the moment the terrible news reach
ed the city, men on wheels, in carriages
on horseback, in stages and conveyances
of every description were en- route to the
scene, and once there excitement ran so
high one knew scarcely where to turn. In
deed, there was no room to turn for every
nook and corner was crowded.; horses,
stages wheels and people crushed into one
and the other. One could do nothing ex-
cept stand and gaze down on the track
strewn with dead and dying.
The tower, alongside of which the catas
I