Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1896-08-07
Reading Express Crashes Into an Excursion
. Train.
KILLED AND INJURED NUMBER 100.
Engineer Farr Meets Death at His
Post--Mrs. Farr Falls Dead Upon
Receipt Of the News--Cause of the
Wreck Unknown.

y A railroad accident, horrible in its
details and sickeniag in its results, oc-
CURED Thursday evening just outside
Of Atlantic City, N. j., and as a result
about 100 persont are either killed or
injured.
The Reading railroad express, which
left Philadelphia at $40 Thursday
evening for Atlantic City, crashed in
to Pennsylvania Railroad excursion
train at the second signal tower, four
miles from Atlantic City. The Penn
sylvania train was returning to Bridge
ton with a party of excursionist from
that place, Millville and neighboring
towns. It was loaded with passengers
and rough estimate places the killed
and wounded at 100.
At the second signal tower the tracks
of the two roads diagonally cross. The
Reading train was given the signal, but
it either failed to work or the speed of
the express was too great to be- checked
in time. 1t caught the excursion train
broadside and ploughed through, liter
ally cleaving it in twain. The engine
of the Reading train was shattered to
pieces. Every car was jammed to its
fullest capacity.
As soon as the news reached Atlantic
City the utmost CONSERVATION prevail
ed, but the authorities were equal to
the emergency. Relief trains were
dispatched to the scene loaded with
cots and bearing staffs of surgeons. As
quick as the bodies were recovered
the were carried into the local hospi-
tails and undertakers' shops. A gen.
eral fire alarm was sounded and the
department promptly responded and
aided in the work of digging for the
victims. Fear grew into despair and
horror as the work OF the relief gangs
revealed the full extent of the disaster.
The first Reading relief train bore
into Atlantic City twenty-seven man
gled corpses-men, women and chill
dren. The next train, not an hour
later, carried fifteen of the manned and
wounded, and two of those died soon
after reaching the city. AS train after
train piled to the scene of the wreck
and toiled back with its ghastly load,
the Sanita7ium which does duty as the
city hospital quickly found its capacity
overtaxed.
Meanwhile others dead and injured
were being carried to the private hos
pitfalls at Ocean and Pacific avenues.
Edward Farr, engineer on the Read
ing train, was killed outright, as was
another man who rode on the engine
with him. This man, whose name has
not been learned, saw the collision
coming and leaped from the cab an in
slant before the crash. Almost at the
same instant the engine cut its way
through and caught him directly in its
path. His body and that of Farr we're
found under heap of debris, but the
engineer lay in what remained of the
cab, and his right hand still clasped the
throttle. He had been faithful unto
death and met it at his post. The
fireman on the train had leaped few
seconds before and escaped with triAing
injuries. Samuel Thorne, baggage mas.
ter on the Reading train, is among the
dead.
Conductor Kellep of the Pennsylva-
MIA train, had both legs and arms
broken and was internally injured.
Albert J. Mosebach of Is North Eighth
street, Philadelphia, was on the Read
ing train. He escaped unhurt.
The excursion train was made up of
fifteen cars, the foremorst of which was
baggage car. This and the next two
coaches caught the full force. of the
crush and were utterly demolished
What remained of the third car was
tumbled into ditch at the roadside.
The responsibility for the accident can
not be fixed.
Charles @. Rynick, of Bridgeton,
who was in the excursion party, was in
one of the rear cars. He escaped with
severe bruises, and. SO far as his sgita-
ton would permit, told the story of his
experience:
''When we saw that q collision was
unavoidable" he said, ''the scene in
our car was terrible. Women tainted
and men rushed il mad panic for the
door. But it came almost before we
knew it. The third car was cut right
in two and the lower portion of. it lifted
bodily from the track and tumbled
over. Every Car was crowded, and it
is horrible to think of the numbers
who must be lying under those ruins.
The roof of one of the cars fell in
mass and everybody in that car was
buried under it. 1t simply dropped
on the people. I know two people in
our car who were killed. They were
Mr.. and Mrs. Frank Bell, of Bridge
ton. Their daughter was in another
car further back and was not hurt. /
don't know who is to blame. When We
were about two miles out from Atlantic
City we came to a stop in the meadows
\ \ n T.