The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-01
THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
FEARFUL OCCURRENCE NOT
YET FIXED.
A DOCTOR DESCRIBES THE WRECK
Dreadful Scene as the Dead and
Injured Were Brought Out of
the Debris.

injured it Is more than probable that
four or five will die. Many of the
others are injured only specifically
At noon, Coroner Mclaughlin en-
paneled a jury to inquire into the dis
aster. 1t consisted Of six Of Atlantic
9City's Wealthiest and most prominent
citizens When the jury reached the
improvised morgue at the old excur-
sion house 1t was completely surround
ed by an immense crowd of the NOR
b1dly curious, who crowded about ev-
cry available entrance and window,
and peered at the forty-three boxes Of
all shapes, styles and sizes, in which
the mangled bodies lay encased in icea
Ropes had been stretched around the
entrance and only those whose rela-
tives were dead and officials and news
paper men were admitted. In the pres
ence of the dead all hats were DOTTED
and the jury silently and with saddened
visages went at its gruesome duty. AS
the cover of each box was lifted, the
coroner's clerk in mournfuf tones an
nounced the name of its occupant, and
the single word unknown when such
a box was reached. 1t required fully
one hour for the jury to complete it's
task, and Immediately afterwards an
adjournment was made until 10 o'clock,
when a special train took the jury to
the scene of the tragedy
The scene was very different from
that of last night. The relief gangs
had done effective work, both tracks
being clear. There is a very general i'm
preston that under the mass Of debris.
at least six more bodies lie. The jury
made an exhaustive examination of the
ground and devoted considerable time
to the inspection of the signals which
still remain Is they were at the moment
of the accident.
After viewing the ground the coro-
ner's jury again separated until tomor-
row afternoon, when another meeting
will be held
All the dead so far found and fdenti-
fed, were removed to their former
homes this afternoon. The first train
used for this purpose left the West
Jersey station at $3.50 this afternoon for
Bridgeton. It carried twenty three
bodies. The remaining corpses were sent
on later trains
q George T. Hauser, who had charge of
the signal tower where the accident
occurred was arrested today and held
pending an investigation. Hauser re-
fused to make any statement whatso
ever at this time, and was held in $500
bail for further hearing.
The center of interest today was the
improvised morgue, and a strange
spectacle for this city of proverbial
gaiety was the continual procession of
undertaker's wagons bowling along
Atlantic avenue, the principal thorough
| fare, carrying, bodies to that place and
later to the Pennsylvania railroad
station. Inside the morgue, ira gic scenes
were being enacted throughout the day.
b. THE ENGINEERS STORY.
CAMDEN, N. j., July 31-John
| Greiner, the engineer of the Inflated
Bridgeton excursion train, brought his
locomotive to the round house in this
city shortly after midnight and later he
was interviewed at his home. He said:
| "My train left Atlantic City at 6:45
o'clock. It was about two minutes later
when we reached the drawbridge. Just
as we were leaving the drawbridge
looked out of one of the cab windows
and saw the Reading express flying
| shoreward 1t was then probably two
| miles away. There was a Camden and
Atlantic accommodation train running
in the same direction that the Reading
| flyer was going. From what I could
observe the trains were racing.
II looked up at the tower and saw
that I had a clear track. The signals
are interchangeable and the fact that
the white was against me would throw
the red against the Reading express.
GAS the express came laundering
down upon the crossing 1 saw that a
collision was unavoidable.
MY God Horace" I said to my fire.
man, "he's not going to STOP" then
left my seat and jumped quickly onto
the engine steps. For an instant l
was undetermined whether to jump or
not. Something prevented me from
jumping however, and l sprang quickly
into the cab again. The next minute
the collision came. Had / followed my
first impulse and jumped I would have
been crushed to death alongside the
track.
THE engine of the express struck the
excursion train about the middle of the
| second coach. Four of the cars left
the track. 1t was in the second coach
from the engine that most of the peo-
pie were killed. They were simply
ground to death in their seats. Neither
RI nor my fireman was hurt.
1.-THE engine of the express was
| literally smashed to pieces When the
crash came my engine was severed
| from the rest of the train and the
| locomotive ran down the track for
several hundred feet before it was
brought to standstill. When / got
back to the scene of the accident the
the sight which met my eyes was ap-
palling. Dead bodies were strewn
about everywhere and the cries of the
| dying and injured filed the air. It
was a heart rending scene"
DR.. SMITHS STORY.
PHILADELPHIA, July 31-Dr.
Charles A. Smith, Of Harrisburg, who
was nearby when the awful railroad
accident occurred, outside of Atlantic
City passed through Philadelphia on
his way home this morning. He tells a
| graphic story Of scenes he witnessed
! He said:
1t was an awful sight Only four or FIVE
bodies had been taken from the wreck when
| arrived there. The Reading express had
struck the excursion train on the PennsyI-
vania, cutting 1t clean in two. The Reading
engine struck the second passenger coach of
the excursion train with a terrific force i'm
possible to imagine. The coach was smashed
into bits; there was nothing left of it ex-
cept tangle of splnters, mixed up with
which were the mangled and torn bodies of
men, women and children. Death had come
instantaneousfy as from a lightning stroke
to most of them. There was no sembIance of
railroad car in this heap of kindling wood.
The third coach had not received the full
impact of the blow, but 1t was ripped up
badly and lay overturned with one side torn
Qff he ofr1o md horr