The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-28
AT LEAST rwENTY-T . DEAD.
Others May Have Been Completely
Cremated In the Wreck

LOUISVILLE, KY, Dec. 27-Reports
to Superintendent of TRANSFORMATION
George Evans, of rhe Louisville &
Nashville railway, indicate that the fa-
talities in today's disaster near Bir-
mingham, Ala, viii number at least
twenty-five. OF the total number of
persons, crew. and passengers. on the
train, but seven escaped, and the num-
ber of dead can only be conjectured
for no one knows exactly how many
people were on the train. The fact
that the train was destroyed by fire
almost Immediately after the accident
and before wrecking trains could
reach the scene also adds to the un-
certainty on this point, as many bodies
were burned beyond recognition, and
some may have been totally des-
troyed.
The train was a small local passen-
ger, which, starting from Birmingham
at 6 a. M, runs to point near Cur
ney, then goes over a connecting link
of track controlled by the Southern
railway and known as the Brierfield,
Blocton & Birmingham road The
train returns to the Louisville & Nash
Vile tracks at Blocton, and makes the
return trip to Birmingham after a cir
cult touching numerous mining towns
in that region. Between Gurney and
Blocton the tracks cross the Cahaba
river. an unimpOrtant stream which,
except in time Of heavy rains, Is quite
shallow. The bridge was about ninety
feet high, with q 200-foot span in the
middle, and approaches several hun
dred feet in length. Into the bed Of
the Cahalba the unfortunate passengers
and crew were plunged. That any one
escaped with their life is little. short
Of miraculous. Almost Immediately the
train, which consisted of an engine,
combination baggage and express
car and two coaches, took fire, increas-
ing the horror Of the calamity That
any lives were saved is probably due
to the fact that the crash was heard
by the telegraph operator at Hargo
three miles from the river. He report
ed this to the train dispatcher about
SIS o'clock, and half an hour later the
news that the train had gone down
was carried to Blocton, six miles away,
by native who also heard the noise
A relief train, bearing all the physi-
clans Of Blocton and about fifty citt-
zens, was made up hurriedly and sent
to the scene of the wreck, closely fol-
lowed by others from Birmingham and
Bessemer.
There is nothing In the reports to
the general offices here upon which te
base a theory as to the cause of the
accident. The Louisville & Nashville
officers are especially careful in dis
cussing this point, as the disaster oc.
CURED on the tracks of the Southern
railway they say. and the complica,
tlons likely. to result WIFI no doubt
prompt a very rigid investigation The
last report-from the company's physl-
clans was that the known dead NUM-
bered twenty-two.- 5 Not a member of
the train crew Of five men lives to
tell the story of the accident if in
deed any one on the train was aware
of danger until the train was launched
into the air. The seven persons who
escaped death are badly injured They
include one family consisting OF a man
wife and two children. They were put
upon one of the relief trains after re-
cefving medical attention, and were
taken to Birmingham, reaching that
place at 6 o'clock this evening.
On the approaches of the same
bridge this afternoon another fatal ac-
cident occurred. A bridge carpenter
was killed and several persons were
injured by a collision between an en-
gine and one of the wrecking trains
sent to the rescue .iof the victims Of
the first accident