The San Francisco call., 1896-08-02
Grief Of an Injured Young Man
Whose Betrothed Is
Dying.
TRYING To. PLACE THE BLAME.
Charge That Two Trains Were Racing
Is Denied-What Man on a
Bicycle Saw.

ATLANTIC CITY, N. j., Aug. L.
Now that the excitement has subsided
somewhat, the exact number of fatalities
and injured in Thursdays accident is
definitely known. The dead numb Der forty
four and forty -three persons were seriously
enough hurt to be taken to the hospital.
OF those in the hospital twenty-eight were
so far recovered to-day as to be able to 60
to their homes. OF the fifteen persons re-
naming in the hospital, several are suf-
fering from terrible injurlesi the nature of
which makes their recovery doubtful.
The uncertainty as to the exact number
killed arose from the confusion and ex-
citement following the accident and con-
dition Of some of the bodies which were
dismembered, one being headless.
Several bodies were at first wrongly
identified, and this added to the confusion
of identification. One case was that of
the body of man who was positively
identified as Samuel Murphy of Bridge
ton. Murphy turned up alive at his home
and the body remained unknown until
to-day, when it was identified as that OF
Patrick Feigan, retired liquor dealer OF
Philadelphia. All the bodies were fully
identified to-day.
The ordinary quiet and order which pre-
walls in hospital returned to-day to the
Tsanitarium after yesterdays narrowing
scenes. The first agony of grief was over
for the uninjured and the hurt were rest
ing more quietly. The seriously wounded
have rooms to themselves and their rel
atives were admitted to them and passed
the day in watchful and tender ministra-
tions at their bedsides.0
Although terribly injured, the principal
anxiety of young Charles Horner was for
his affianced wife. She had been with him
when the crash came, and afterward he
lost her and was in an agony OF fear over
her fate. Unknown to him, the girl was
slowly dying and unconscious in room
closeto him. Not until afternoon. was the
recognized by her uncle as his niece, Lizzie
Brannlns She had been staying with him
at Ocean City and had gone to Bridgeton
to 60 on the excursion with her friends
and was returning with them home. When
Horner was told Miss Brannin was in the
hospital, his grief was most affecting and
throughout the dav he made constant in
quiry as to her condition.
The story that the Reading train was
racing when the accident occurred con-
tinues to. be repeated, but it cannot be
substantiated with any accuracy. Ii the
two trains were racing the engineers were
violating one of the strictest rules of their
roads. A man whose name is withheld,
and who Witnessed the accident, says the
trains were not racing. This man, who
will. be a witness at the inquest, was riding
bicycle on the road by the block tower.
The bicycle rider saw the shift of the men
in the signal tower as the day operator
left and the night operator took charge.
As the West Jersey excursion train ap-
preached the tower he noticed it slacken
its speed and saw the Reading express
coming.
He saw the increased speed of the ex-
cursion train as Engineer Greiner turned
on steam to. rush his train, If possible.
over the crossing as the white. signals au-
thorized him to. do. Then came the crash,
and the man on the bicycle, when he re-
covered from the shock OF the sight, sped
away for the city for assistance. The i'm
preston of the man is that the Camden
and Atlantic express came along about
two minutes after the crash and that. the
two trains were not racing.
No verihcatlon of the, racing between
the two trains can be obtained from the
railroad people mere, as they either refuse
to talk or fatty deny that the engineers
could have been racing. Nevertheless,
people who daily use the two roads assert
that races occur frequently on the level
stretCh.o