The herald., 1896-08-01

MiZael May, Bridgeton.
William Paulding, Philadelphia
Elmer Wentzel, Bridgeton.
Henry Hughes. Bridgeton.
Unknown woman.
Mrs. Mary Freaz, Bridgeton.
Mrs. ]. D. Bateman, Bridgeton.
William Prickett, Bridgeton.
Joseph Cheney.
Unknown man.
Samuel Thorne, Atlantic City.
Charles P. McGill, Bridgeton.
Unknown woman.
Unidentified arm, unknown woman.
A ring was found on a finger of one
of the unidentified which bore the in
scrption &c. to L."
Spaulding, Cheney and Elmer Went
gel died at the sanitarium this afternoon.
Three of the unidentified were men
and three women. The odd one con-
sists of an arm to which no body has
been found.
OF the injured 1t is more than probable
that four or five will die. Many of the
others are injured only slightly.
For stretchers to carry the dead and
injured on, car doors were ripped off,
the car seats arranged In twos and by
some means fastened together.
After relief trains were filled the
patrol wagon was pressed into service
and wagons were delivered Of their
freight and used as ambulances.
The crowd at the scene of the accident
by this time had grown in size from
hundreds to thousands and notwith-
standing their large numbers there was
good order. The people seemed to real
ize the rescuers needed room and when
a man, woman or child was seen being
carried to the ambulance instantly right
of way was given and the annoyingly
curious individual for some reason was
absent. There were quite a number
who fingered near the wreckage all
night rendering their services and anx-
ious to be of help.
One regrettable thing was the fact
that the officers had to keep close watch
for thieves, who were attempting to
rob the dead. A terrible sight was pre-
sented when the body of an unknown
was brought to the light. The face was
a mass of red flesh, the skin having been
completely torn off. There were worse
cases than this, beggaring pen descrip-
ton.
Charles Blue, resident of Bridgeton,
told of an almost miraculous escape he
and his wife had from death.He was
in the third seat of the first car when the
crash came. They went down in the
fall. They were buried beneath cush-
ioned seats with hardyl enough room to
move. They were extricated from their
perilous position, but at the elbow of
the husband little child lay dead.
w. p. Purdy, one of the survivors, in
describing the scene in his car when the
collision occurred, said he was on the
Reading train and had just awakened
from a doze- He looked out Of the win
dow to see that the crash was unavoid-
able. He was at loss what to do, but
in an instant it was all over. The first
thing he knew he was lodging persons
tramping over his body. They dashed
about like wild people, tramping each
other down in their frantic endeavors
to secure their own safety. He got out
safely, but how he cannot tell.
INVESTIGATION BEGUN.
The investigation into the cause Of
the collision and the fixing Of the re-
sponsibility began today in earnest.
+, Coroner Mclaughlin impaneled jury
and they visited the scene Of the wreck.
There is a very general impression that
under the mass of debris at least six
more bodies lie. The jury made an ex
haustive examination of the ground and
devoted considerable time to the inspec-
ton of the signals which still remain
as they were at the moment of the acci-
dent.
G.. f. Hauser, who has charge of the
tower and who is now under arrest, has
made several statements to the police.
He told them he saw both trains coming
when both were sufficiently far away
to admit of full display Of signals,
but as the West Jersey was the nearest
he gave the Reading the red light and
signalled to the train to come ahead.
The Reading, however, never slackened
speed but came on. Tonight Coroner
McLaughlin called Hauser before him
and gave him a hearing. Hauser re-
fused to make any statement whatever
at this time and was held in $500 bail
for a further hearing. Bail was fur
nished and he was released.
After viewing the ground the coro-
ner's jury again separated until tomor-
row afternoon when another meeting
will he held.
All the dead so far found and identi
fed were removed to their former homes
this afternoon. The first train used for
this purpose left the Jersey station at
$40 this afternoon for Bridgetown. 1t
carried thirty-four bodies. The remain
ing corpses were sent in later trains.
One woman whose identification was es
tablished by her clothing, was decapita-
ted in the wreck and her head was found
at a considerable distance from the
body. The center of interest today was
the improvised morgue and strange
spectacle for this, city of proverbial
gaiety was the continual procession of
undertakers' wagons bowling along At
lantic avenue, the principal thorough
fare, carrying bodies to that place and
later to the Pennsylvania railroad. In
side the morgue tragic scenes were
being enacted throughout the day.
Scenes of a like character were occur
ring at the same time at the sanitarium,
where the injured lie and wNsre three
died today. Almost every incoming
train brought crowds of grief stricken
relatives and friends and as the dark
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