The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-12-14
AN APPALLING ACCIDENT
Eight Wcrkmen Killed on the New
York Central Railroad.
TIE BODIES HORRIBLY MANGLED.
Tho Men Were Shoveling Snow, and
in Leaving the Freight Track to Es-
cape an Approaching Train Stepped
In Front of an Express.

Tho Men Were ShovelinE Snow, and
in Leaving the Freight Track to Es-
cape an Approaching Train Stepped
In Front of an Express.
Buffalo, Dec. 14.-Eight men were
killed and three injured yesterday at
Winspeare bridge. near Corfu. on the
New York General railroad. The men
We're engaged in shoveling snow, of
which there were numerous drifts on
the line. All were frightfully multi
ated The men stepped from one track
to avoid an approaching train, right in
front of fast express train running
In the same direction as the first. and
were literally ground to pieces.
John Warner and gang were working
on track No. 8. A freight train was
laboring its way ponderously up the
steep incline. Its motion was so slow
that the men continued their work un-
til the train was almost upon them.
Then they jumped out of Nhe way.
Some jumped to the right, others to the
left. Those who jumped to the north
escaped. Most of those who jumped to
the south were struck by the express
train coming down track No. 2 with
fearful velocity There Is straight
piece of track here, and the engineer
had clear view down the stretch.
No snow was falling. AS soon as he
realized the appalling situation he
brought the train up with a jerk that
threw the passengers out Of their seats.
1t was too late, however, to avoid the
calamity.
The bodies were scattered over
large area. Some had been thrown a
distance of GO feet. Others were thrown
against the freight train and their
bodies horribly cut and dismembered.
The body Of one man was hurled on to
the top of the freight train and carried
nearly two miles. The bowels of some
of the men were scattered along the
track. Brains oOZed from shapeless
skulls. Dismembered legs. arms and
bodies strewed the crimson snow.
The more fortunate companions Of
the dead and injured gathered up the
remnants together as nearly as they
could judge in human form, and placed
them tenderly In the baggage car Of
the train that killed them, and they
We're taken to Buffalo.
The dead are: John Warner, Of Buf-
falo, foreman of the shoveling gang,
instantly killed; Henry Gunnison, Buff
falo instantly killed; six unidentified
men, supposed to be Poles.
Engineer Smith, Of the express, in an
interview said: II could see nothing
ahead Of me, but I thought the place
looked bad and blew the whistle. I
had let up on the whistle, when I heard
my fireman give yell. He did not
call for brakes, but l slapped on the
air the minute heard him. He had
seen a man beside the track. though he
had not seen any one struck then. A
moment after l applied the brakes ]
saw a man shoot up into the air on my
side Of the cab. He was as high as the
smokestack when l saw him. He came
down on the freight train, which was
running along on that side. My train
stopped in about two train lengths. and
the sight that l saw when I got out
was the most horrible have ever wit
messed. The dead and mangled were
lying on both sides of the track just as
they had been thrown. l did not see
them until after we had struck them.
I did not see them come on the track,
and until my fireman yelled l did not
know they were there"