The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-01-10

senseless and many killed outright. The
two engines, from which both crews had
jumped, came together with an awful
crash.
TURNED A sOMERsAULT.
The excursion train was probably go
ing at about Is miles an hour. The To-
cal engine, as if tripped in it's faster
flight, turned complete -somersault
and came crashing down beside it's now
demolished obstruction. But it's career
was not ended before it had damned
the tender of the excursion train almost
from one end to the other of the first
car from Shamokin. The tender stop
ped a few seats from the rear door, the
car or what was left of it, rolled over,
carrying with it the imbedded tender,
the fragments of a dozen bodies and
the imprisoned wounded, who had been
carried with the Jagged iron on its re-
Ientless course through the coach.
1t was in the first car of the excur-
sion train that all the deaths and most
of the casualties occurred. The other
cars, though their occupants were bad
ly shaken, stayed on the track and were
in condition to be hauled off. The bag
gage car in the front of the local train
was rather badly smashed up.
From Dunellen, Bound Brook and
other places, surgeons were quickly
summoned. They came over the Cen
trail railroad of New Jersey, whose
tracks run parallel with the Lehigh at
this point, about 400 yards distant.
Wrecking trains were quickly on hand.
AS the dead were taken from the de-
moliShed car they were put in the rear
cars of the excursion train and taken to
Bound Brook, where a coronerS inquest
was held last night. The injured were
put in the cars of the local train. Twen-
ty-one were taken to Plainfield hospital,
while the less seriously injured went on
to Jersey City and New York.
EnggineHr PrS9nfd der who wegns $50
R1der The engine sG and f for three w hours ay
pinioned in frightfu1 agony. When at
hR badly injured
he is expected to die. The loss of life in
been nothing like it was had it not been
for the fact that at Mauch Chunk the
found to have a hot box and was taken
off, thus leaving the crowded day coach
tanned the position it held when the train
left Shamokin probably only few lives
would have been lost.
WRONG ORDERS.
Engineer Rick of the local was found
spite spite the Blood that flowed from his mouth
Rick gursled: Someone gave wrong or
In this connection w. o. sprigg. super
Lehigh Valley, said ssThe accident is evil
IDENTIFY due to blqnder in orders.
charge of the territory, is said to have
wired led to the t operator at South Platnfe ,
later there came a message from Easton
to hold all westbound traffic. Tt is al
looked. Some say it was not handed to
the operator, but whichever, way, it was
the westbound train was allowed on its
track and from everything that could be
mistake in orders and to negligence of
the train crews.
DIR. Brakely of Dunellen was one of the
first on the scene. He said:
I'VE, got into the overturned car and
CROPPED among the debris for the dead.
Teeth, arms. brains, .splintered wood and
twisted iron We're mixed up in an inde.
them suffering from broken legs, were all
damned together at the rear end. The
dead we got out by piecemeal- Among
the ruins we found a baby about four
months old without clothes. We thought
it was dead and laid it on the bank beside
the half dozen other mangled bodies we
had extricated. Just as 1 was leaving 1
noticed signs of life. The baby was alive
and a careful examination showed it had
sustained only bruise on the head. We
put it in the cars for Piainfield.
The baby belonged to Mrs. Mary Par
reca of Mount Carmel, who was accom-
panied the train by her husband, two
young sons and the infant in question.
AS the daylight began to die huge bon
fires made of the car debris were lighted
by the side of the track and by the glare
of their flames the wrecking crews work.
ed their ponderous derricks.