The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-01-10

cars, though their occupants were bad.
ly shaken, stayed on the track and
were In condition to be hauled of.
The baggage car in the front Of the
local train was rather smashed up.
The, engineers and firemen of both
trains jumped. Engineer Prendergast.
who weighs almost 300 pounds. jumped
too late, for he was caught under his
engine and for three hours lay pinion-
ed in frightful agony. When at last
huge crane lifted the iron off his body
he was found SO badly injured that he
is expected to die. Engineer Rick, Of
the, local, was found on the tracks SO
badly injured that little hope was en-
tertained of his recovery Despite the
blood that flowed from his mouth Rick
gurgled out: "Some one gave wrong
orders. know how 1t happened, but
l can't speak now"
In this connection W. O. Sprigg, the
superintendent of the Easton and Am
boy division of the Lehigh Valley,
said.
THE accident is evidently due to a
blunder in orders"
Block system Not In Use.
On this section Of the Lehigh Valley
the block system is not in use. The
train dispatcher at Easton, who has
charge of the territory, Is said to have
wired the operator at South Plainfield
to let No. II, the local, come through,
but later there was message from
Easton to hold all westbound traffic.
II is alleged that the latter message
was overlooked Some say it~was not
handed to the operator but whichever
way it was the westbound train was
allowed on its track, and from every
thing that could be learned the col
lision was plainly due to mistake in
orders and to no negligence of the
train crews. Signalman Brennan, at
West Dunellen, who threw up his arms
as the local passed, has no wire and
nothing to do with the dispatching Of
trains. ,,f
The loss of life inflicted would prob
ably have been nothing like what 1t
was had it not been for the fact that
at Mauch Chunk the baggage car Of
the excursion train was found to have
hot box and was taken off, thus leav-
ing the crowded day coach next to
the engine If this coach had retained
the position it held when the train left
Shamokin probably only a few lives
would have been lost.
DR.. Brakely, of Dunellen, was one OF
the first on the scene. He said: I'VE
got into the overturned car and groped
among the debris for the dead. Teeth,
arms brains, splintered wood and
twisted iron were mixed up in an in.
describable mess. The wounded, most
of them suffering from broken legs.
were all jammed together at the rear
end. The dead we got out piecemeal.
Among the ruins we found baby
about 4 months old, in long clothes.
We thought it was dead and laid it
mangled bodies we had eXtricated.
Just as was leaving l noticed signs
OF life. The baby was alive, and
careful examination showed it had sus.
tanned only bruise of the head. We
put it in the cars for Plainfield"
A BaDy's Marvellous Escape.
This baby belonged to Mrs. Mary
Parreca, of Mount Carmel, who was ac-
companied on the train by her hus-
band, two young sons and the infant in
question. Mrs. Parreca said:
81 was nursing the baby, when the
whistle began to blow. My husband
started to open the window Then I
was thrown to the back of the car and
lost consciousness. My baby was gone.
l almost went frantic when l awoke,
but at lf>3t found my child peacefully
sleeping in the other train, and ap-
parently none the worse for the ex-
perience."
l.. s. Walter, lawyer of Mount Car.
mel, was pinned in the debris of the
front car for two hours. Despite the
fact that he was seriously, if not IA
tally, injured. Mr.. Walter directed the
attention of the rescuers to other suf-
ferers and from his point of vantage
superintended their efforts. When
finally taken out Mr.. Walter was car
ried to a nearby vacant house, where
he was cared for. The vicinity of the
railroad crossing where the trains
crashed is somewhat deserted. The oc-
cupants of the few houses nearby did
everything in their power to assist the
wounded the women tearing up sheets
as bandages for the wounded and cas-
ing in countless ways their sufferings.
The Killed and Injured.
The dead are: Martin Keenan,, hotel.
keeper Mount Carmel, Pa; w. H.
Hinkle, contractor Mount Carmel; Ja-
cob Heller, tailor, Mount Carmel; H
E. Weikell, 20 years old. Mount Car
mel; Frank Fischer, shoe dealer Mount
Carmel; William H. Leader, "a years
old, dry goods dealer, Mount Carmel;
only recently married; Frank Markell.
81 years old, Shamokin, Pa; Theodore
S. Kohn, Shamokin; Abner s. Keifer.
carpet dealer, Pottsville, Pa; William
H. Markell, shamokin; James Jarvis,
12 years old, Mount Carmel; two wo-
men, who are still to be Unidentified.
The injured are: Arthur Tregembo.
Llewellyn, Pa, both legs broken;
Nicholas Parecca. Shamokin, legs
crushed; Henry John Parecca, Shame.
kin, legs crushed Louis Parecca, Sha-
mokin, legs crushed; Mrs. Mary Parec-
ca, Shamokin, internal injuries, may
die; 0. e. Schaeffer, fireman, South
Easton, Pc, skull fractured, may die;
Edward w. Rick, engineer, legs broken
and body crushed, expected to die;
Joseph Malesky, Shenandoah; Mary
Jarville, Mount Carmel; - Maieosta,
Shenandoah; George Launesky, Mount
Carmel; unidentified: man with ~. j."
on his cuffs; James Prendergast, en-
gineer, Easton, Pa, likely to die; -
Josephs, full name and residence not
known; OrEnda Staine, Sunbury,
bruised and ankle sprained; Harry R.
Foster, plumber, Pottsville, both legs
broken, sent home; Mrs. Henry Lock-
haven, Big Mine Run, legs crushed,