The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-11-02


OF William. Rapp, rear brakeman on tho
train. The caboose and two box cars
were completely destroyed and engine No.
COL, drawing the passenger train, was
badly demolished.
An open switch was the cause of the
wreck
BURNED TO DEATH.
, Brakeman Rapp met a most horribls
death and suffered excruciating agony.
He was occupying a seat in the look .
OUT in the caboose when the collision o.
CURED. Without a moment to reflect
upon possible means of escape he was
pitched headlong into the debris of the
wrecked cars. Twenty gallons of coal
oil are said to have been in the ca
boose, and when the fire from the en-
gine leaped from the giant structure it
licked up the oil, thus causing a con-
1agration that was impossible to check
Poor Rapp was pinched by heavy
beam and claimed as a victim of the ia.
tai flames
BYSTANDERS POWERLESS.
He cried for help as the fire laid its
fiendish grasp upon him, and several pas
tempted toAbrave the Impending danger,
hoping to relieve him at least from death.
Their efforts, if persisted in, would sim
ply have meant death to them as well,
and all hope of rescung the perishinq
man had to be abandoned. Almost en-.
| veloped by the red tongues of the raging
fire, his flesh actually sizzling with the
| heat and blood gushing from his nos.
| trils the poor man cried out in bitteI
! walls, implOring to be shot
BEGGED TO BE SHOT.
He succumbed to his awful fate with
the plaintive plea: For Gods sake shoot
me-" upon his lips. When life was ex
tinct he fell forward into the hottest Of
the burning debris, where his body was
reduced to mere ashes. There was not
a fragment of his remains discovered
Rapp's piteous appeals to be shot would
doubtless have been answered bad any
one present had a revolver In his pos.
session.
The unfortunate man was a resident Of
Forest Lake.
1t was almost miraculous that no other
lives were lost by the accident. En-
gineer Hank Gage and Fireman Robert
~4lmore both had narrow escapes.
STAYED AT THEIR POSTS.
They stayed with their engine and when
the excitement of the collision was over
were themselves surprised at their for
tune. Gage was fastened by the foot
between engine and tender, while Gilmore
was entirely unharmed. Gage released
himself by drawing his foot out of his
Al,
senger train slightly hurt. but the worst
injury was that which befell one Ole
Olson, of Saltwater, whose nose was
broken The collision caused a general
shake-up of all the passengers. The
train consisted of baggage car and four
coaches.
The passenger had gotten to speed
of forty-fve miles an hour. 1t was i'm
possible for the lever to be reversed in
time to avert the disaster after the en-
gineer and fireman realized that their
train had left the main track. The rear
end of the freight was not over fifty
yards from the switch gate.
ENGINE BADLY SMASHED.
The engine that plunged into the ca
boose was raised several feet at the
front and it's rear drivers sunk half way
in the ground. The rails prOtruded up
ward being torn off the ties. The front
wheels of the tenders were also buried in
the ground. The trucks of the caboosa
and two box cars were piled In an indis7
criminate heap across the tracks. The
remainder of the freight cars were de-
rallied and removed from the dangerous
scene The passenger cars were taken by
another engine up to the depot. The
whole front end of the boiler was de7
molished and the engine badly damaged
in other ways.
1t was impossible to get water on the
fire, which was therefore allowed to burn
itself out
No headway could be made toward
clearing away the debris and repairing
the tracks until the fire was entirely out
and the rails had cooled some
what Two new rails had to be put In
on the main line and several ties laid.
Passenger Train No. 8. going to Duluth,
and No were necessarily delayed until
s o'clock No. Is due to leave dinckley
at 4:57. Gov. Lind, who was in the midst
of a speech when the fatal accident oc-
Cured, was to have taken the north
bound train for Duluth, but instead re-
turned to St Paul on the train that did
the mischief
Conductor Dan Hickey was in charge Of
Passenger Train No. 4, and Thomas DUFF
fly was conductor of the freight.