The Portland daily press., 1900-09-03


Thirteen passengers killed and over thir-
ty others injured is the appalling record
OF a rear-end collision between an excur.
sion train and milk train on the Beth
lehem branch OF the Philadelphia and
Reading railway this morning at Hat
field, Pa, 81 miles north of this city.
The killed are:
Miss Annie Sherry, 81, South Bethle-
hem.
Robert Miller, q, Soutn Bethlehem.
Richard Bachman, %, South BethIe-
hem.
William Ehret, %, South Bethlehem,
Ira Ehret, 20. brother Of William, South
Bethlehem.
Joseph Mordaunt, %, South Bethlehem.
Charles McGOnigle, Allentown.
Thomas Day, Allentown.
Miss Mamie Kaelin, IA, TeIford.
Godfrey Kaelin, father of Mamie,
William Blackburn, Ambler.
Harold Lands, Hatfield.
Askermann, Philadelphia.
The seriously injured:
John David, PhiIadelph ia, engineer of
excursion train, skull fractured, critical.
Albert j. Wagner, Philadelphia, fore
man excursion train, contusions of ches
and legs.
Wilson Grassland, South Bethlehem.
baggagemaster OF milk train, head lace
rated.
Michael J. Tighe. Allentown, legs
crushed and burned.
Abraham Transue. ,Tr. South Ratb1o-
hems deep scalp wounds. back and inter.
nal injuries.
Mrs. William Burkhardt, South Beth.
lehem, injured internally.
Miss Gertrude Burkhardt, South Beth
lehem, both legs broken.
John Reichley, South Bethlehem, in
ternally injured.
Miss Carrie Bachman, chest crushed.
W. II. Rosen berry, jaw broken and in.
ternally injured.
The wrecked train consisted of ten day
coaches and was the first section OF a
large excursion made up of people from
Bethlehem ana Allentown to Atlantic
City.
This section carried only those people
who lived in Bethlehem and Allentown
md left the Union depot in Bethlehem
It Cos a m. exactly 55 minutes behind
he milk train, The latter train con-
sisted of 5WO milk cars and two passen-
;er coaches and had stopped at every
tation on the road from Bethlehem en-
QUITE to Philadelphia. At 5.54 the milk
rain drew up at the milk platform at
Hatfield and in less than two minutes
jhe special excursion train, running at
he rate OF 30 miles an hour, crashed into
ne rear of the milk train. The Iocomo-
I've ploWed through the two passenger
caches and crushed them as If they were
gg shells-the milk car Immediately in
ront was also badly wrecked. Four per-
Ons, Godfrey Kaelin, his daughter
Lamie, Harold Lands and William
Blackburn on the passenger car of the ]
lilk train, were almost instantly killed
fortunately there were very few passen-
ers on this train. ,
The excursion train was picture of ,
ldescribable horror. The locomotive !
as mass of bent and broken iron and {
rmly held the bodies of it's engineer
nd fremen beneath it's great weight. z
ehind the engine six of the ten cars a
ere also mass of wreckage. The first !
II was broken in two and the other r
We cars were thrown on their sides, 0
demolished, Nine persons G
ere killed in the first two cars and the @
hers in these coaches were badly +
aimed. AS soon as the crash came, a I,
rribly cry rose from the smashed cars Y
i'd those who had not been injured {
lickly crawled from the cars and went f,
the assistance of the injured. Many r,
ere pinned down by the wreckage and
I'd to be freed by the liberal use of axes. n
ith three or four exceptions, the dead i
ere killed Instantly the others dying on =
Q way to the hospitals. All the in =
red were first taken to shed at the
atfield station and the dead were re-
owed to barn. Messengers were sent
the nearby villages for physician and t.
relief train was telegraphed for from j