Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-10
DUE TO TRAIN WRECK
TANK CARS CRASH TOGETHER,
IGNITING CONTENTS.
People Crowding Around to Witness
the Blaze Overwhelmed When
Explosions Came.


night following a wreck on the Erie rail-
road north Of this city. Owing to the
fact that some Of the bodies were inciner-
ated in the fierce flames or blown into
| a creek by the fierce expaesIon the exact
number of dead will probably not be known
for several days. The number of Injured,
too, is uncertain, as a large, number of
them were able to reach their homes and
received treatment there.
The dead:
John Steminger, aged seventeen years.
Norman Brown, aged eighteen years.
John Tobin, aged sixteen years.
John McCready, aged thirteen years.
John Mcmahon, aged nineteen years
Walter Swift aged nineteen years.
Michael Driscoll, aged twenty two years.
Walter Jackson, aged thirteen years.
Walter Roth, aged sixteen years.
Richard Connell, aged nineteen years.
Herman Bolman, aged fifteen years.
Rofelo Quarinto.
Carmen Siteliano.
Martin Gallagher, all of Olean.
Henry Golden, aged eighteen years,
Boardmanville.
List Of the Injured.
The injured at the General Hospital are:
James Mcdonald. sixteen years old, face
and limbs badly burned.
Richard Mcdonald, his brother, badly
burned. leg fractured.
James McCready, fifteen years old, burned
about face and legs.
Walter Jackson, eleven years old, burned
about back, chest, face and hands; inhaled
flames; may die.
Glen Cole, East Olean. struck by f1vinp
splinter. burned.
Two Blackwell boys of, Bordenyille.
Bert Miller. Of BordenvilIe,, seriously
burned.
Three men badly burned; did not leave
names at hospital; went to- their homes.
Dozens Of others were burned,-but none
seriously.
At the hospital one Of thes patients said a
young boy was blown into the creek near
unable to do so. The boy was drowned.
The scenes following the explosion viii
never be forgotten by those who saw them.
Story of the Disaster.
1t was about o'clock in the evening
when the train was wrecked. An Erie
freight train. west bound. broke in two on
the hill two miles north of the city. At
first the forward part of the train, released
of all the weight Of the cars behind sprang
forward with increased speed. Brakes
were applied, and the front portion of the
train was brought almost to standstill at
the iron bridge across Olean creek The
rear cars. gathering momentum as they
came down the hill, crashed into the for
ward part of the train. Most Of the cars
In the train were tank cars filed with re-
fined oil or gasoline. They weighed thou
sands Of tons and the impact was terrific
One of the tank cars caught fire soon after
the collision.
The exact cause Of the fire is not known
but 1t is supposed to have started from
spark struck from the grinding pieces of
iron In the wreckage In few minutes
another car of gasoline caught fire and
burst In flames with a terrific report. Por-
tionS of the iron domes of the cars were
hurled a distance of several hundred feet
The flames shot high up in the air, pre-
senting brilliant spectacle. In this early
accident 50 far as can be learned no one
was injured. A large crowd quickly gath
cred Hundreds of people from Olean,
North Olean and the surrounding country
side gathered to watch the brilliant play
of flames.
Bystanders Got Close to Wreck.
For two hours the people stood massed
together and as the heat became less in
tense the crowd began to edge little closer
to the wreckage until about II o'clock some
venturesome boys approached to within
few hundred feet of the buxaing debris.
Suddenly there was terrific explosion.
Great masses of white flames shot hun
dreds Of feet into the air and literally rolled
down the banked sides Of the track into
the gully where the spectators were stand
ing. Men and boys fell. before the wave of
white light to rise no more Huge pieces
OF iron were hurled through the air. now
Ing down the human beings by the score.
Some managed TO scramble to their feet
and get away, but many lay still in death.
The scene of agony and horror at that
moment was beyond description. A veri-
table rain of fire came down upon the
crowd. Men and boys with their clothing
a mass of flames ran shrieking. down the
track, some of them falling to the ground
unconscious, while others groveled in the
ditch or jumped into the creek in an en-
deavor to put out the fire that was con-
sumlng them, Many Of those overwhelmed
by. the flames dropped where they stood
and never again moved.
Medical Aid snmmsned.
As soon as the telephone cenld be reach
ed all the doctors in the city were sum-
moned. and the ambulanees were called out.
Express wagons and other vehicles were
pressed into service in the meantime
those in the vicinity 6 the wreck who es-
capped injury made valiant efferts to rescue
the wounded, who Were still lying within
reach of the flames. Boys were burned to
death before their fathers eyes. while the
latter stood helpless to save tnem. Men so
badly injured by the flying pieces Of iron
that they could not move lay in the gully
with the flames rolling down upon them
until they perished. -
Nothing could be- done 10 check the
flames, which began to die out about mid
night. short distance west of the iron
bridge a line was established beyond which
no one was permitted to pass. as One of
the burning cars was still thought to be in
danger Of exploding
1t was about 1 o. clock in the morning
when Deputy Sheriff Osterhout called for
volunteers to remove the dead and injured.
Three times as many as were called for
stepped forward, and the gruesome work
was begun. In a,-short time fifteen bodies
had been recovered and laid beside the
track.
Some of them were SO badly burned and
distorted as TO be scarcely recognizable.
Several Found in Ditch.
Several bodies were found in the ditch.
The body OF one boy was seen too close to
the flames to be approached, and in q short
time it was burned to ashear 1t Is believed
others were aJsrs iS.s.;,,or,nted yvhen the last