Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-03-10
The dead:

Norman Brown.
Johnny Tobin.
Johnny McCready
John Mcmahon.
all boys about sixteen
NJ. v. Driscoll.
Walter Swift. /
John Stemlinger.
Harry Golden.
Richard Connell.
Six unidentified bodies.
A boy was blown into the Olean
Creek and drowned. Two more un-
known persons bodies We're incinerated
in the burning wreckage.
Seriously injured:
James Mcdonald.
Richard Mcdonald.
James McCready.
Walter Jackson.
YardnasteE Sullivan.
Glen Cole.
Two Blackwell boys
Bert Miller.
Dozens of others were burned, but
none seriously. The majority of the
victims were boys about sixteen.
An Awful Scene.
The scenes following the explosion
will never be forgotten. 1t was about
8 O'clock in the evening when the
train was wrecked. An Erie freight
train broke in two on the hill two miles
north OF the city. AT first the forward
part OF the train released of all the
~
ward with increased speed. The
brakes were applied and the front por-
tlon Of the train brought to a stand
still at the iron bridge across Olean
Greek.
The rear cars gathering momentum
into the forward part Of the train.
Most of the cars in the train were tank
cars filed with refined oil or gasoline.
The tank cars caught fire soon after the
collision. supposed to be started by a
spark struck from the grinding of
pieces of iron in the wreckage. In a
few minutes other cars caught fire and
burst into flames with terrific report.
Hundreds of people from Olean. North
Olean and the surrounding countryside
gathered to watch the brilliant play of
the flames.
The Explosion.
For two hours the people stood
4 massed together and as the heat be-
came less intense the crowd began to
edge little closer to the wreckage.
Suddenly there was a terrific explosion.
Great masses OF white flames shot hun
dreds of feet into the air and literally
rolled down both sides of the track
rnanyffiafi.,d x nenosnitfewq
into the gully where the spectators
I were standing Men and boys fell be-
fore the wave of light to rise no more.
Huge pieces OF iron We're hurled thru,
the air, moving down human beings
by the score. Some managed to scra1n-
Bile to their feet and get away but 9TH
ers lay still In death. A veritable 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 CROP
ed in the ditch or jumped into the
creek in an endeavor to put out the
fire that was consuming them.
Overwhelmed, with Flames.
Many of those overwhelmed by the
flames dropped where they stood and
never again moved. AS soon as the
telephone could be reached all the doc
tors in the city We're summoned; am
balances We're called out, and express
wagons and other vehicles were press
ed into service.
In the meantime those in the vicinity
of the wreck who escaped injury made
a valiant effort to rescue the wounded.
Boys were burned to death before
their fathers eyes, While the latter
stood helpless to save them. Men were
SO badly injured by flying pieces of
iron that they could not move and laid
in the gully with the flames rolling
down upon them until they perished.
Nothing could be done TO check the
flames, which began to die out about
midnight.
About / o'clock Deputy Sheriff oster-