The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1904-01-02
MANY KILLED IN A WRECK
Passenger Train Smashed to Pieces
Near Conncllsville, Pa.
sfrty-Threc Lives Are Lost and Many
Passengers Are Wounded--Heroic
Action of injured Baggageman.


Passengers Are wounded-Heroic
Action of injured Basgageman.
Connellsville. Pa. Dec. 24-With Q
terrible crash and a grinding roise
the Duquesne limited, the fastest
through train from Pittsburg to New
York on the Baltimore & Ohio,
ploughed into lumber pile at Laurel
Run, two miles west of Dawson, at
7:45 o'clock Wednesday evening and
SO lives were lost and 80 persons In
jured.
The train left Plttsburg, running
few minutes late, in charge of En-.
gineer William Thornley,, of Connells-
vile. When approaching Laurel Run,
which is particularly fine piece Of
roadbed, the train was running at q
high rate of speed.
Suddenly the passengers were
thrown from their seats by the light
ninglike application of the air brakes
and a moment later there was a ter
rifle crash. 'rhe train was made up
of two baggage. two day coaches, one
sleeper, and one dining car, and was
carrying at the time, at the lowest
estimate. $50 passengers. The train
ploughed along for considerable dis.
lance and the cars were torn to pieces,
passengers jumping, screaming. fall
ing from the wreck as 1t tore along.
Suddenly the engine swerved to the
left and the coaches plunged down
over the embankment to the edge of
the Youghiogheny river
The minute the cars stopped rolling
there was a wild scene. Many were
pinioned beneath the wreckage and
the screams and cries that rent the
air were beyond description. Many
were injured in their mad excitement
and plunged into the river. Others.
pinioned beneath the heavy timbers,
plead in agonized tones for release. So
terrific was the force Of the wreck
that nearly every passenger suffered
a moments Inconsistencies and
many of the able bodied men were un.
able TO assist in helping the injured
from the wreck on account Of having
tainted.
A peculiar feature Of the accident Is
the fact that not a woman was injured.
excepting slightly. The wreck was
caused by the breaking of the castings on
a carload of bridge timbers on west
bound freight train, which had passed
Laurel Run not more than Is minutes
before the Inflated passenger train.
The wreck occurred on curve and it
was impossible for Engineer Thornley,
to see far enough ahead to detect the OBJ
struction on the tracks. The big Allan
tic type engine plunged into the timbers
at velocity of 60 miles an hour. The
engine ploughed into the embankment
and the baggage and express car were
thrown into the Youghiogheny river.
The smoker followed the engine and
landed squarely on top Of it. This al
lowed the escaping steam from the en-
CINE to fill the car. The smoker was
packed to its utmost capacity and all
the passengers were cooked alive. Not
a single passenger in this car escaped
with his life, and It Is estimated that at
least 40 of the dead were in the smoker.
Baggagemaster Thomas j. Baum, OF
Hazelwood, who was on the wrecked
head and body frightfully cut he man
aged to crawl from the wreckage and.
cropping his way along in darkness.
tagged the westbound passenger train
No. 49, He had nothing with which to
flag the train except matches, and these
he made use of in his desperation by
taking off his coat and setting fire to 1t.
He stopped the train just in time to PRE-
vent it from plunging into the wreck
and adding further horror to an already
indescribable disaster. Baum collapsed
when he saw he had succeeded In STOP
ping the train, and when the engine
stopped he was lying within few feet
of it.
A relief train reached the scene from
Connellsville about nine o'clock. The
injured were looked after Immediately
and everyone was made as comfortable
as possible. They were loaded on to
the relief train and taken to the Cottage
State hospital here. The dead were
placed in long row on the embank-
ment opposite the wreckage and in sim
gle line 38 forms lay cold and stiff on the
frozen ground Another row on the OPP
posite side of the wreckage contained
II, and scattered here and there through
the underbrush were the dead bodies OF
many who had been able to crawl from
the wreckage, but died before aid
reached them.
Famous Tower Sold.
Rome, Dec. 26.-Bologna's most sim
gular structure, the leaning Garisenda
tower, which was begun in lilo by
Filippo and Ottono Garisenda, and
which was owned by the Marquis NAL