Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1904-01-02

wcdged between the heavy tlmbers and
II was 4 o'clock before all the injured
mad been removed.
Following the wreck thieves were de-
tected robbing the dead n injured.
Two women n two coIored men are
now In the Dawson. police station,
charged with this crime.
As fast as they were recovered from
the wreck the dead and injured were
placed on trains and brought here. The
dead were taken to the. morgues and
the injured at once removed to the
state hospital.
When General Manager Sims arrived
It the scene of the accident he was so
overcome that he cried. Men and wom-
en-, who crowded to the Gene, were
compelIed to turn away from the af-
fecting sights. When the relief train
reached here thousands Of people were
at the station.
a large number of Connellsville peo-
pie had gone to Pittsburg for their
Christmas shopping and were expect
ed home on the limited.
Louis Hflgot, conductor of the train.
was In the second day coach when the
crash came. No one knew just what
happened to him until afterwards. d.
w. Hill, porter on one OF the s!eepers,
said soon as he could get off his car
he went forward and heard Hilgot
ollOuNil'S lIoll INT lOD VI Ills DuIlhs
while in terrible agony
For Gods sake, / am scalded to
death, but someone Of you get n red
lamp and flag No. 20 or she will be on
us"
Even in the mental suffering of every-
one about the scene. the bravery and
thoughtfulness OF the dying conductor
were sufficient to bring words of praise
and commentator.
One Mans Experiences.
Porter Hill. telling Of his experience
said II went to the smoking car and
began getting the injured out. That
car was the most awful scene | ever
witnessed. Men were jammed into all
sorts of shapes. They were IN top of
each other and buried under heaps of
dirt and seat cushions.
When l tried to lift one man out
found others so tightly wedged into the
same place that several had to be aided
at one time. / got seven men out be-
fore l stopped there. The dead were
badly bruised, some Of them scalded
and in such condition that they would
better have been dead. Some Of these
had lost their eyes entirely.
Baggage n clothing of the passen-
gers were scattered all over the ground.
Some of it was soaked with blood,
while in the piles could be seen toys,
telling the pathetic tale of Christmas
shopping that had come to such a pitt
full end"
In describing the wreck, one train
man said: Half way around the curve
the locomotive struck the big timbers
in its path n began with lightning
light rapidity to Careen, then to roll,
and with the ponderous train crowding
it fell over on it's side. The instant it
did so the momentum of the train be-
hind ~ SAINT tho fnnIA. a1AnF nt.Ar Tho
PROSTATE locomotive like n football,
and before it could be stopped it was
lying on the water level. twenty feet be-
low. Next came the baggage car,
which went over the locomotive and
lodged with one end near the water.
The smoker of the train was smashed
like kindling.
NSIeepers Did Not Telescope.
THE Slaepers We're still %crowding bu
not breaking, and swept along, literally
tearing up the steel rails as though
they were made of paper. The first
sleeper, when it finally stopped, rest
ed directly over the locomotive. The
dining car remained safely on the track
and the steward and crew were not
harmed.
when the grinding and crushing Of
steel and wood ceased there was for a
moment dead silence. Then came moans
and cries of anguish from the poor
wretches who were being scalded or
burned to DEATH"
When asked if there would be any in
v~estigation on the part of the railroad
officials, Superintendent Duer said:
Il don't thirk Investigation is neces-
sary to explain this affair. It's all too
apparent" Pointing to a halt dozen
heavy timberS under the dining coach
he said:
There is the cause of il. The extra
freight, Westbourd, has dropped those
timbers on the track and proceeded,
unconscious OF the trouble it had left
behind"
Engineer William Thornley, was
making up tins when he suddenly saw
a dark object on the track. He shut
off steam, opened the sand valve, APP
piled the air brakes and reversed the
engine, ~slackening the speed of the
train so suddenly thai passengers and
trainmen rolled from the seats in a
mass. The train, composed OF two
baggage cars, two day coaches, one
sleeping car n a dining car, almost
Immediately struck the lumber pile.
The train plowed along for a consider
able distance, tearing the cars to pieces
under the revolving forces, passengers
jumping, screaming and falling from
the wreck as it dragged along. Sud
uenly inc locomotive SWerVed. TO the
left, n the coaches plunged down
over the ~embankment to the edge of
the Youghiogheny river. -
Many persons were pinioned beneath
the Wreckage, and screams of pain and
cries OF distress rent the air.
Many Thrown Into River.
Many persons, although injured, H..
the excitement struggled from be-
meath the wreckage and plunged into
the river. Others, pinioned beneath the
heavy timbers, pleaded for release.
SO terrific was the force of the wreck
that nearly every passenger suffered a
moments Inconsistencies. The able
bodied men soon recovered and assist
ed in helping the injured from the
wreck.
Baggagemaster Thomas K. Baum of
Hazelwood, with his head and body
frightfully cut, Crawled from the
wreckage, and, cropping his way along
In darkness, tagged q westbound pas
senger with matches, which he used to
set fire to his o He stopped the
train just in time to prevent 1t from
plunging into the wreck. Baum COL
lapsed when he saw thai he had sue
ceeded in stopping the train.
A tower operator on the Pittsburg q
Lake Erie railroad across the Yough-
iogheny river saw the cars pile high in
tho air and then,sink and he Infor,oad