Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-11
REPORTERS EXPERIENCE
Pittsburg Newspaper Man in Harris
burg Wreck.

HARRISBURG, Pa, May 1.-THE first
intimation had Of the wreck" said John
z. Reynolds of Pittsburg, a newspaper
man, who was going home from New
York and escaped with slight injuries,
was when 1 heard an awful crash and
was thrown out into the aisle of the car.
was dazed for a little time and only re-
allied my position and what had hap
pened when 1 felt woman grabbing me
and screaming, For Gods sake help me-
pushed her out Of the window and a fell
low passenger handed out child which
belonged to her He then left the train
and called to me to jump through the
window. Just then there was a terrific
explosion. AS ! dropped to the ground a
missile struck me and knocked me down.
/ don't know how long I lay there but
when / recovered my senses I crawled
across the tracks under freight train
and rolled down the embankment on the
other side. l was in my night clothes, and
all my other clothing and belongings
were lost.
Il never want to witness such a sight as
that which followed the collision. Women
were screaming, children were crying
and strong men were wandering about
dazed and helpless. The tracks were
strewn in all directions with half-naked
men and women, some of whom were
dead and others seriously injured.
ION this same train was Sam Shubert,
the well-known theatrical man, and Abe
Thalheimer, one of Mr.. Shubert's agents.
They were accompanied by Samuel Kline,
a New York lawyer, sand were on their way
to Pittsburg to close deal for the lease
of theater. Mr. Shubert was slightly
burned and was taken to a hotel with
scarcely any clothing.
"Mr. Thalheimer was cut about the face
and head. Mr.. Kline Is missing, and the
supposition is that he was burned to death
in the wreck. The mill hands working near
the scene of the accident were quick to re-
spond to the cries of the injured and car
ried some of them to their homes in that
locality and fitted some of them out with
shoes and clothing
Personal Experience.
Harvey Feldman and wife of Franklin.
Pa, were in the drawing room of one of
the sleepers on their way horne from New
York 1--WE were sleeping soundly,' said
Mr. Feldman, when there was a slight ex-
plosion that partly awoke This was
followed by the most awful roar l ever
heard and in an instant We were dashed
against the side of the car. We CROPPED
around in the dark and finally got out of
the window, losing everything. We made
our way to a place of safety. Mrs. Field
man was badly cut back or the ear and
suffered much from shock, and l am
wounded in the left breast ut will be
fixed up all right 1t is my wiie fear for
now. We had to walk over the sharp Gin
ders and our bare feet were badly cut
O. c. Jordan of Lorain, Ohio, got out with
his suit case, ana aIter dragging d HdiI
dozen others from the burning cars dis
tributed the contents of his ~atchel among
them. Mr.. Jordan said:
IT owe my life to the fact that was un-
able to secure lower berth at Philadel-
phia. I decided to sit up all night and
had fallen into slumber when the train
reached Middletown. A terrific crash and
an immediate explos awakened me and
/ found myself turning over and over as
| my coach turned a complete somersault.
when we came to a standstill I saw
above me an open window and made an
attempt to gain it. 1 found my hand
caught in a suit case handle, and while
trying to extricate it second terrific ex-
plosion occurred and the door at the end
of the car was burst open. Dragging the
suit case, from which | was unable to
loosen my hold, l crawled over the bod es
and wreckage through to the open door.
'.Then / returned to the work of rescue
Time after time the flames forced me back,
but returned until the heat became so
intense that to have ventured near the
wreck would have meant suffocation.
| "Half-naked women stood shivering about
) and the least wounded of tie men had not
the wherewith to clothe Themselves SO
distributed all OF my clothing, of which