The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-12-31

Overhead mass Of dull gray clouds. a
misty curtain for the hidden moon. The
atmosphere thick with heavy fog, that
hung clammily to earth. and tree, AMI
man. and seemed ike a wet shroud. And
on the damp ground. with vacant eyes
staring through the mist, row OF corpses,
thirty or more there were. some huddled
up under white sheets. and others
stretched out in stln and somber outline
in the shadow of the fog.
It was weird and grewsome scene at
Terra Gotta station last night. just after
twoscore Of human souls had suddenly
been hurled into eternity. The only iIIu-
mination was the fireman's lamp OF the
trainmans lantern. The feeble glow OF
these pale lights was sufficient, however.
to show the extent OF the disaster. On
the track at the station were the splinters
Of the car which had first been de-
molished. With tie exception of a po--
tion Of the roof there was nothing but
splinters-a mute but tragic evidence of
the tremendous force OF the collision. 1t
did not need imagination to picture the
gigantic freight engine, coming down the
road at the rate of fifty or sixty miles an
hour, plowing its way through the
light and fragile passenger coach, and
literally grinding the bodies Of men, wo-
men. and children into fragments. So
tremendous, in fact, was the impact Of
the moving train that II drove the other
train half a mile down the road. The
horror Of that half-mile journey appaIls
the stoutest heart. For the mammoth en-
gine-a veritable Moloch licking up human
blood-crunched and ground its way
through the passenger train until il final
ly lost It's momentum. Imprisoned in the
cars, caught in a trap from which they
they could not escape. suffering untold
tortures until death came to their relief.
the people in the coaches met their dread
full end.
After the accident, the monster engine
stood sullen and black in the dim fog. It
seemed almost human. Its fires had been
drawn, so that no sound OF escaping
steam was heard, but, none the less, it
lowered against the misty sky Ike some
silent avenger. Its cowcatcher and head
light had disappeared. but in their places
were the timbers Of the shattered car. as
if the engine had caught and still held
them lovingly in its arms. Farther down
the track was the remnant of another
coach, one half demolished and the other
half up-ended in the air. with twisted
rods of iron and gaunt ends Of timber
extending out like the tentacles of an
octopus. The trucks Of the coach were
in still another place-and when the DO
licemen and the firemen, kneeling In the
muddy earth, peered under the mass Of
wreclSage. they found more corpses. And
the monster engine. silent and black
looked down upon the havoc it had
wrought.
Out of the mist emerged a fire engine
drawn by painting horses. Happily, il was
not needed The scourge OF fire did not
add its horror to the scene. Presently
sounding afar off. a whistle, and then a
faint glow, Ike star seen in the early
dawn. This was the relief train, hurriedly
sent from the city to convey the wounded
to the hospitals. Willing and sympathetic
hands bore these injured ones to the
coaches, and presently the relief train had
disappeared in the mist, its engine bell
tolling as for a funeral Then. the living
having been cared for. there was further
search for the dead. Mangled remains