The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-04-17
FEARFUL SCENE. At
WRECK Of THE
ORIENTAL
The Spectacular Mingled With
Horror After Crash and
Tank Explosion
sQUAK OF GEESE
ADDED IT'S TERROR
One Poor Wretch Begged to
Be Shot While Flames
Neared His Body.
SQUAK OF GEESE
ADDED ITS TERROR
(By u Special Correspondent.

(By a Special Correspondent.
Lakota, N. D., April 17.-That life
is uncertain at best in the private
walks of life it seems to be getting
doubly so when a person ventures to
go about by rail. The Oriental
Limited, the crack train on the Great
Northern railway, seems to be an ILL
fated train when 1t gets on to the
Dakota division. Within the past two
or three months, it has been ditched
several times as railroad parlance
goes, accompanied with more or less
loss OF life and property. The wreck
that occurred few miles west of this
place, was not only the worst that
has happened to train No. 1, but was
accompanied with greater loss OF
life. Little did the merry passengers
of the Inflated train suspect when
they left ST. Paul on Sunday morning.
that the grim reaper death was speed
Forks, the train was delayed some
Ojata. At Larimore Pete Ferguson,
engineers on the system was given
precious cargo of souls at Minot.
City OF Fire.
When the train passed through La
kota at lis, little did he thing that
within the next four minutes some
fifteen souls would be hurled into
eternity. and score or more injured.
But such was the case. There was a
lurch and jar and the engine left the
right-oi-way; a crash and all was
still except for the cries OF the I'M
fortunate ones caught in the front end
of the smoker; all the cars remaining
in an upright position. There was a
hurried scramble on the part OF the
passengers to get their belongings
and flee to a place of safety, when the
horrible cry of fire smote their ears,
and rush was made to the mail car
which was found to be in flames, with
dead messenger pinned beneath the
debris.
Here was where heroic work was
done on the part of Mail Clerk Fod-
ness to rescue his dead comrade, w. B.
Jones, from the burning mass. and he
himself, was severely burned in his
efforts and had to be dragged from the
burning car.
Begged to be Killed.
The loss OF the mail will
probably reach thousands OF dol
lars; but the baggage and express is
nothing to the awful loss of life in
smoking car. The front end of the
smoker slid in under the rear end of
the express car and pinned some ten
or dozen passengers beneath its
weight.
The heartrendering cries of
those that did not meet instant
death. was awful. Ono poor
wretch who was caught under
some heavy timbers, watcher the
encroaching flames and begged to
be put out of his misery by
friendly bullet. Stout hearts
quailed at the scene and turned
reluctantly away, for it would
have been blessing to him to
have ended his suffering.
To add to the turmoil and fearful
ness of the awful tragedy, flock OF
wild geese were attracted to the burn
ing wreck, and their weird squak only
added terror to the scene. This wreck
had its spectacular side.
Like an Earthquake.
This crack train OF the Hill system
is lighted throughout with acetylene
gas, supplied from storage tanks
hung beneath each car. There were
three distinct explosions of these
tanks, the first two were not very
forceful, but strong enough to throw :,
person down if nearby. The third ex-
plosion was a most powerful one.
There was a flash OF flame that shot
~, toto %1,1 nd, oh
fire in all directions. breaking won
dows in nearby caboOse, throwing
men to tho ground. The defamation
was deafening, and was plainly heard
in Lakota, waking people from their
sleep and rafting dishes on the
shelves like an earthquake. This ex-
plosion occurred beneath the colonists
sleeper, but fortunately everybody had
escaped from this coach .unscratched.
Grinding OF Steel.
No one can realize the awfulness of
the grinding OF iron and steel. the
crushing and cracking of timbers OF
a railroad wreck unless they have been
in one. Passengers who We're in the
wreck, cannot give a comprehensive
account of the disaster and it Is only
by gathering the threads of conversa-
ton of the different ones that the tale
Of obstruction can be told, but there
is one thing certain. it was one of the
most complete and thorough that ever
happened On the Dakota division, and
we doubt on the system. All that was
left of the beautiful train, costing in
the neighborhood of $4,000, was few
twisted rods and steel frames. Every
thing that was combustible was
burned, with the exception of two cars.
Cooked Body.
A body sticking up in the debris with
tho head and arms burned of. was
given a shove by an Italian, and the
shoulder bone prOtruded through tho
cooked flesh; tho sight was sickening,
and many man in his heart thought
that this particular brand OF imni-
grants need a softening Christian in
fluence. Six charred trunks were un-
covered up to Monday evening from
beneath the iron and steel of the smok-
will never be definitely known. be-
cause the fire was like the heat of a
furnace and human bodies were re-
duced to ashes.
Deeds Of Bravery.
Many were the deeds of bravery and
heroism displayed. The rescue of
Fireman Curtis from beneath tho eX-
press car was one, and how he and
Engineer Ferguson escaped instant
death. will never be known. Curtis
was thrown from the cab into about
three feet Of water and caught beneath
the wreckage and was only gotten out
an instant before the car was a mass