Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-27

At s:43 the relief train bearing fifteen of
the Mt Union wreck survivors arrived in
Broad Street Station. All the survivors had
been on the car next to the end--the
''Bruceville' all agreed that had the
wrecked sleeping car been constructed OF
anything but steel the loss of life would
have been much greater.
Miss Marguerite FINN. of Plattsburg, n.
T.. was in the sleeping car next TO the
one which was "telescoped.' She was pale
and tired looking and was plainly unnerved
BY her experience.
II was awakened" she said. "by hor-
rible grinding crash which sent shiver
down my spine. and set every nerve in my
body a-tingle. Then l had "A fearful sem
sation of being propelled upward. after
which the car seemed to settle with slcken'
ing. emphasis.
CRIES OF THE DYING
IL could hear cries and shouts in the
darkness / got out of the car as soon
as possible. have never seen before such
q complete wreck as the car which was
telescoped
ITO my dying day. will never forget
that scene. ] saw the arms of woman
protrudng from a window Of the wrecked
car. Looking closer. / observed to my
horror that there was an infant clasped
tightly to the breast of the woman. The
left arm. bent In a death grip, kept the
"
one of the terrible scenes / witnessed,
vas not frightened by the crash and I felt
no fear until l stepped outside and saw the
wreckage"
George Sellers, of Kokomo, Ind, said:
II was awakened by jolt which nearly
sprawled me out of my berth. 1t did
not take me long to hustle into my clothes
and get outside. The force Of the collision
was so great that the forward trucks of
the wrecked sleeper were pushed In front
of the third car"
TRIED TO SAVE OTHERS
william Fl. Greaves. business man on
the way from the West to New York. said:
81 lay in my berth for couple Of min
utes after the collision scarcely sensing
what had happened. | remember hearing
voices cry out as IL in agony, and then
everything was still for a minute. Then be-
gan a scramble of passengers TO get out
of my car We all did what we could
20 aid in the relief work"
ID. p. Doering. of Akron, O., who was
passenger in the sleeping car next to the
end, said he felt that he was enjoying
second life when he reached Broad street
Station Mr. Doering was on his way to
New York to visit some relatives and trans
act business.
81 retired shortly after IL o'clock Mon
day evening after chatting with passengers
in the smoker" he said "If 7 recall dis
tinctly, the last thing that We discussed as
we were getting into our berths was Presi-
dent Wilson's message to Congress ] was
oound asleep when / was awakened by
noise which sounded to me as though some-
thing was penetrating through our cart
may have sounded like cannon shot. 1t
was simply loud noise--a noise of the
kind that will never forget
COULDN'T DESCRIBE TT
IF you gave me thousand-dolar bill I
couldn't describe that noise.
MY berth ives an upper one and saved
myself from being thrown to the floor of
the car by getting hold of strap. AS was
dangling from the strap my right hand
slipped and fell to the floor. Everybody
In our car was shouting and screaming.
Some one yelled that there was a collision.
But it wasn't necessary to announce il be-
cause we all knew that we were in an acci-
dent Of some kind. ] ran to the door of our
car and jumped off to the tracks. Well,
what I saw after getting to the ground will
remain on my mind as long as | live.
1T was dark and for about fifty feet
ahead Of me was a cloud of smoke and
steam. l groped my way through the steam
and smoke when / began to hear means.
Then the train crew appeared with lighted
lanterns / remember seeing the car that
was telescoped.
"out of the debris smoke and steam was
continuing to pour.
TRAIN CREW BRAVE
The train crew acted bravely They de-
serve commendaton for the way they
worked, Some Of the crew sailed right
into the debris-removing pieces of wreck
age in their anxiety to save passengers who
were In the wreck and who probably were
killed instantly.
WORSE THAN U-BOATS
II have no idea how the accident hap
pened or who is to be blamed, but I am
thankful to God that l an alive. I have
read a great deal about steamships being
blown up by submarines. 1t must be an
awful scare to the passengers. But, believe
me. that scare that got when heard that
noise after retiring has something on the
submarines. i wasn't hurt
Martin Horn. of 144 North Monroe street,
Butler, Pa, who occupied a berth in the
same car with Doering, said
Il escaped injury. but I don't know what
] owe my good luck to. Tell you what
happened after the collision? I really don't
know how to begin or where to finish.
WOMEN SHOWED BRAVERY
The women in my car certainly acted
like Trojans. They of course, became
alafmed-who wouldn't? But they didn't
become panic-stricken. We all thought of