Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-01-14

Passengers unaware or Peril
None of the passengers in the rear
coach of the train ahead were aware OF
their peril Their first intimation was
the splintering crash with which the
pilot of the express locomotive struck
the rear of the coach.
The heavy locomotive ripped through
the entire length Of the rear coach. Men
and women passengers were crushed
against the sides of the collapsing z
vehicle. others were hurled to the roof.
The sides and top of the wooden coach
| collapsed, burying the dead, dying and
/ injured in the wrcckage
| When passengers on the Scranton
train recovered themselves they i'm
/ mediately sought to aid the injured who
were flung from the wooden coaches and
| Law scattered about the roadway. one
/ : those who went to the work of rescue
was n Miss GOdschall, a Red Cross
worker
Many Rush TO Scene
As soon as the news spread, citizens
from the countryside, among them
physicians and county officials, noCked
to the wreck. The roof of the tated
coach and thc wreckage virtually covered
the engine of the express. When the
wrs ckage was partially cleared the
bodies of the dead and injured were
discovered jammed between the wheels
the seats and in other freakish places
Coroner Neville. among the early
arrivals. ordered the bodies TO he taken
10 the private morEue of Jesse +. Davis,
AZ Amber. as soon as an engine couid
be pressed into service.
Shortly after the wreck. Frank \.
Moore, in charge of the state police at
Amber. arrived with Troopers CHERRY
and Kapan and directed the work OF
caring for victims. The tracks for near
" a milo were searched with a view OF
finding bodies. Soarchers found Kapel
Hoss on the fircbox of the express en-
gIne. where he had been thrown ny the
collision. Foss received severe ouiGs
NJ the right leg. and his body was badly
scalded by live steam spouted Dy the eh-
gine. c
ator Ware. was in forward coach OF
the Dovlestown train on her way home
TO Amber She escaped injury.
Onr philadClphau was injured Serious
" enough to I've removed TO a hospital
lie Is Coulton, the fireman on tEe eN-
nress who jumped when he saw the ae-
comnodation train loom up suddenly In
the semidarkuess one leg was broken
victim Tells of wreck
Herbert Abbott, on his bed in the
Samaritan Hospital, today described the
wreck as follows;
"I became impatient at the delay and
cot off the rear car of the Lansdale
train to take a walk around ana see
what was the matter had JUST
climbed back aboard ana hab about
stepped from the platform inside the
rear coach again when ! heard a shriIi
whistle. | don't remember any more
except the screams Of the women ana
the groans of the injured and dying.
Abbott is employed by the Fire As
soriation. at Fourth and Walnut streets.
and was on his way home. Both his
legs were broken and he may have suf-
fercd internal injuries.
He was one OF several injured brought
In on Reading relief train to Logan
station, where various hospital ambu-
lances waited,
From tn. ruins came the cries Of the
wounded. the means Of the dying
mingled with the hiss Of escaping steam.
As the uninjurcd passengers rushed 20
the point where the big cngin" had
stopppd with the wrecked car piled
about il. "a flicker of flame, then a flash
Of fire. signifled that the wrcckaGc had
heCom" ab.a2c
While mon rushed TO the nearest tcle-
nhoucs and called Amber and Abingdon
and philadelphia, asking for physicians
and nurses and amhulances. a wire was
flashed to the Reading Terminal, ana a
train was made up, 10 carry General
Manager Falck and staff OF assistants
to the scene.
Less than 500 yards away "orkmen
in the Hopes q Townsend mills heard
the crash above the noise Of tn" ma
chinery and ran across the fields 20
give aid. Fire companies were called
into service from Fort Washington aud
Amber 20 pump water from a little
stream nearby to qucnch the fire,
In the meantime news of the disaster
had been flashed TO the boroughs of
Lansdale and North Wales. Early re-
ports were wildly exaggerated, to the
effect that twenty were killed" forty
were Killed and thirty wounded"
Women Become IIysterical
North Wales people, knowing that
scores of residents from that town used
the DOylestOwn local each night to re-
turn to their homes, became wildly eX-
cited, many women becoming hystercal.
Motor parties were formed and anxious
pg rents and relatives were driven at
break-necli speed over the five miles of
Intervening territory, only to be called
upon to help identify the dead or to be