Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1886 — DEATH ON THE RAIL. [ARTICLE]

DEATH ON THE RAIL.

Two Trains on the Nickel-Plate Come Together at a Curve with Frightful Results. Eighteen Persons Killed and a Dozen: or More Desperately Injured. [Buffalo telegram.] A Niagara Falls excursion train on the Nickel-Plate Railroad, from Ashtabula, Ohio, collided with a local freight train in. the cut on the curve just east of Silver Creek, on the morning of the 14th inst. Lewis Brewer was the engineer of the excursion train, drawn by engine No. 159, and William Harris was engineer of the freight train, drawn by engine No. 6. Both engineers and firemen saved themselves by jumping. The excursion train consisted of one baggage-oar, one smoker, and eleven coaches. Only those in the smoking-car were hurt, it being completely telescoped by the baggage-car. The corrected list of killed is as follows: W. W. Loomis, aged 40, of Erie, Pa. Emory Stoddard, aged 54, of Pittsburg, Pa. W. N, Stoddard, a sou of the above, of Pittsburg, Pa. Stephen Culverton, Mayor of Waterford, Pa. John Fleeker, aged 27, Pittsburg, Pa. David Sharp, of Erie, Pa. Charles Hirsch, aged 30, of Erie, Pa, W. W. Restetter, of Erie, Pa. John Lythers, supposed to be from Erie, Pa. W. P. Reynolds, Deputy United States Marshal, of Dunkirk, N. Y. John Myers, aged 28, of Erie, Pa. Orrin Parkhurst, of Mayville, N. Y. John F. Gilbert, of Pittsburg, Pa. Henry Gebhart, aged 44, of Pittsburg, Pa. Frank Gebhart, a son of the above, of Pittsburg, Pa. John Siefert, of Erie, Pa. Unknown man, thought to belong to Erie, Pa. Heury Hike, rescued alive, but who died Horn his injuries.

A dozen or more persons were seriously injured, some of them so badly as to preclude all hope of recovery. There are various causes given for the collision. Engineer William Hanis of the freight train is blamed. It is said he had. orders to meet the excursion train at Irving. He failed to obey the instructions and was running at full speed when the crash occurred. Trainmen will not talk regarding who is to blame. A gentleman who was on the train says that the freight train had orders to go to Silver Creek and the passenger train to Irving, which is this side, and it was these orders that caused the collision. The excitement among the survivors was intense. The scenes in the smoking-car were most harrowing. The first warning that was given was the slight jar caused by the heavy pressure of the air brakes. Some of the passengers stirred themselves in their seats, seemingly apprehensive of danger. Then came the terrible shock, followed by the smashing of windows and the roof of the car, and all was a mass of bleeding and struggling humanity. Men covered with blood were locked in each other’s arms, while underneath them and on all sides lay the poor unfortunates,, crushed out of all human semblance. The wounded crawled out of the debris,, and were assisted to the neighboring houses. People brought bedding, etc., on which to lay the dead and dying, and did all they could to relieve the suffering until thearrival of medical aid. Mis. J. H. Sigel, of Erie, Pa., a passenger, who was on her way to Buffalo, said: I was in tha first coach next to the smokingcar. The passenger train was a large one, and carried a large number of excursionists, as well as regular passengers. The first we knew of thecollision was a terrific crash like an explosion. Nobody was hurt except those in the smokingcar. The sight was so horrible that I could not. look at it. Not a single car was thrown from the track, but the smoker was completely telescoped It was g, mercy that our car was not crushed. It was a narrow escape. One voting man in the smoker saved himself by dropping on the floor and escaped with a few bruises. I did not learn the cause of the accident, but we were going very slow, while the freight was. coming at a high rate of speed. We were just one cua&h-length off the.trestle when the collision occurred. Some of the wounded men were taken to different houses, and one of the coacheswas turned into a hospital. In another coach the dead were placed. There were many horrible features connected with the accident. Two of the men in the smoking-car had their heads protruding from the car when the collision occurred. The head of one of these was cut completely off, and the head, of the other man was nearly severed from the body. When the body of lhe third victim was taken from the wreck his arms and. legs were separated from the trunk, sobadiv was the body crushed. Dillon, one of the slightly injured, had his face and) head completely bathed iu the blood of one of the mangled victims.