Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1912 — EXPERIENCE A TRYING ONE [ARTICLE]

EXPERIENCE A TRYING ONE

Survivor of Railroad Wreck in Which Forty Lost Their Lives, Tells of Scene. Among the survivors of the railway disaster at Bellay-le-Thouet, in which forty persons lost their lives, is a man who, from a hospital cot, related his experiences as follows to a reporter of Le Matin of Paris: “I thought at the time of the catastrophe that I was hopelessly lpst. Looking out, I saw the parapet of the bridge' suddenly swing and give way, and then there was the horrible, sudden sensation of falling. A cold shudder came over us as we felt the water pouring round our feet. There were several passengers in the same compartment In a frantic state of mind, but Instinctively a sort of discipline was obligatory on us. I was near the door, and I saw that the window above me was over the water. I seized a strap, and how I did It I scarcely , remember, but I smashed through the window with my head, climbed out, and was safe. A hand was stretched out toward me from inside. I seized It, and pulled out a man. Next there was a lady, and we dragged her-out, and finally all that had been in the compartment were safe. But a worse time came. For hours we were perched on the roof of the car in the middle of the stream, and every moment the submerged wreck was threatened with being swept away. However, I am Base at last.”