Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 January 1887 — WHISKY RESPONSIBLE. [ARTICLE]

WHISKY RESPONSIBLE.

Fixing the Blame for the B. A 0. Horror—The Conductor Said to Hare Been Drunk. -y Thrilling Txperiencss of Passengers— Mr. Forrester's Remarkable Escape from Death fClevoland.tO.) special.! The wreck of the trains in the fearful accident on the Baltimore and Ohio near Republic is all cleared away aud the falling snow has obliterated all the evidences of the* fateful catastrophe. The remains of the nine bodies of the unfortunate victims are in charge of the Coroner at Re- ‘ public. Every piece of burnt clothing, aeys, and everything that was not utterly destroyed has been gathered up to aid in the identification of bodies. The responsibility of the accident is now placed upon the freight conductor, Fletcher, who pulled put of a siding four miles west of Republic witliout orders, intending to make the siding at Republic for the passenger train. He missed his calculation just one mile, and the ashes of the unknown victims testify to liis criminal carelessness. It is furtner openly charged that the engineer of the freight train was intoxicated. Whether this is true or not is not positively known. One thing is certain, and that is that a great share of the-responsibility, if not all of it, rests upon the conductor and engineer of tiie freight. They knew they were encroaching on the time of the limited express before their train came to a standstill.

Mr. Evans’ Graphic Story of the Accident. Mr. T. G. Evans of Pittsburgh, Pa., was a passenger on. the ill-fated Baltimore & Ohio train. He occupied a berth in the forward sleeper, and was asleep at the moment of the collision. “I did not hear the crash,” he said. “I was awakened by the jar. Our car trembled and vibrated so that 1 thought it was careening and about to fall on its side. I raised the blinds, looked out the window, and saw we Were standing still. I shouted to the other passengers That we were all right, and told them not to be alarmed. As I looked through the window I saw the flames from the burning cars, and heard cries for help. I hurriedly dressed myself, but by the time I got out the heat was so intense that we could not get within fifty feet of the smoking-car. M. S. Parks, of Washington, had sprung through the window of the smoking-car, but his feet had been caught in the wreck, and he was hanging downward. He died in a short time, aud in a few minutes I saw his skull drop off, a blackened cinder. I heard no screams nor cries after I got out of the sleeper. The weather was very cold, and big tires were prooably burning in the stoves. The telescoping of the cars had crushed the stoves and scattered the coals through the wreck. The lamps were no doubt shattered and the oil must have spread the flames. It was scarcely two minutes, I think, from the time I was awakened until I was dressed and at the cars. It was then too late to do anything for the people,, imprisoned in the heap of flaming debris. The smell of burning human flesh was horrible. The bodies of the dead were simply trunks, headless and limbless. When I looked out of my window I saw three ‘ persons that looked like Joseph Postletbwaite and his two boys. I did not see them after I got out of the car. I saw the Postlelhwaite family get on the train, aud temember particularly the old gentleman aud his boys, but I may have been mistaken about seeing them from the window of the sleeper.”

Mr. Forresfer’a Thrilling; Experience. [From the Chicago News.] Harry C. Forrester, the man who came through the roof of the smoking-car carrying the seat with him, was found by his friends early Wednesday morning at the Portland Hotel, where the Baltimore nnd Ohio Railroad officials were caring for him. He was taken to 182 West Van Buren street, where a friend named W. S. Wixon runs a restaurant. Mr. Wrxon called in his family physician and did everything possible to make the wounded man comfortable. He was in bed when seen by a Daily News reporter, and was weak from loss of blood. “I was aleep, curled up in my seat,” he said, “aud the fir-t thing I knew I heard a terrible crash and felt myself being hurled through the air, The next instant I looked around and found -mvself on the roof of the car. The cur was broken in two, and I had been shot through the hole. Although partially stunned, I managed to jump off into a snow-bank and crawl away. I don’t remember much after that until it was all over."

The attending physician says Mr. Forrester will in all probability survive his injuries. He is bruised from head to foot, and has a bad scalp wound rn addition to several deep gashesrin his body and limbs. Mr. Bevans Tells Wli.at He Saw., Louis A. Bevans, of Zanesville, Ohio, on his way to Nebraska, was among those who were in the first coach after the smoker. At the Windsor Hotel, Chicago, he told his experien--e to a reporter: “I was all dressed, with the exception of my shoes, When the shock came. Hastily putting on my shoes and bat and with my overcoat in my hand I rushed out. I was about the first man to get out of the coach, but even wben l jumped to the ground smoke and flames were issuing from the wrecked cars. It was the most complete wreck I ever saw, aud even worse than I ever imagined eould be produced by a collision. The baggage-car was crushed like an eggshell against the tender of the passenger engine, while the smoking-car was split in two and piled on top‘of the general wreck. The whole forward end of the smoker had disappeared and was scattered about in the form of splinters aud twisted iron-work. , • "Immediately after I jumped out of the car the people began pouring out. The railroadin n seemed verv cool under the circumstances, and called on all the men to help push back the coaches and sleepers, as they were in great danger of catching fire. It was a’little up-grade, but enough of us got bold to push the cars back about sixty feet. In the meantime the fire in the wreck was spreading with great rapidity. There was not a drop of water to be bad, and all we could do was to stand by and let it burn. We did not hear the shrieks of the wounded, as some of the accounts say, because nearly: every one in the smoking-car excepting the four, men who escaped were either stunuedor instantly killed by the shock. It is said that a French painter one day visited the salon, in Paris, in company with a friend who was a member of the Committee of Selection, and who had been instrumental in procuring the acceptance of the painter's work. When the artist came near his picture, be exclaimed, “Good pracioust yott*re exhibiting ffiy picture the wrong side up!” “Hush!” was the reply; “the committee refused it the other way.” An equivocal expressiqn for a bald-headed man—Plenty of room at the top. A WISE night key—-One that knows fts own keyhole. ;