LATER DESPATCHES.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 266, 10 November 1888, Page 5

LATER DESPATCHES.

T.'jw.k were nearly 6000 people from Luzernc and Lackawanna couajtiea in tho oxcureton. There were seventy-oigbt cars from W'ilkesbaiTo, the nuinberot passen^eis beint,' about 5500. The sections were all crowded to suffocation, thus furnishing excellent conditions for tnriihlo loan of life.

i'eoplo llocked to the d<."|.ot here, wringing' their hand? in agony. Tho railroad clhcials could not or would not give any infoi uiation, nor would they furnish facilities for any one to go to the scene, though tho anxious ones otlered to pay any price.

1 Throughout tho ni^ht the depot waa thronged by hundreds of persons aulloring untold atrony-over tho uncertainty. The throng was loud in its denunciation of tho company lor refusing all information and causing needless suiluring. Afc 3.30 a.m. a report #ot in circulation that arrangements had been made for the receipt of a larj^e number or the wounded at hospital. The rumour was soon continued. 'Die otliciaU were expecting twenty-live of the victims. With such a list of wounded coiniiul" in this direction tho public pulse stood still over the horrible possibilities, and a thousand fainting hearts quivered in dread. Many persons, after waiting during tho long, weary hours, i'rotn 10 to 3 in tl)o mornin,°took tho south-bound train, which passed here afc 3.1U o'clock and went to the scene of the diaaster. if. was there learned that the third section of tho excursion train had stood on the track a fow hundred yards from -Mud Run waiting for the sections ahead to get, out of tho way. A flagman, some say, had been sent back with a lantern to guard tho train from the rear. Suddenly a passenger on the rear platform saw ft train approaching at a high rate of spaed. .Several jumped and escaped. In an instaut tho Hush of the headlight illuminated the interior of the ill-fated rear car. There was a frightful crash and the engine plunged full length into the crowded mass of humanity. ' Tho shock drove the rear car through the next ono two-thirds of its length, and the second car was forced into the third. Not n single person escaped from the rear car. The second was crowded with maimed and bleeding bodies, and the thirdcar had but few unscengers who escaped. The uninjured of both trains mado their way out of the cars, and on tfoiiig to tho telescoped engine and cars the shattered engine was pouring forth streams of Hcalclin<? steam and water, which hid to their eyes tho fullest measure of tho horrible scene, while its hissing sound deadened the shrieks and groans o£ those imprisoned m the wreck. . (ihastly white faces peered into the windows, to bo giteetod by faces far more "hastily. Some of the dead sab pinioned in their seats erect ivs life, staring open-eyed, us ii aware of their honiblo surroundings. *As tho steam and smoke cleared from the rear car awful sights were revealed. Timbers were crushed and wrenched, while on all sides hung mangled bodies and limbs. Few bodies were not mangled, burned or scalded by steam, and little remained in the 'rear car which bore human semblance. When the shock of tho (irst crash had in a measured subsided, the uninjured began to do what could be clone for tho unfortunate companions. The few light tools on the train proved feeble instrument.", indeed. Tho Si Francis Pioneer corps, who were on tho train, plied with Mai the broadaxes meant for holiday occasion*. They were, however, but littlo adapted to tho work and were soon rendered useless.' In the moan time the windows of the cars were smashed in and- brave- men entered and released those least entangled. John Lynch of Wilkesbaire was hapgiag from the root by one leg. His cries brought friends who stood up on the wreckage and hekl the weight upon their kicks until he was relouscil. - r : . .•, , : A youn?; lady was found caught by her lower limbs. Otio limb was quickly rcleusctlj but tlto other could not be treed and uufoi Itunatelya misdirected blowof an axeseverftd it, from the body. Shfl heroically bore her torture but could not survive tho shock and soon died. To free tho bodies in , the rear car the trainmen attached a locomotive to the wreaked engine and started to pull it from the wreck. . The firefc movemeut of the shattered wreck brought from the wounded such awful cries of distress that the surrounding friends ordered the engineer to desist- on pain of bis life. They did not wish to sco tho mangled forms still further mutilated.' Tho few houses about tho spot were thrown open to too suffering and bonfires lighted to aid in tho work of relief. t Passengers on the rear train state thafc they saw the train ahead vbm far down the rood, The sprang from their seats

j and stared in wonder and surprise that j their train did not slack its speed. Sndi denly their engineer and fireman were seen to jump, and then came the shock. Engineer Harry Cook and Fireman Hugh Gallagher sustained slight injuries. Tho fireman states thnb he saw the red I light, informed the engineer and then (jumped. The passengers garo many diffeiie'rifc account. Of the probable cause of j tho accident, some attributing it to the I negligence ef the flagman in not «oin»back with a recl'lighfi.

A train ironi the scene of the accident arrived this, morning, fcriii£ a number of thoae who wenfc down to make in quiriea, and from them the foregoing facts were gleantd ; The scenca "about the depot are of the most; distressful character.

At 6.30 this evening the funeral train arrived in VYilkesbarre bearing fifty-seven dead bodies. They had been partially prepared for burial and lay: upon boards planed upon the backs of the seats iv three passenger co»phes. As the train drew up to the Wilkesbarjre depot a dozen policemen were required to keep back the frantic crowd of friends and relatives who had couie from Scranton and Pleasant Valley to meet the dead. A special coach had been provided for these friends, but they insisted on entering the car,s containing tho dead, and were only stopped by force and the effort.? of five priests who were c.n the train. One body was removed from tlia cars ub Wilkesbarre. The train then continued on its way up the Delaware and Hudson road to Miner's Mills and Scranton. The people in the special coach a^ain began to clamor for permission to enter the funeral cars, but were attain refuted, it being alleged no one had the keys. Several who were in search of missing friends became desperate, and soou broke down the car doors and began a frantic search for their loved ones. Clothes were torn from tho mangled and scalded bodies, revealing gay uniforms of St. Aloysius men and cadeta and other members of the bociely. Those who knew their relatives were on board also llocked itdo the cars and began rearran^inc the coverings of the corpnee. Many were distorted and in horrible attitudes, and their friends endeavored to lessen their frightful appearance.

At Winer's Mills the train stopped to leave the body of James Flynn. No lighte could be obtained, aud much of the work was done in partial darkness. It was uh the train drow up at Pleasant Valley that tho most heartrending scenes wero enucted. Ropes had been stretched about the depot, and guards kept the im'menao throng back. The shrieks and screume of stricken lriends and relatives were pitiful in tho extreme. Tho first; body carried out was that of Oscar Gibbons, 13 years of a<;e, borne in the arms of his stalwart brother. Then ono alter another forty-six white-sheeted bodies were carried out and given iiito the charge of frieuda. Tho shrieks and crios.of'women and the hoarso shouts and imprecations of men added to the terrible scene.

It is impossible to tell the number of wounded. Twenty-five were brought here to the hospital and numbers of others slightly injured have gone to their homes.

There are over fifty dead victims of the disaster.