Nebraska Newspapers

    HE OMAHA DAILY EE.
ESTABLISHED JTJINE 19 , 1871. OMAI1A , MOXDAY , JULY 13 , 185)0. ) GLE COPY tflTE CENTS.
!
fjTown of Logan , la. , the Scene of a Terrible
Railway Wreck.
DEAD IH A ROW BESIDE THE TRACK
frlomes of the Citizens Thrown Open to the Wounded Every
Effort Possible Made by Its People to Alleviate
the Suffering Sad Ending of a
Pleasure Excursion ,
I
LOOAN , In. , July 12. ( Special Telegram )
\ * -H was only this morning , after the
frenzied real to nltl the suffering had passed ,
/ that the atv fill extent of the dlro calamity
that licfull the Union Pacific IMontcr Urn-
ploycs' association last night was In a meia-
, nrc reall/cd ' < the people of Logan , the
Northwestern oinclals nnd oven the members
cf the association thcmschcs who escaped
ecrlous Injury and were able to htop und
vlow the results of the wreck and appic-
elate the awful cost In human life n ! the
inlstako of a train crew It was only I'ltur
7 Iho Rood citizens of Logan and Missouri Vnl-
sj. . Icy had found tlmo to pause from their la-
i bors and ga70 nwcstrlcken upon the tli'rty '
nmnglcd forms that had been taken I'loin
the wreck and -were lying upon the
near the fence nnd the half hundred bruised
eUirslonlsts had been taken to the hnmcs
of the cltlrcns of Logan that the full force
of the horror was manifest , nnd It was only
vhon every posalble means of transporta
tlon had been employed by tno people of
the vicinity and the hundreds and 'IioiiEands
of friends of the members of the excursion
party to reneh the scene of the wreck that
the "public bo dinined" ofllelals of the North-
vvestcrn realized , appaiently , their brutality ,
> Uf not their criminality. In trying to sup
press Information concerning the wrick that
had resulted In such n sjerKUe of tumnn
lives
Thorn was no sleep In Login last night
and this morning , after the Vik of icl'ev- '
Ing human buffering and trying to save hu
man life had ended , the cltUens of the
place were In n position to recount their ex
periences of the night before and contribute
their share to the history rf the honor. The
celebration of the Pioneer Employe * ' asso
ciation had been the most Fucs-'sstul ever
held by the organlzatlun , n fac * that was
unanimously asserted by the members. The
beautiful park In .he center of the j.rct'y
llttlo town of Logan h.il beo'j handsomely
decorated with flags and b.innns by the
citizens of the town and turned over to the
excursionists to use ! t in rny munner ilia'
would add Its mite of cnjoynint ot tin fr.\
Every citizen of the iow i w.xi a coni'iiUl"1"
of one to help make the occasion n gala day
nnd the fnrmers for nll > s oiound were
prrjcnt nnd took part In the enjoyment of
the day's festivities. There was a splendid
program of the regulation picnic kind and
when the tlmo for leaving the pli.cc arrived
the.o had not been fho bllshtest bins that
had marred the day's pleatni'o uorh for 'he '
picnickers and their entcrUlnors.
HID THEM GODSPEED.
It was a few minutes after S o'clock when
the excursionists started for thdr speilul
train , nnd the people of Logan 'lined cut
onmasso to escort taein to the depot There
were fully 1 KOO people on board the i'nm-
inoth special train of Bo\cii"i > n cars , and
considerable time was naturally occupied In
getting the happy excursionists into order
and ready for the homo going , t'r.foInnately
there was not enough delay. Had 'here been
a few moio stragglers the sliry of a 1 error
would not have to be written rud the
ehadow of death would not bo d.irk'iitng so
many homes In this vicinity today. Had
there been a delay of but two more minutes
lu starting the excursion trnln woull have
bad the right of way and death's haivc&t of
hoiror would not Imvo been garni'Nl.
The exclusion special was lying on the
Bidet rack at Logan Its crcvv was composed
of J , n Montgomery , engineer ; D H Lamb ,
brakcnian , and A. L. Reed of Iloono con
ductor. At C 20 o'eloek No 2 , the eastbound -
bound passenger , passes Logan , rollowlng
It at < M2 comes No. 3S , a freight running on
passenger schedule This train Is regularly
scheduled It Is usually composed of two
or three , cars of fruit and the empty mall
cars that are returned to Chicago to come
out with thu fast mall There wcro no
orders Issued to the crcvv of the excur
sionists' ( rain except to run to Council
I ) I lifts as special and that order meant to
regard all scheduled trains and to nso any
other time , When the passenger train for
thu cast shot through the little town the
conductor of the exclusion train accepted
that as a clearance against No , 2. Ilolh
apparently forgot to wait foi a clearance
for No 38 The signal was given and the
train pulled out at 6 43. Ono minute later ,
exactly , nnd the horrible tolllslon followed.
SAW THE DANGER TOO LATK.
William Shaffer , the apent of the North
western nt Logan , saw the excursion train
pulling up. Ho supposed at firbt that the
movement was for the purpose * of huriylug
up any tardy members of the party and
thut the train would stop befoie It left
the Biding and wait for the passing of No
88. Ho wa horrified to notice that in-
Btead of slacking up at the switch end the
train was rapidly taking on more speed
He rushed down the platform and asked an
employe If the special hnd pulled out and
received an affirmative reply. "Then , God
telp them , " said Shaffer. "They ho
pulled out without orders nnd No. 38 1s due
In n minute. " But It as too late to avut
the catastrophe or to even attempt It. All
Logan was on the platform cheering for
the excursionists and the excursionists had
just joined In nn offer of three cheers for
Logan and her people. The echo of the
last hurrah had not died away when the
crash came. No. 38 , with a full head of
steam , one minute behind time , dashed
around the curve nt a forty mile nn hour
gait and no human power could avert the
disaster.
The collision took place within a few-
hundreds ynrds of the Logan Elation , nnd
In the sight of hundreds of the tltl ns of
the town. Instantly the rush was for the
scene of the disaster. The scene of the col
lision was on n short trestle bridge at a
curve. AVhllo the slaughter of human In
nocents was great , two things prevented n
greater lobs. No 3S was drawn by n small
express engine while the excursion special
was pulled by an ordinary freight locomo
tive of the older pattern and was moving
slowly. Had both trains been going nt n
high rnte of speed , with heavy engines , the
loss of life would have been moro than
doubled.
ENGINE CREWS JUMPED.
The engine crews of both trains saw the
danger ami jumped. All of them escaped
unhurt , except Engineer Montgomery of the
special , who sustained a badly damaged
hand When the engines met the force of
the collision oJmost completely demolished
both of them and telescoped two cars on
each train The flrst car on the excursion
special was n baggage coach and the colli
sion turned It Into n machine of death. The
car was thrown back and In such shape that
the floor was shot tluough the ( list pas
senger coach , cutting It In two lengthwise
Just nt the height of the car seats So great
was the force that the floor of the baggage
car wns forced almost the entire length of
the passenger coach , breaking off e > cry-
scat except the last In the car and cutting
the passenger coach off at the window bottom
tom line as completely and almost as neatly
as carpenters could have done the Job
There were nearly a hundred passengers In
this coach and e cry head that was above
the le'vcl of the car scats was a target for
the Instrument of death and It Is a miracle
that any person In the car escaped alive.
When the shock came the occupants of
the cars behind the Ill-fated coach did not
know what had happened The shaking up
had not been sufficient to occasion any
alarm , but a moment later the shrieks of the
wounded and dying pasbcngers brought them
to n realization of the horror of the situa
tion. There was a rush for the front of
the train , but the
presence of mind of some
of the train men and the citizens of the
town , who were within a few yards of the
accident , saved adding further agony to
the situation The women and children on
the other coaches of the train were pre
vented from approaching the car In which
their husbands and friends were either
killed or horribly Injured
and the male mem
bers of the excursion set about the work of
rescue.
SET ABOUT THE RESCUE.
And It was a dlfllcult task. The floor of
the baggage car was found wedged so
tightly Into the coach that all efforts to
remove It were futile , although a thousand
willing hands wcro joined In the attempt
to lift the cover that was concealing the
dead and Imprisoning the Injured In a liv
ing tomb , rinally an axe was procured
and a section of the car floor cut away. |
The sight revealed wan beyond the power of
vvcrds to portray. The flrst object that at
tracted the attention of the rescuers when
the Eretlou of the floor was removed
was the upright body of a man , whoso head
had almost been sevcied from the trunk.
So recent had been the accident that the
Hood fiom his wounds had hardly started
to flow , and his skull , btrlppcd of Its cov
ering , glistened like a polished bllllnid
ball. The body of the man was drawn
from the ruins and
was soon Identified uti
that of John Klnkel , nn Omaha musician ,
who had been playing with thu band at
tux picnic.
The next bodies to be drawn from the
ruins wcro those of Mrs Dradlcy and her
babe , a child about a year old. The baby's
head was badly ciushed , but she held In
her arms ix pretty doll that was as un-
rumpled auJ fr'sh as when II came fiom Its
shelf In the toy store. It appeared that
the spaee In the car between the floor of
the roach and the floor of the baggage car
vvns packed with dead and dying human
ity. Groans and agonizing appeals for help
came fiom the Injured and spurred the
to thlr gicatest efforts As soon
us a llttlo space within wan cleared the
workers climbed Inside the coach and the
work of paEblnc up the bodies of the dead
end liijuied progressed more rapidly , H
seemed Hint tre end would never be
reached. Twenty-five dead bodies wrre
taken out and laid In e row on the grass
alungblde the railroad track and the In-
juird were at once taken In carryalls to
Logan ,
I N
SCARCITY OP BANDAGES ,
In a vciy short time the appeals for help
had been answered by all the physicians
from Logan ami Missouri Valley , nnd then
some 6)titan was Inlioduccd Into the man
ner of curr > hif oa th rescue work. There
was n great lock of material for binding
the wounds of the Injured nnd pocket hand
kerchiefs , lunch towels and linen articles
of wearing apparel wcro confiscated for
the purpose. Wagons nnd carrjalls were
sent from Locan and the Injured wcro
brought hero for treatment The Lusk
house , the New Moon hotel , the opera house
nnd the Odd rcllows' hall wcro turned Into
emergency hospitals and the Injured cared
for as welt as. cosslblc.
Then the dead were taken and removed
to the undertaking establishment of Case
& Webber and laid out on Improvised coolIng -
Ing boards for Identification. Twenty-five
bodies were taken to that place. There
was no room for them. In the part of the
store set aside for the undertaking depart
ment and their bodies were placed about
In thu snlcsioom. Thcic had been no pre
liminary preparation of the remains. They
were carried to the store Just as they had
been taken out of the wreck. The bodies
were covered with blood and many of them
mangled be > end recognition Their blood
covered the floor of the store until the
place looked like a slaughter house. But
the excursionists had become accustomed
to the slgllt and touch and smell of blood
and the woik of Identlfleatlon was kept up.
It was after midnight when the work was
flnilly completed.
UOLL OP THE DEAD.
The roll of the dead belonging In Omaha
numbcis eighteen names , the complete Hot
being as follows :
JOHN M'lJEHMOTT. Sixteenth nml
Nicholas streets ; machinist ut the Union
Pacific shops
JOHN K1NSEV. 4C01 Cumlng street.
HOHEIIT CLA1U , 1ST ) Noith Eighteenth
street ; son of John Clalr , ex-iisslstuiit
boiler Inspector.
JOHN H. JACK , Sixteenth nnd Webster ;
newsboy employed by the Otnnhii Newa
compuiy on railway trains.
JOHN LAllSON. llin North Elghteci.th
street ; aged about 1C years , was employed
as a c-irrler for the World-Hciald
PIIED NIELSON 22J South Thlity-lhlicl
street , von of Andrew NIelsen who Is In
St Joseph's hospital.
JOHN H KILKEIl , SSO South Seven
teenth Htrect ; member of Se'Venth Ward
b mil
OWEN CAVANAUGII , 150.2 North Elghj
teenth Htlcet , ngid about IS yeius.
HUGH DODSON , 4J11 Emmet street ;
aged about 1.1eirs
MRS KATE HRADLEY and UABY. 1410
North Eighteenth street
MRS P J CARROLL and I5OY , the lat
ter age-d about G years
PATRICK SCULLY , 2321 Center sticet ;
statlonaiy engineer at the Union Pacific
shops
MISS MARY TRACY. 1107 North Eigh
teenth street
JOHN COSGROVE , 1111 North Eighteenth
street , ngcil IS yeais
WILLIAM COSGROVU same address
aged II yeais.
MISS MARGARET COSGROVE , same
addicts , aged 24 years
In addition to these the follow Ing resi
dents of other towns were Killed , Increasing
the list to twenty-four , but there are stil
several not accounted foi , two of the doc
tors who went to the scene from Omaha
btatlng that they counted the dead bodies
one placing the number at twenty-eight
nnd the other at twenty-nine. The list , so
far as It has been obtained. Is ns follows
CHARLES HEIMAN , Missouri Vrilley.
WALTER JENNINGS , Missouri Vnlky.
GEORGE WIN1NGER. Morrlbon , III ;
brnkenmn on the excursion tialn
LAWRENCE PETERS , 311 Ninth ave- I
nue , Council liluffs I
MISS OLLIE WILSON , 1511 Ninth aveI I
nue , Counell Hluffs.
MRS TAYLOR nnd BA13Y , Councl
IJluffs.
THREW OPEN THEIR HOMES.
But the work of caring for the Injured
was not the least of the tasks Imposed upon
the people of Logan. There wcro nt least
500 f women nnd children In the party win :
were almost prostrated by the accident
and needed attention. There were children
who wcro separated from their parents
and mothers who were wildly searching for
their missing children. Every home In Lo
gan was thrown open to the care and
eomfort of these and ccry attention and
assistance possible shown them In their
distress. Hardly n family In the town but
had some part in a mission of mercy of .
this kind. It was after 1 o'clock when a ,
train was run out from MIssouil Valley and
the excursionists who had escaped Injury
wore transferred and started on their Jour- [
ney to Omaha.
Dr. Galbialth , chief surgeon of the Union
Pacific , with n corps of assistants , reached
the town In a special car about 10 o'clock
and took charge of the medical part of the
work and soon brought order out of chaos. .
They caii'o prepared with stretchers and
the sadly needed lint and bandages and wcra
EOOU at work lessening the sufferings of
the Injured. It was promptly decided by
Ir , Galbralth that the Injured could not
get the necessary attention at Logan and
ho decided to remove all of them to Omaha
The order was given nnd as gently as pos
sible1 the maimed and bruised and mangled
excursionists wcro again placed on stretch
ers and tal.cn In carryalls to thu scene of
the wreck nnd placed on cars and started
for Omaha.
At 7 o'clock this morning the order was
received to remove the dead to Omaha. IhU
order was made only after a gcod deal of
discussion and changes of plani. The 0'iUr
(
was first given by the railroad olllcljls to
j
have all of the bodies of the dead embalmed .
and Messrs Caf > & Webber made preparat
tlons to begin the wjrk when the order was
(
countermanded. Thn came another il.-lay
The question of an mqu < t wi raised The
coroner of Harilson eoanry Is ihomaa Mac
farlane , who lives nt Mondamln , In the ex
tmne western part of the county. No word
was secured from him and thn local ofllelals
were In doubt an to the proper action to
take under the circumstances. It was ( Hull )
decided that an inquest should be held , If
deemed necessary , on one body , and thu
evidence admitted as applying to eaeh and
all of the victims. With thh understanding
the order was given to remove the dead
bodies to Omaha. Each body was laid Upon
n board and closely wrapped with a cotton
sheet nnd taken In carryalls to a car sent to
convey them to Omaha nnd Council Illuffs
The remains of Walter Jennings. George
Wlnlngcr , Charles Hclman and John Me-
Dermott were left In charge of Case &
Webber and the others were sent to Omaha
The remains of Hclman and Jennings will
be sent to Missouri Valley The body of
Drakeman Wlnlngcr will bo sent
to Morrison , III , and the remains
of John McDcrmott have been held on In
structions from his Council niuffs relatives
It an Inquest Is decided upon one of these
bodies will bo used nnd the evidence ad
duced applied In nil the other cases.
INSPECTING THE WRECK.
When the dead had been taken from Lo
gan the citizens turned out and made an
other Inspection of the wreck , close ob
servance of which had been prevented by
the call to duty In caring for the dead
and dying. H was n gruesome spectacle
that presented Itbclf to the spectators. On
the tiestlo wcro the remains of the two
engines. Thu smaller cngino , that of the
freight train , wns almost n complete wreck.
The entire fiont wns torn avvny and the
boiler broken In. The trucks and drive
wheels were broken and twisted out of
all semblance of their former symmetry and
the machine was simply fit for the scrap
pile. The engine of the excursion train ,
Union Pacific cngino 774 , came out of the
collision In better shape. There was n
gloat , ragged hole In the boiler head , large
enough to put n man through , and the cow
catcher wns gone. The front axle was bent ,
but the wheels had not left the rails. The
trucks of the tender wcro broken , but In
other respects the big machine stood there
as majestic ns when It was pulled out of
the yards on Saturday morning with Its
happy load of merrymalteis The wreaths
of the national colors were still draped
around the stack and the flagstaff. On
either side was the wreathed Inscription
" 1S69 , Union Pacific Employes , 1S % , " all
of the decointlons being sadly out of tune
with the surroundings which had changed
so woefully. The firbt freight car of No
3S j wab In kindling wood on the south' ' side
of the track nnd the baggage car and flrst
passenger coach of the excursion special
wcio piled up on the north side of the track
wheio they had been dumped after having
been relieved of their dead nnd Injured
Not a scat had been left In the pissengcr
coach All wcio broken of near the floor
and the cushions and upholstered work had
been used as litters for the Injuied A great
mass of debits was found under the car.
There were lunch bcshetsj shoes , hammocks ,
hats articles of clothing , drinking cups and
all the aitleles that go to moke up a pic
nicker's outfit. All were covered with
blood and the matting that had been laid
In the center of the car was still diipplng
with blood.
On the south side of the track another
bunch of hats had been collected. There
were hats of all kinds and sizes , some
nearly new and apparently unlnjuied ,
while most of them were cut and broken
and nearly all of them covered with blood
In the pile was a stiff hat , new , that held
fully a quart of clotted blood/ / and lying
ngatnst It was a baby's lace bonnet as clean
as ( when It was taken for the bany's out
ing on Satuiday morning A cadet boy's
cap ' was covered with blood and badly
broken ' , and over It was a woman's hat
gay I with bright flowers and unlnJurrd.
SOME PECULIAR FEATURES.
There were some peculiar feature. ! con
ncctcd with the great wreck and imn ;
thrilling personal experiences , William
Summit Is a Northwestern employe nt Mis
souri Valley. Ho wanted to go to tie pic
nic , but could not get his excuse. He cut
his work and went anyway. He was i ullcd
out of the wreck one of the moat scrioui'lv '
Injured. Roth his legs were broken , there
was a deep cut In his thigh and one t de
of his face wns bruised to a Jelly. He
was taken to the Luak bouse and was uft-
cnvnrd removed to Omnha. There Is but
llttlo hope entertained of his rscovjry.
Bert Tackier and Walter Jennings of
Mlbbourl Valley were riding rpxt to the
cngino In front of the baggage car to get
away from the crowd. When tUc collision
came c Fackler wns shot lll'c n cu'ipult ' upon
the tender. His clothes were llternlly
stripped from his body , hut he escaped
with i a mere seratch Jcna'ngs was eautht
between 1 the cars and his life crushed
1c
out.
Charles Hclman and Mike Garven , bath
of Missouri Valley , were on the platform
of the front passenger car. Garven saw
the Impending eolllsion and jumped , at
the name time calling to Helman to do
the same. Garven escaped , but Helnmn's
neck was broken by the shock.
Two Omaha boys , whose names could
not bo ascertained , were leaning out of the
window of the car when they saw the col-
Union could not bo averted. They sprang
through the windows and rolled Into the
ditch and escaped with but slight bruises
RESENT OFFICIAL BRUTALITY.
The people of Logan are most peaceably
disposed , but they are up In arms over the
action of the Northwestern ofllelals In tryIng
.
Ing to suppress the nowa and facts of the
accident. There arc fair telegraph faclll
ties at Logan , but the town might as well
have been In the center of Cuba so far as
the means of communicating with the out
side world was concerned. When the accl
dent happened the first rush of many of
the excursionists was to the telegraph office
to notify their friends of their safety , and
to give Information concerning the wreck.
Piteous appeals were made for thu oppor
tunlty of sending some word to the friends
at home , who were wild with terror and
anxiety over their fate. There wa practi
cally no satisfaction , The messages were
filed for future reference and accumulated
by the hundreds , while the plea of "coin
panjr business/ ' was sufficient to keep the
operator from making any I * Ins but a feeble
stngger nt caring for the business offered.
A newspaper man succeeded In getting a
bunch of copy filed for his paper nnd the
operator , who was kindly disposed , started
to send It. The opening sentences were not
completed when the operator received a
curt order from Boone to stop the message ,
and devote his attention to company busi
ness H wna not until after 4 o'clock this
morning when Messrs Barnhart , Crallo and
Stoddard of the Western Union arrived
here and cleared up the accumulated bust-
ness regardless of the wishes of the railway
officials.
Superintendent Hnllenbcck , Assistant Su
perintendent Lytton of Boone nnd other
Northwestern ofilclals arrived from Boone at
midnight nnd superintended the work of
clearing nwny the wreckage. While they
were doing the work , with the presence of
twenty-eight dead and fifty wounded be
fore them , the Chicago officials were mak
ing affidavits that there had been no wreck
on the Northwestern nt Logan
Coroner MacParlnne will Impanel n Jury
tomorrow and hold nn Inquest ns to the
cause of the disaster and the source of Its
responsibility.
IIUINCI.M ; HOMI ; THI : ui\i > OMS.
If Ml ( ll < - OlIPN Ulllt
ClIlllP I.MtCfd.
The train which carried the dead arrived
nt the union depot at S 30 o'clock. It had
been gl\cn out that It would not arrive
until noon , and this was responsible for the
fact that only a few of the relatives of the
lost were there to receive their bodies.
But even then there was enough of heart
breaking wou to touch the sympathies of
those who saw the pitiful spectacle.
The police had stretched ropes across the
platform to keep baek the crowd , and the
train men , assisted by a posse of police ,
tendeily lifted the bodies from the train and
deposited them iVi a long , ghastly row on
the floor In the baggage room Each was
covered by a sheet , and when the Hue was
complete a passage was cleared , and those
who had friends among the dead were al
lowed to pass through the Improvised
morgue. One by one they parsed down the
line , lifting the covet Ings from each bruised
and blackened face as they went along
Some of them failed to find the face they
carried In their hearts Others found It ,
but too soon , nnd their sufferings as they
beheld the terrible certainty that killed all
hope were pitiful to sec.
Ono father bent over n sheeted
form that lay neai the middle of the row.
The light that filtered through the breath
less crowd fell on the still smiling features
of his little boy. The body was honlbly
crushed , but the face wai untouched and
for a moment the father stood as If he ex
pected that the bright eyes would open
to assure him that It was not death but
bleep. Involuntarily he lifted the shroud a
little fuither until the mangled body was
disclosed , then uttered a cry of agony that
brought tears to the eyes of many an on
looker who had looked on death before.
The fact that bcveral of the dead were ,
children , added not a llttlo to the pathos
of the scene At one end of the row lay
the body of Mrs. Maggie Bradley , while her
baby slept between two strong men at the
other. rinally the body of the child was
laid beside t'at of Its mother , and they were
taken nwny together.
The train brought over twenty bodies al
together. Only a part of them were Iden
tified , during the half hour that they lay
at the depot , and then they were all taken
away to the various undertaking estnbllsh-
ments to be prepared for builal. The friends
of Charles McDermott claimed that his
body was not among thobe broucht over
and It was concluded that he had been left
at Council Bluffs by mistake. Some of the
Identifications were not positive , and In
several cases one bystander would claim
to be certain that ho saw the body of one
man while another would bo equally posi
tive that he was mistaken. But the bodies
wcro so badly mangled that it was Impos
sible to allow them to remain longer with
out attention nnd In se\cral cases they
may not bo positively Identified until they
arc prepared for burial ,
LONG WAIT roii THI : WOUMMD.
I'lillriit Vlull of Aiixlnim I
Ilrukni lij I'ullicdo Ki'iill/atlon.
Those who had not found their loved
ones on the first train which arrived put
In the time waiting Impatiently for the
following one , which , It was announced ,
contained the wounded. It was nt flrst nn-
nounccd It would arrive at D o'eloek. Later
It was stated It would be C. Finally the
word was passed around that the train was '
running very slowly to make It as easy as
possible for the Injured and It would bo
8 o'clock before It would arrive. The am-
bulanccs were sent up town to allow the |
horBes , which had been standing there all
night , to get some feed. The train came
In , however , sooner than wns expected. The f
police stretched ropes from the door of the
baggage room to the train to keep the
erovvd back and willing helpers lent a hand
to carry the sufferers from the cars to the
waltlnc ambulances.
The strain upon those who had been
watching and waiting all the night through
by this tlmo had become Intense. Women
who had borne up bravely through the
hours of waiting broke down and sobbed
hysterically and stiong men wept as the
form of Borne loved one was carried from
the car on a stretcher. The long suspense
had left them In no condition to withstand
the strain of the sight which met their
j
gaze. Men , women and children who the
day before had bid them goodbye full of life
and pleasant antlelpatlons were carried out
limp and helpless , In several Instances only .
a slight moan giving Indication that life was
{
still theirs.
(
Tenderly strong arms bore them along and
they were placed In the awaiting ambulances ,
and driven to the hospital. Friends gath-
(
cred around with anxious Inquiries as to the
(
extent of the Injuries , and for the first time
(
( Continued un Second Page ) i
OF A CHEAT
Many Omaha Homes Darkened by the Rail
road Wreck at Logan ,
TRAGEDY THE ONE TOPIC OF CONVERSATION EVERYWHERE
Heartrending Scenes at the Depot When the Trains Bearing
the Dead and Injured Arrive Morgues
Besieged by Anxious
Friends.
Saturday morning there were ninny happy
homes 1 In the city of Omaha Into which
the t death angel came In the evening with a
suddenness which has cast n cloom over
the entire city. When the excursion train
containing the Union Paelfle Pioneers * as
sociation and their friends stalled out from
the depot with Its sixteen coach loads of
I
' happy ' people there were many who le-
malncd behind who longed to be In the
party. Their Inability to attend spared
them the witnessing of a terrible calamity-
ami possibly from being victims of It , as
were many who In the morning had been
looked upon as moro fortunate.
It was Just after the dinner hour In the
evening when the report was circulated
on the street that the train had met with
nn accident and many of the party had
been killed nnd others injured. There was
a ciovvd on the streets when the flrstague
news was received nnd this wns stendllv
augmented during the evening. Every ef
fort to obtain any Information of the dls-
ahter and who the victims were proved fu
tile and the excitement was becoming more
intense every minute. Newspaper ofllccs
were besieged with Inquiries and people
were at flrst loth to believe that this source
of Information , which can usually be ro
lled upon , wns unable to give them what
they wished to know. Until the small
hours of the morning the telephones In
these offices were kept constantly ringing
by anxious Inquirers , but It was well along
In the night befoie any Infoimatlou was
forthcoming.
The local telephone line to Logan , where
the accident occurred , was kept constantly
employed by the friends of the excursion
ists who had been left at home and by
those who had attended , carrying meEhagcs ,
but the facilities were necessarily Inade
quate to the emergency. - - .
WAITING roil THn TRAIN ,
Early lu the evening It was stated that
the trnln bearing the survhois would nr-
rlve soon , and a crowd of over 2,000 con
gregated at the depot. As time wore on
and no train and \cry little Information
came the crowd became almost frantic.
All night long the thiong of"anxlous friends
and relatives of the excursionists kept
up their vigil , and when along towaid day
light the trains carrying the sun Ivors ,
the Injured and finally the dead arrived
one after the other there were some heart
rending scenes. While one group would be
Joyfully greeting those who had returned
alive and uninjured thcro were others from
which came up the sobs of the heartbroken
who had learned of the terrible fate which
had befallen those who were dear to
them.
Yesterday all day the streets wcru filled
with little knots of men who were discuss
ing the terrible affair , and It was the nll-
nbsorbing topic In almost every home. The
dead and Injured , coming as they do from
the ranks of these who bnvo lived here
many years , lca\e an unusually large cir
cle to which the loss conies as a personal
one. AH day and Into the night the hos
pitals where the Injured were taken were
besieged with Inquiries as to their condi
tion and the morgues where the dead wcio
lying were overwhelmed with applications
to view the remains. All the latter requests
wcro \ refused except In the case of Imme
diate relatives.
While the Injured were receiving every
care ' at the- hospitals the friends of the
aflllcted ones were doing everything possi
ble ' to soften the blow which had fallen
with such crushing force upon BO many
families. ' In times like theco , however , the
bebt Intended words can do little and often
only servo to sharpen the grief whieh time
alone can heal ,
Very llttlo has been done as yet toward
arranging for the funerals of the victims ,
1 Lut today they will prolnbly all be arranged
for. ' As this work Is taken up the extent
of the calamity which has befallen the
community Is brought tiomo with erush-
Ing force. Some families have been prac
tically wiped out , leaving only one or two
to follow to their last resting place the
majority who met their death In the wreck ,
I.IhT OK Til 13 hOHIJI.V WOUMIKn ,
Ciili'Korlcnl Stnlfiiirnt of I In- More
ScrloiiN InjiirioH biiNlnliifil.
The list of the Injured Is a lengthy one
It contains at least thirty-four names
of persons who were seriously hurt , dan
gerously so , to a greater or less degree
In addition there were at leant titty , If not a
greater number , who received Injuries of a
minor nature. These consisted of bruises
and cuts , or slight dlallguremenls , which
will practically amount to nothing ,
A considerable number also were 8bal.cn
up Bcvcrcly , but beyond thU were unin
jured. Thisvns especially the cape
amongst the passengers who occupied the
cars Immediately behind the one which was
demolished , The Incidental fright , combined
with the shock , throw both men and women
Into hysterics , but owing to the work that
devolved upon the physlelans in earing for
the desperately hurt , t > uch Individuals re
malned without medical atteudanet. , aud
were allowed to get
over their attacks na
best they could ,
The condition , however , left Its effects
upon great numbers of the pnsBciigcrn , and
when they alighted from the trains they
were nil of n tremble , nnd many of them ,
although their limbs were sound and their
general physical condition wns unimpaired , j
required the assistance of friends to lead ' -
them avvny to their homes. It wns a pltla-
1
blc sight to see strong men as weak as any '
woman.
WOHIC Or THE SUUGEONS.
It took much time to prepare the Injured
for their Journey to this city. It wns neces
sary to transport them a considerable dis
tance after the wounds wcro dressed. Owing
to the number , It took still more tlmo for
the physicians , even though they worked a.3
hard as their hearts eoulil for them , to ad
just the bandages and to tenderly dress the
gaping wounds tint caused men and women
and children to scream In the loudest tones
In their supreme agony.
Thus It was that horns elapsed after the
departure of the flrst section of the return
train , which carried the unhurt , before the
second section wns stnrtcd.
. the latter car
ried nit the wounded whose hurts wcro of
nny magnitude It had nlso on board such
filends of the Injured as would not ho torn
awny from or forced to lca\e the sides of
their suffering loved ones.
The section consisted of
two conches , a
baggage car and n Pullman. They were al
most crowded to nn uncomfortable dcgrco
In order to hold the great number that
boarded It. The
baggage car
was used for
these who required cots and stretchers for
the journey. The other was for these who
<
wcio able to sit up or were less Injured.
The scenes which were presented within
the two cars were such as to never ho for
gotten by-those who witnessed them. They
were scenes such as made the strongest
heart grow weak and -sick. They wcro
scenes that caused the tears to well up ,
oven though every one of the participants
was a stranger.
They
were scenes of the
direst woe and lamentation.
TOUCHING SCENES AT THE DEPOT.
The Interior of the baggage car presented
the most pathetic sight. Here were ranged
end to end the cots which
bore the most
seriously injured They filled the car to Its
fullest capacity. Room was hardly allowed
for the phyMclans to
pass from one llttlo
bed to another In their efforts to alleviate
the pains of the
sufferers as
much as their
mortal powers would permit them. Groans
nnd screams filled the car from one end of
the trip to the other.
Beside each cot
and
bending over the
bundle that occupied it knelt or lay the
attendants , the
patents or children , the
brother or sister , the husband
or wife. Tears
streamed down their faces as they tended
to the wants of the
suffering one , fanning
with hat or fan , lifting the glass to the
Up or gently soothing by word or hand.
Hearts were silently breaking as they
watched the quiet or the moaning form ,
which In many cases was struggling with
death ,
The sight In the other car was as pltlabla
a one. In
this the Injured wcro stretched
upon the soft seats , bvvathed In bandages.
Their injuries , however , were not of such
character to force
away thought
, nor
wcro the attentions they required sufficient
to prevent their attendants from dwelling
upon the disaster. Almost without excep
tion they hnd been
passengers In the car
of death and Ijad lost some one In the
crash , The thoughts of the dcnd caused
some to weep silently , others to utaro
btolldly nnd stupidly ns If they hnd been
struck dumb by the blows , others to shriek
nloud In their anculsh ,
LIST OF THE INJURRD.
The Injured who were In such condition
as to require medical attendance weio taken
to St. Joseph's hospital. There were
werecnty -
nlno of these and
the hospital force was
kept on the jump by the sudden Influx , but
by noon all had been attended to and the
physicians reported that all of the victims
were doing well. Regarding those Injured
Internally the doetors said
at least two or
three clays would bo required before their
fate would bo determined , but nil of the
others were said to be doing well nnd sev
eral wcru expeetcd to ho able to leave the
hospital within the next day or BO.
The list of these In the hospital , to
gether with a few others who were severely
Injured but able to get to their homes , U
given below. In addition to these tbcra
were a largo number who unstained eovero
Injuries , eucb as bruised head * , mashed
fingers , etc. , but these made their way to
their homes as quickly as pouslble , and It
was Impossible to locate them. The fol
lowing lint lueludcs all who were seriously
Injured :
UOUKRT nUCIITEL of t22 North Seven
teenth street , his left leg la fractured.
MRS. I3UCHTEL , wife of the abovej
unstained a number of eevere contusions In
the face and forehead , her noeo U broken
and her arm badly injured ,
KATK COSGHOVB of 1111 North Eigh
teenth Mieit , unstained u contusion over tb
light eye , und wan generally and badly
bruised ,
WILLIAM J. SUMMIT of Missouri Valliy/