Wann, IL Train Wreck, Jan 1893 - Twenty One Victims

TWENTY - ONE VICTIMS

Terrible Result of the Explosion Near Alton, Ills.

BLAZING OIL SCATTERED ABOUT

The Force of the Explosion Sent the Fluid Over Two Hundred Feet in the Air, and when it Descended Upon the People It Was a Veritable Rain of Fire-- Awful Suffering of Scores of Injured People At the Hospital.

Alton, Ills, Jan.23.-- The explosion of an oil tank at the railway wreck at Wann Saturday was much more disastrous than first reported. Sixteen people have died of their injuries and many more are believed to be fatally burned. The list of the dead so far is as following:

HIRAM A. CORNELIUS, IOWA, student of Shurthff college;
DAN HARRIS of Alton Junction;
JOHN LOCK, glassblower, of Alton;
EDWARD MILLER, Alton Junction;
EDWARD MAUPIN, of St. Charles, Mo.;
WILLIAM McCARTHY, boy, Alton, Ills;
WILLIAM MILLER, Alton Junction;
HENRY PENNING of American Bottoms;
HENRY PINNEY of Alton Junction;
ROSS WEBB, Mattoon, Ills. engineer of limited;
WILLIAM SHATTUCK, Upper Junction;
CHARLES UTT, boy, Alton;
HENRY WIGGINS, Alton Junction;
JOHN WILKINSON, Alton;
unknown man, supposed to be JOHN MANNS of Upper Alton;
unknown man, not identified.

At the morgue wives and mothers, sisters and daughters, on being shown the bodies of the beloved dead, shrank back in horror and could scarcely be convinced that the distorted features before them were all that remained of those so dear to them and whose taking away meant in some instances the loss of their sole support and rehance.

The Runaway Switchman
No trace has been found of the runaway switchman, Richard Grattan. A rumor that he had returned to his work Sunday morning proved to be unfounded, and it is thought he has gone for good. The total loss to the company, the officials state, will be between $125,000 and $150,000. The railway company sent the remains of the dead engineer, Webb Ross, to Mattoon Saturday night. One curious feature about the affair is that when the tanks exploded the oil shot directly upward to a hight [sic] of some two or three hundred feet, then, as if impelled by some central force, suddenly shot in all directions, taking a circuitous course toward the ground. LOUIS UTT, who was instantly burned to death, was almost underneath one of the tanks and was scalded by oil that ran over the sides of the tanks. The blazing, flying oil was distinctly visible at Alton, four miles away. To be visible there it must have reached a hight [sic] of over two hundred feet.

Some Ghastly Finds
Numbers of ghastly finds have been the result of the search and two more terribly burned men have been discovered far from the place where they were overtaken by the flames. Both were alive but will undoubtly die. Pieces of flesh, numbers of hands, or the skin from hands with the finger nails still adhering were found, pieces of money melted together by the heat were picked up 300 yards away from the location of the exploded oil tank, while clothing thrown away as it burned on the bodies of the victims was to be found in every direction. The grass in the fields around is burned in many places, showing where the burning men and boys rolled in their agony. The hospitals are full and many private houses are crowded with the poor unfortunates, a large number of whom will undoubtedly die. A careful canvass of these places Sunday results in the finding of sixteen dead and fifty-seven wounded. Of the latter probably fourteen will die before twenty-four hours have passed.

Inhaled the Flames
Of the fatally injured all are more or less seriously burned about the limbs and body, but the worst injuries sustained are fearfully burned hands and faces. All are also injured internally from inhaling the burning flames, which scorched and parched their throats to such an extent that their escape from instant death is almost miraculous. The others injured suffer from burns on various parts of the head, limbs and body. When the awfulness of the catastrophe, as related by eye-witnesses who were fortunate enough to escape injury, is made known the only wonder is that the list of casualties is not twice as large as it is. By the time the bells were ringing for services Sunday morning nearly the whole population was out on the streets, but for the majority St. Joseph's hospital seemed to be the objective point, and had the various clergymen, instead of holding forth in their usual places, gone up the little hill on which the hospital is situated they would have found congregated there a large majority of their communicants.

Begged To Be Killed
The scenes in the wards occupied by the injured were even more heartrending than Saturday. Lying on cots, wrapped and swathed in cotton and bandages until they almost lost semblance to human beings, and surrounded by weeping relatives and sorrowing friends, they formed a picture that brought tears to the eyes of even the physicians, accustomed as they are to such sights. The moaning of the patients were piteous. Every few moments some tortured person writhing in agony would half rise from his couch, then fall back, suffering more intense pain than before.

Seeming to know by intuition when the physician was near them they would beg to be relieved from their pain. "Doctor, for God's sake, kill me and put me out of this misery," said one. "O, for an instant's relief from this!" cried another.

Almost Unrecognizable
At the morgue Sunday, awaiting the undertaker, were the bodies of five of those who died during the night. The bandages had been removed from the bodies and the fearful ravages of the burning oil were plainly apparent. Scarcely one of the five could be recognized even by relatives. The oil wherever it had touched the skin had burned deep into the flesh, while such portions of the cuticle as escaped entire destruction were blistered and in many places blackened by the intense heat. The lips were terribly swollen and discolored and the eyes of all five were burned out entirely. Every vestige of hair was burned off of face and head, and in many places the skull and cheek bones were exposed.

Later-- GEORGE ROLOFF, J. N. MURRAY and CHARLES HALLER died at the
hospital Monday morning.

Twenty-One Victims.

Two more victims CHARLES HALLEN and HENRY JENNINGS, died at Wann Monday morning. This makes the death total up to 2 o'clock Monday afternoon twenty-one.

There are at Wann seven more cases, the most serious of which are John Henry, Jr; Henry Weigand, John Philfert and a son of Charles Hermann. These are all badly burned and their chances for recovery are small. The doctors believe that the other sufferers will recover. The fire at the wreck is out and there is no further danger of explosion. The coroners jury is still at work.

The Daily Review, Decatur, IL 24 Jan 1893