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South Canterbury Times, Issue 7078, 25 February 1893, Page 3

any preand St Louis the most fearful feats ever recorded. Tho

united train from the s!dt ran into an open switch station, crashing into a train of freight cars containing a number of oil tanka. Soma of the tanks exploded, scattering oil all over the wreck, which immediately caught fire. Before the flatneo were subdued four freight cars, three oil tanks, a baggage car, and the locomotive of the express train wore completely destroyed. Just as the collision occurred tho fireman of the express {train leaped to the ground and, escaped with slight injuries. The engineer, Boss, remained in hie car and was carried through the wreck. He was pinned between the tender and boiler, was covered with oil from tho burning tanks, and was literally boiled to death. The passengers of the express train escaped with a bad shakingup The crew of the freight train also got off unharmed. At noon tho fUmes reached and exploded the gasoline tanks, killing eleven persons and injuring nineteen others. Tbeie whs a crowd of spectators, and the flaming liquid was showered over them in all directions, and the air was filled with agonised howls and cries for help. For sixteen days (says a Hamburg despatch of January 3lst) three sailors rescued from tho Norwegian ship Throokli subsisted on human fiosh. The three strangled a fourth companion and lived on raw strips of meat cut from his corpse. the time of their rescue until 3lat of January those unfortunates have been insane from their sufferings ia '■■he rigging of the foundering ship. Two of them recovered sufficiently on tho 31st to tell their story. The ship was in heavy weather from December when she left Philadelphia. Her decks were flooded, the dock houses and rails were swept away and the steering apparatus broken- When it was found there was no hops of bringing the ship into port, the mastpr, mate and eight seamen got away in a boat. The other boats were smashed *>y the waves before they could be lowered. Nine men were obliged to remain in the rigging. They were unable to got food from below, and five of them, trade insane by exposure and starvation, jumped overboard- The other four remained aboard from December 22nd until January 7lh, the day of their rescue On the thirteenth day lots were drawn to determine which should be killed and eaten, and the lot fell twice in succession to a Dutch sailor. He was strangled and devoured raw by the others. The only drinking water the seamen got was dew they licked from tho ropes.