The personal incidents which occurred were numerous. Many of these have been brought to public attention through the press, yet there are others which have not been narrated. Every one had his own story, but in the confusion of the scene no one is really supposed to have a clear view of the whole event.

These incidents are told by the different passengers who escaped and by the citizens who hastened to the rescue. The following are given as showing the experiences of the women who were on the train. There were many who perished, and it is affecting to read the story of their sufferings while so helpless in the wreck. But the heroism manifested by those who escaped, is especially worthy of note.

The “Cleveland Leader” contains the following:

“At the time of the disaster a man rushed down to the scene ready to help; he saw a woman struggling for life and went to her assistance; he carried her by main force to the solid ice, and then, urged by the cries of the mother, went back to the rescue of a sweet child of three or four years of age; the treacherous wood in splintering, had caught the child in its grasp, and the fire completed the terrible work. The man was compelled to see the child enveloped in flames, and to hear her cries of ‘Help me, Mother!’ ringing out in the agony of death and on the ears of the cruel night. In a moment she was lost, swept up by the sharp tongues of fire, while her mother in helpless agony fell to the earth in a deadly swoon.”

Mr. Reid, one of the passengers, saw a woman held in the ruins and burning. She was calling out amid her groans, “Shoot me, and get me out of this misery.” The saddest sight he saw was a woman looking at her burning child.

Mrs. Lew says when the crash came she was lying down with her head near the open window. The next thing she knew was that her head was out in the open air, and her body inside of the car. As soon as she got her head out, she saw the newsboy who had a few minutes before supplied her with reading matter. She begged of him to help her. He said, “I would be glad to, but my old mother is dependent on me for her entire support. If I am killed what will she do?” Mrs. Lew again entreated him to assist her. He then came so near to her as to be able to take hold of her hand by extending his arms full length. As they joined hands the newsboy pulled and Mrs. Lew threw herself forward, coming out of the car. She then walked on the ice to the bank, where she was helped up the embankment by men and taken to an eating-house, where her wounds were dressed.

A villager saw a woman caught, back of the platform railing, and attempted to pull her out. It was only by superhuman effort he succeeded, then only to find them both up to the waist in the water. “Can you save me?” she asked him, in tones that went to his heart. “Yes, if you hold on,” he said. She did hold on to him with all her strength, and he got her safely to the shore, although in the water several times.

The story of Mrs. Bingham has been already told. She owed her life to her own determined spirit, though it is remarkable that any woman with a broken limb could summon the courage to break a window and then jump into the water and draw herself to the land. The heroism of Mrs. Swift has been mentioned by the papers, and the author takes pleasure in adding his testimony to the noble and lovely spirit which she manifested through all the sad scenes. The following is an account of the manner of her escape:

“Mrs. Swift retained her senses and her presence of mind. She was badly injured at the time, but did not realize it. When the accident occurred there was a terrible crash; the bell-rope snapped like the report of a pistol, and the lights were extinguished. As the cars went down there was no noise. Her husband was hurled across the aisle and held down senseless. She was wedged in between two seats, but extricated herself. She spoke to her husband, but he made no reply, and she thought he was dead. The agony of her mind at that moment was fearful to contemplate. She finally, with the aid of Mr. White, got him out. He was then delirious, and hardly knew where he was going. Her anxiety was all for her husband. Miss Shepard, Mrs. Graham and Mr. White then took or assisted everybody out of the car, reassuring them by words and deeds, and thus aided in saving many lives.”

Miss Shepard, of Ripon, Wis., proves to have been a heroine in the terrible tragedy. Many of the survivors have spoken of her as so brave in the midst of the danger. She “was very cool and collected,” says Mr. Sturgis, “and she acted in a heroic manner. She helped the women out, and while I was trying to get the men out, she was on the outside smashing the windows with a piece of timber, clearing the way for those inside.”

Mr. White, of Portland, says:

“She was one of the bravest and best women I ever met. She got out by herself. When I at last came out of the Palatine, after I was satisfied that there were no more persons in the car, the gentlemen who had had their legs broken were still lying within a few feet of the burning cars, and their lives were now again in jeopardy.

“To save their lives was my next endeavor. I couldn’t take the two at once. So I took hold of one and dragged him some thirty feet away. Poor fellow! he had several ribs broken, and his ankle was swollen to three times its size. I was very weary at this time. The fire was all the time encroaching, more and more, and the agonizing cries of suffering and burning humanity were hushed, as they suffocated or the cruel flames sent death to relieve them. I got my man away, but the other was still there. This one was delirious from pain and excitement. I was anxious for both. A citizen from Ashtabula came along, and I asked him to watch my charge while I brought back the other to a place of safety. He said he would. I had just reached the other man, when I looked around and saw that the citizen had deserted his post. But there stood Miss Shepard by me. We stood in full eighteen inches of snow and six inches of water, the ice having been broken and crushed by the cars. She said coolly, ‘Can’t I do something to help you? I am uninjured.’ I got the other man away to a place of safety, some twelve feet back from the car. It wasn’t over seven minutes after the fall before our car was burning, too.” Mr. C.E. Torris says: He saw her standing on the ice and dipping her handkerchief in the water and washing away the blood from the face of a wounded man. And the citizens of Ashtabula also speak of her, and say that it seemed so strange to see her, while all the rest were wounded and bleeding, moving around the engine room, assisting in every way, calm and self-possessed. She seemed more like some good angel who had been sent at such an hour to bestow the gentle ministration of her sex upon the suffering.”