Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-05-14

out Of the second car alive The excitement was IN
tense were rushing down with qutSto cover ths
dead others vaiuy striving to restore 70 nfe he
poor victims as they were taken out"
The following is extracted from the statement Of gen.
teman who was passenger in the train;
~ started from New York about o'clock, In com,
pany with great many Of my friends, for Boston ana
all passed of In the usual until We neared NOT,
walk where the bridge left open and three cars and
engine we're preciptaed the river distance Of about
twenty feet from the bridge The concussion in the las.
car was very violent and 1t not until leaped OUT o.
1t that knew the extent Of the awSni oetssuoPne.
bridge, and there to my horror beheid scene that
shall not forget until the day die The engine was
stuck deep into the mud the far side and was
by baggage smoking, and two passenger cars, al o.
them being totally submerged.
sThe melancholy and hcartrending portion Of my story
yet remains to be told Both Of the passenger cars %
at the e and the loss OF life Of very great
There In fact only about six or seven persons wno
escaped with their lives; all the rest, amounting g
nearly fifty persons we're drowned cars were
- Nv ones in which any lives were lost The baggage
car and smoxns !. 80 "''' ''0Ns- R'ssss' ~''
fl g Aa snon rnssihio the bodies I'd laid
beings in the two passenger carSwere fshed up 49,
out in the depot and engine room, where anxious
crowd Of spectators were endeayoring to identify the
bodies
Mr. THOMAS HICKS the artist was In the first car with
Miss KING, Of New York, They occupied seat within
four Of the end Of the car the right hand side facing
the engine. Mr. Hicks descrihesthe follows
" The cars were seemingly going at the usual rate,
when, without warning intimation Of any kind, he be-
held the front part of the rushing toward him in frag
ments the passengers being tossed in the air like cha
dashed up against the top of the car thrown about in
hurricane of destruction In instant he found Miss
King gona from his side and himself crushed under the
partially fallen roof of the car, and surrounded by
choking atmosphere in the midst of shapeess mass OF
ruins dead bodies every hand and the darkened
rapidly filling with water. He began feeling among the
wreck and under the water for his companion but she
was nowhere to be found lie continued the search till
the water had risen to his chin, time which he judged
have been about minutes when desparing OF her
recovery he looked about him for mode Of escape Just
behind him. at the Of the car he behed an aper
ture through which he crawled out upon the top Here
he fingered with view the search for his
panon; when he accosted by some one, who asked
him for whom he was looking. lie described the adys
Dress when his interocutor informed him, to his mex
pressbe astonishment and gratfcation that she had Just
gone upon the track He ascertaned aferward that
the front of the stove atoms by the concusson
and that the top of split open lateray the side
where he sat- and this occasoncd that side Of the roof to
fall 1t also appeared that during the instantaneous
of splitting open the top Of the and the fall of
the ceiling Miss King without any knowledge or agency
of her ow had been projected through the creyce upon
the top of the And here, without having been wet
but with wound in the face she found herself
with another precipated upon it, which passed her
and tumbed into the river beside the wreck of the
first Her escape and the Of it especially was
miracle Mr. Hicks called out when he discovered the
Of escape to those in the car If so there be any
living to hear pointing the way of getting out But
he but person avail himself Of the notice, or es
cape in any. way.
Mr.. ]. Baows, (of the firm of E. j. Brown S Co. Of
New York; passenger in the train, and ut the time
Of the catastrophe was reading in the smoking ROOM
!. Ia ia
tender and two baggage passed the gap will
such force strike the abutments and rebound ID
was much bruised The second passenger car dashe'
into the first nearly half its length The death o. near
but one shrek; then all still DEATH save the surg
ing the waters they first recoed from the force
the conclusion and then closed in upon the car d.
thinks lost out of the third car or at most bu
or two"
| We extract part of the evidence given before th
Coroners Inquest showing conclusivey that the catas
trophe attributable the criminal recklessness Of thu
Conductor and Engineer. The train was going at th
rate of fifty miles the hour:
/ o. s. FERRY, Norwalk, being duly sworn, deposed
saw the accident which occurred today standing
about twenty rods above the bridge at the time; had
full view of the train and the drawbrdge the signal wa
down for full ten minutes before the train was In sight
the train going at full speed much that the 10
comotve struck the abutment ohe dxaw upon the oppo
site side; n my opinion do not think that the man
charge OF the draw was 10 blame,
in charge of the train wholly and entirely to blame
did not hear whistle given TO put the brakes; an
certain that the parties having charge of the train are
blame; heard no signal given to slack speed heard
long whistle when the train opposite the depot q
| Norwalk.
! GEoRGE W WHISTLER, Jr., being sworn said: The per
In chargeof train the signal red ball. whic
is at the draw from about quarter of mile above Nor
walk after that they lose sight Of it, in my opinion,
the station; if the signal be lowered from the time q
which ii is first and the time Of his losing sight OF
the station, the engineer could still brake up" b.
Stacking speed to the rate of miles hour he
to the curve they in all ordered to approach
that cautously they to exceed speed o
ten miles hour; il he the signal down when jus
at the station, he could not stop until he reached tn
bridge; the signal is always lowered before the mai
touches the draw he has then 20 to each end Of tn
bridge to get the wedges the engineer Of train
under the direction Of the conductor have heard as
general report that the conductor told the engineer -
drive like hell through Norwak two gentleman want
ed to get there and he did not wish to STOP Tn
accident positively, could not have occurred If thu
engineer kept proper lookout. think the fault
entirely with the engineer If the train stopped at Nor
walk il would attain rate often twelve miles hou
before reaching the draw.
Mr.. WHISTLER is the Superintendent Of the road. III
further testified that Edard Tucker, the engineer
guilty Of collision the road year ago, and was the
censured for not obeying the conductor Why did tn
company keep him any longer in its employ?
Several Of the passengers who were examined testfe
that there Stacking Of speed and that the sigma
was down, ms it should have BEEN
II THE KILLED.
We have the names of fortyone Of the victims Of thi