Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1853-08-25
The late Railroad Accident.

The late Railroad Accident.
The Providence Journal contains the YER
dict of the Coroner's Inquest which investigat-
ed the causes of the late accident on the Prov
idence and Worcester Railroad, as follows go
That the said collision happened on the 10Th
of August, 1853, on the Providence and Wor-
cester Railroad, between the village Of Val
lev Falls and the curve north of the Boston
switch in the town of Smithfeld; and that the
said bodies were brought from thence to the
Public Hall, in Cumberland, by persons TO
the inquest unknown
That said collision was the immediate re-
s9it Of the culpable carelessness, inexperience
and want of Judgment of Frederick W. Put
nam, the conductor of the Uxbridge train, in
leaving the station at Valley Falls, when by
his time he had but four minutes in which to
reach the Boston switch, which we say was in
disregard of the Railroad Company orders
and Instructions.
SecOnd-In not provid ng himself with
suitable and correct time piece, his watch
proving to be two minutes behind the true
time; and yet it had been set with the Com
pany's time, at Providence, the night before
the collision took place.
We blame the managers of the road for
having appointed so young and inexperienced
a man as Mr.. Putnam to be the conductor of
the UXbrldge train-One of the most difficult,
if not the most difficult train to manage on the
road, and in the running of which is involved
the greatest risk of human life.
We blame the managers for not ascertain
ing that every conductor on the road was not
provided with correct time piece, by which
to run his train; and further, for not ascer-
tanning the reason why the UXbridge train,
since it has been under the charge of Mr.. Put
nam, has almost invariably been behind its
time, and not applying the remedy.
We say, that the train from Providence, on
which were the President of the Railroad
Company, the Superintendent, and an expert
enced conductor, should have started from the
Boston switch the very second the signal was
given. BY so doing it might have reached in
the one minute lost, point on the road where
it would have been in view from the Valley
Falls station; and thus this great calamity
would probably have been avoided. This de-
lay we consider attributable to the conductor
of the Providence train, in permitting the en-
gineer, fireman and brakeman to be absent
from their places, when the signal to start was
given. r
llldily, VIC Sdy tIftI .WHOlc arrangement
in regard to these trains is bad. There is no
necessity for crowding them towards the Bos-
ton switch, so near upon the time of each, and
so near upon that of the Boston train; that the
Especial rule in regard to the trains at this
point is insufficient, and that some signal
north of the curve and in sight of the Valley
Falls station, should have been used to warn
the Uxbridge train of the approach of the train
no nfc
would, in our opinion, have prevented this
sad catastrophe.
The Providence Journal adds: 4'
Frederick Putnam, the conductor of the
down train of the Providence and Worcester
Railroad at the time of the late accident has
been arrested and held to bail in the sum of
ten thousand dollars, to answer the charge
made against him by the coroner's inquest. -
We do not know that any other person charged
with completely in the transactions has been
arrested.
COMMENCEMENT. The following is the or
der of proceedings at Bowdoin College, dur
ing Commencement week, as we learn from
the Brunswick Telegraph :-
Tuesday, p. NJ, Sept. 6th-Anniversary of
the Literary OocleueS-
Grafton by Hon. Bellamy Storer, of Cincin-
nati-Poem by Henry ]. Gardner, Esq, of
Tuesday ere-Grand Concert by Dodworth's
Band
70 Neutrality-suspicious. of the graduating
class
i LNoJ,,osd,,, ,,;,rbt Co,anooaoo-uo.. Nm W.
the Tontine Hall, for which Dodworth's Band
furnish the music HA
Thursday, Ill, A. M. Anniversary of the
Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Maine-O Grafton by
Rev. Henry B. Smith, of New York, Poem
by James L. Field, Esq, of Boston.
DEMOCRATIC GAINS. The result Of the
August elections looks as though the people
endorsed the new administration. Extrava-
gaut stories, generally Of wing origin, have
following does not look like confirmation of
those stories =
In Arkansas, new district, the democrats
have gained one member of Congress. In
North Carolina, one, and in Alabama one
In Tennessee, which was one Of the immor
tai Scott States, the democrats have gained
Gocernor by the largest majority any canji-
date has received for years. Where is the
wing party!
Butler and Cheese, says the Boston Post, are
likely to be abundant and cheap during the
coming autumn. Though the crop of hay, in
most parts of New England has been some
what less than the average, yet the ''fall feed''
which furnishes the basis of nearly all the
dairy product that goes into the market, prom
Uses to be uncommonly luxuriant and nutri-
tive The present high price of butter cannot
long be maintained, as large quantities are
now being packed in the grazing districts,