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


mornng appointed especial committee investigate the
canse Of the late disaster The committee consists Of
Senator Hyatt Dr. Beckwith, Mr. Bissell, and Mr.
IHalsey.
They instructed to repair at 10 the of
dimster and collect facts and report officially bill
ltso introduced making II dne Of for every
kled upon railroad, and imposing heavy penal
njass<s ~ eseenHt - 1pe46euts cSnsad4 4hy sprt-
u ri kthbsoa lnveusig Non of this an6 kis % x
nAs The Isgissture hare also resolved to dppoiDs
board OF railway commissioners, n..-
The following letter from eyewitness gives minute
account of this sad catastrophe and
whchhave appeared in other reports The editor Of the
New fork Times to whom is addressed, says that the
writel can be implicitly relied upon:
NoRwALK, SATURDAY, MAY 7.
hive hesitation in saying that If ordinary caution
had een used in approaching the bridge this frightfu
tragedy would have occurred immediately before
reaching the bridge the track forms curve that the
brdg itself is within sight till you almost upon
1T his certainly is highly faulty arrangement, but
it exits and cannot now well be remedied surely the
exprs trains which do not stop at South Norwak the
spot Fhere the accident occurred land not Norwak,
whchs nearly two miles from the depot should be
PEELED sckn speed on approaching the cmoe OF course,
with he other trains which do stop at the depot such
rule necessary as the bridge being close at hand they
will Pot have resumed any great rate Of speed before
reaching it.
low wish to soy that was present the time of the
catastrophe not board the cars and was very
near lhe bridge The draw was raised when ap-
proae the bridge, and the steamer Pacific had just
passd through 1t then first heard the noise of
the afproaching train. thought myself, Good God!
that the express train" | towards the bridge,
feeling that earthly power could prevent an accident
LlooRd up the signal pole, and the ball down The
train flashed past me like lightning. am tolerable
udgt of railroad speed and should say the train was
goiDda at thrtyfve miles an hour 1t might have
been oreit certainly less The report in some
of Saturdays papers that it going the rate of fifty
milej hour is incorrect The road in most parts,
ayiy graded for such rate of speed TO be attained
Wha felt at that moment cannot describe; cannot
eyenreaize my feelings, recall the horror that
seizd me as the train fed by.
tas only one hundred yards from the bridge and in
{nent the locomotive had almost leaped the gulf
alone convincing that the rate of speed was
not ordinary as the draw is sixty feet vide The
engrf and tender seemed to disappear together, and,
rapid Utmost thought first the baggage car then the
smoking car then the first passenger then the second
went der the wall Of the draw, plunge Of about twenty
feet into the water which was at high tide heard the
crash q breaking tmbers and scream uttered smu
taneously by many voices. Then, for second two,
all was sti death then heard the gurglmg Of the
waters they rushed into the cars forming eddies
little whrlpoos On the surface In anos her smom1p
shx>s from those in the cars, and in the hind pr
Of he third passenger car, filed the air. and in the
infant there was but one scene Of confusion
should have stated what indeed is already web know
tokhe public that the third passenger nearl,
pulled into the water There however the restrain
int of the cars while the weight Of those which
haa gone operated in front to drag the wall
TIE consequence was, that it snapped ike match thu
flooring the Sides and the foremost end flying forward
with jerk half across the draw Manyof the seats
the dsodged window sashes with crowd of timber frag
cnts impelled some Of them, fully the gulf
and two Of the passengers who seated just at thu
spot where the snapped asunder thrown full
twenty feet forward and pitched with fghtu force
the ruins of the second and first cars.
yVae VIII oil 10 hrnn Op1,
portion of one end Of the second visible, and th
water soon covered tha suppose by the sinking of thu
first car upon which it had fallen, deeper into the mud
q The baggage car submerged also the loco
motive and tender. The smoking was caught upor
the piles Of the bridge, which partially kept It above
water learned that there only eight persons il
4 it, and that they all escaped.
On hurryiug the beach, saw forty or fifty persons
struggling with the water, crawling up the end Of thu
second passenger car, catching at fragments Of thu
floating wreck 1t curious fact that of the pas
sensers who were in the third car seated almost
point where it broke asunder mpelled into the
water while Others as have stated, were sent flying
forward
Language fails to depict the which followed Tn,
who were uninured and those whose bruises
were sufficiently slight allow them themselves
thronged to the assistance Of the drowning The poor
creatures taken out Of the car windows were
brought to break through the sides and roofs Of the
and as fast rs any the surface effort Il
save them was made by some men who had put of ID
boats or who had ventured into the water far the
own safety permitted. The steamer Pacific, which had
lust passed through the draw put back and ropes
thrown out and boat lowered did not any one
taken on board One gentleman, who thrown off the
wall from the breaking of the third car escaped by swim
ming | see it stated in of the papers that none
we're killed out Of the third That quite erroneous,
as two we're certainly drowned. think that es-
caped out Of the first car Indeed il deeply i'm
bedded in the mud that those who not killed by the
shock of the fall must have been drowned almost IN.
stantly.
OF the terrible which ensued hour afterwards
when the recovered bodies were taken TO the depot OF
the appearance of the dead and Of their identification by
their friends and relatives have power to write One
lady Mrs Harley, formerly Miss Frances O. Shermann)
was found in the fret passenger She was casping
an infant The great beauty~both Of the wife and child
noticed by every spectator they lay side by SIDE ~
their cofins in the depot.
Some incidents occurred in the river which have not
seen noticed One emerged from aperture IN the
second car and succeeded in gaining the end which was
not submergeo, and in climbing upon it. He however
slipped back into the water think be would have re-
covered his hold Of the car but at the moment making
the exerton womans rose above the surface ana
convulsively grssped his coat He again SUNK ana on
rising, while buetng the water, and making nm attempt
to get hold Of the car seized him by the leg 5ust
he raising himself out Of the water lie fei oaok
third time the other apparently retaining hs hold
They sunk together and think neither Of them rose