The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-08-31
WORCESTER AND PROVIDING z
RAILROAD DISASTER.

The Boston Traveller, ofAug. 18th, has the
following letter in relation to the late disaster
on the Worcester and Providence road:
NoRrnpRIpGE CENTRE, August IL.
As was on board one ofthe trains yesterday
morning, when the terrible collision took place
on the Providence and Worcester Railroad,
hasten to give you an account of the scene as
witnessed it, was a passenger on board the
excursion train, with some three or fourthundfed
others, from Uxbridge, Whitinville in North
bridge, and East Douglass. l was seated, with
my wife, in about the middle of the second car
llwas first alarmed for an instant by terrible
whistle then came crash upon crash, with
violent conclusion All before ME in the car
seemed to be thrown into confused mass to-
gethor broken seats flying, and the forward
part of our car crushing in like an egg shell =
| had time merely to say to my wife. Keep
quiet, don't rise" as the bottom of the car be-
hind us shot directly over my head, taking Oft
nv hat Then followed the most heart.rending
cries, accompanied by mass of men and wo-
men buried beneath the shattered timbers of the
bottom of the car. My wife and myself were
for few moments confined between the floor
above US and the broken seats, although wholly
| uninjured. During these few moments terri.
BILE sense of suffocation oppressed me. BY the
tearing away of the seat before us, was ena-
bled to ex,ricate Mrs. Bates, although a dying
man near me was clutching my hair, crying,
sc Mr. Bates, save me, oh, save me !" As soon
/ as Mrs. Bates was liberated and passed for
ward. lost sight of her amid the ruins, but
she called to me that she was safe, and refues-
ted me to turn my attention to the wounded
around me, and soon after suffered herself 10 be
removed from the window. l Immediately
| broke out the two windows near me-ihen
| hi hold If shoulders
crushed beneath The large timbers of the car
bottom He told me his feet were not fast =
| With desperate effort extricated him, when
the floor settled in such way as would have
| crushed him, had he remained half minute
more. | then broke down with my feet the seat
on which had been sitting, to liberate the pool
man, Mr.. Thomas Brown, Of Whitinsville, who
had caught me by the hair, and lady, Mrs
Richmond, of Southbridge, whose heads were
beneath the back of the seat and held by large
timber of the car bottom over them. But al
though broke down the seat, the timber wa:
So confined by connection with other timbers
and by the oil cloth carpeting of the car, thai
they could not be removed untila man near me
and cut the carpet with'our knives. Before We
could extricate them they had both ceased t.
speak One seemed alive as we put him through
the window to those without, but he snoa died
Mrs. Richmond was entirely dead. contin
ued to strive to relieve the wounded. One MAJ
to whom | could not get, called me by name
beseeching me to remove the timber that hat
crushed his leg. He was soon freed by others
his leg horribly crushed.
| assisted in removing the bodies of thre,
dead and in recovering from beneath the shat
tered floor five persons, more or less wounded
left the car only till every person was liberia
ted and removed. | wonder that all behind IN
in our car were not killed. Very few escape
without serious wounded or garments staine
with blood.
The common impression here is that the &C
cident was owing to the desperate and too!-hal
DIV recklessness of the conductor of our train
Frederick Putnam, who, as well as the enginee
were new hands on the road.
Our cars hardly stopped at the depot we pas
sed above the accident, and as we passed, ma
apparently connected with the road, at the de
f PIT, demonstrated with the conductor against tn
proceed, and, as We passed, at rapid rat'
a remarked, "There will be smash up in tw
= minutes" That collision did take place in lie:
than that time. Grateful to kind Providenc
d for my preserv alton in such terrible hour,
e am yet indignant at the recklessness of an in
S considerate conductor. The scene around tt
a cars, with the mangled dead and the groans
e the dying, will not attempt to describe.
n The kindness ofthe people of Valley Fal
and Central Falls, and their efforts in the e.
| cosSive heat is worthy of all commendation