Minnesota weekly times., 1854-11-07
THE ACcIDENr ON THE GREAT WESTERN
RAILROAD.


the awful details of the tragedy on the Great
Western railroad. The Tribune gives list Of
roRTY-sEvEN of the dead. Mr.. Thomas Francis
Meagher, who was on the train at the time, fur
nshes the Tribune the particulars of the disaster.
We give the following synopsis from the vari-
Gus accounts -~~<
The train left the Suspension Bridge about 2
P. NJ. Of Thursday. 1t consisted of two baggage
cars-the one nearest the engine containing the
luggage of the through passengers, the second
one that of the way passengers-two second class
cars, and four first class cars. The foremost of
the first class cars, as well the two second class
cars, was principally occupied by emigrants, chief
ly German. At st. George, station between
Hamilton and Paris, the train was detained by
gravel train, whose locomotive had run off the
track. This detention lasted somewhere between
two and three hours. The night set in very dark,
accompanied by dense, wet fog The engineer
proceeded at a very slow pace, never at rate of
more than ten miles per hour, and often at slow
er pace. The whistle was used at frequent inter-
walls, to warn any train that might be approaching,
Of danger, as the fog was SO thick that the light
on the engine was good for nothing.
Leaving London a little past one O'Clock Fri
day morning, they proceeded about four miles
when they were brought to stand-still by the
head of one of the cylinders bursting. The en-
gineer returning to London on foot and procured
announcer euSlue WHICH ldu ~ Dc ureu up DcIOrc IL
could reach the the spot, which made the delay
something over an hour.
MIR. Meagher occupied the front first class
where he was sleeping. The train passed on
slowly and leaving Chattam at 80 and reached
the fatal spot at 10 A. NJ. He had been asleep
about 20 minutes when hewa startled by deep,
rumbling noise, like the sound Of a heavy, spent
wave as it subsidies. On coming to clearer con-
sciousncss, he distinctly heard the crashing and
ripping of the timbcrs all around him, mingled
with the most fearful shrieks and groans and the
noise of escaping steam. The floor under him
was vibrating while he was crushed in the seat,
the roof falling down Immediately before him,
striking him in the face with large torn fragment.
Fires were Immediately kindled by the passen-
gers, which afforded light by which at glance
the awful wreck and havoc which had been made
could be seen.
The passenger engine and tender were lying at
the foot of the embankment- 20 feet high
bottom side upwards smashed into fragments,
with the smoke stack and iron portions embedded
in the marsh, which at this point Baptist Creek)
stretched out on both sides of the road.
The first baggage car was perfectly unhurt, but
the second one was dashed into the second class
car, and with the latter formed an immense mass
of splinters, wood work, iron work, bones, brains,
mangled flesh, torn clothes, broken rifles, leaves
of bread and and other eatables, jumbled togeth-
er as if mine of gun-powdcr, had blown them
into this enormous heap of rubbish. The last
| second class car had been driven right upon the
roof Of the forward first class car more than half
| way in length.
1t appears that the passenger train was going
at the time, at the rate of 20 % miles an hour
and gravel train was backing down from st.
| George station at a high rate of speed, the con-
ductor suppOsng that the express train had passed.
So terrible was the shock that the car next to
the baggage car was jumped completely over the
I'd class car, killing or wOunding nearly all the
passengers in both cars, and smashing them to
atoms. The front first class car was also dashed
to pieces, and the passengers in the front part
nearly all killed, or badly injured.
The scene that presented itself battles all at
tcmpts at description. The Advertiser SAYS:
''He who has seen the sight, or heard the ap-
pallng cry will remember it to his dying hour,
but the hand Of Divinity would fail to do it Just
ic,. Amid the confused pile of fragments, scat
tered in every direction, lay the mangled remains
of more than fifty persons. Here lay the corpse
of a mother, mangled beyond description, while
| a few feet further on was a mass of flesh and
| blood which had once been her loving child
| Here lay leg and an arm or head, while the
| body to which they belonged was buried in the
mass Of fragments, now smoking with human
gore"
But sadder yet were the appeals Of the wound
| ed, who lay groaning under the broken cars, and
| writhing in pain worse than death. Then the
pleading, fearful entreaties of mothers for their
darlings, which this calamity had rendered un-
slightly and unknown. Their shrieks even chilled
strong arm.
On both sides of the embankment, below the
| cars were the wounded and dying-some of them
| flung out violently from the wreck, others having
crawled down with broken legs, while yet others
had been carried to the fires by the passengers. 1t
is shocking to think of the scene, as it would
be utterly s:c1ening to describe the varied wounds
and hi1teous mntilntinuS inf;c ctadu fho
| sufferers.
Upon the Conductor and others cutting their
| way through the foremost first class car into the
wreck, and clearing away the fragments, they
| found some twenty bodies of men, women and
children, wedged in together with the fragments
front of battery of cannon, could not have pre-
| sented more horrible spectacle.
The havoc among the children was dreadful
several of them being killed outright, some in
their mothers arms, whilst those who were alive
were many of them badly manned. As an in
stance of this it may be mentioned that four
children had their legs amputatcd.
hand car was Immediately dispatched for
surgeons, who soon arrived, and did all in their
| power to alleviate the suffcrings Of those who
were not killed outright.
CY lady advertising in the Water Cure Jour
nal for husband, gives the following description
of herself:
sSI am just twenty, but will not marry before I
am two years older. l am graduate of the Ma
rietta Seminary. l can do all kinds of sewing,
from embroidery to linscy pantaloons. l can do,
and love to do, all kinds of house work, from
making pies and bread to washing shirts. l can
skate, ride, dance, sing, play on the piano
spinning wheel, or anything that may reasonably
be expected of my sex. If required, l can act
the part of Ounce in the society of the supper
ten,' or the part of a woman among women. AS
for riding, here allow me to make a banter any
man may bring two horses, give me choice and
ten feet, and then if he overtake me in mile
am his, if not the horse is mine. Beware! am
believer in hydropathy, and use no tea or coffee,
neither do wear cOrsets but am willing my
husband shall do either if he likes. l believe in
woman's rights but believe have no right to
meddle, with politics or mans business in gen.
eral, neither have men the right to medde with
ours.
As for appearance, am neither tall nor short,
large nor small, but am just as / was made.
have never attempted to alter my shape or color,
as am perfectly satisfied with the same. BY fops,
l am styled handsome; by the young men on
whom am pleased to smile, am styled the
height of perfection; by those frown upon, the
devils imp;' by the wise and sober am called
wild and foolish; by my female acquaintances,
sMolly;' and by my uncle l am called 'Tom.' If
l marry, it will be man who uses no profanity,
spirits, or tobacco. He may be young or old,