The daily Minnesota pioneer., 1854-11-08
Terrible Railroad Accident.

lished in the city papers few days sinceTcon-
viewed hitherby Mr.. JNo. CArnCARr, just re-
turned from visit to Canada. We copy from
the Detroit Adrert.ser:
T. The Express Train over the Great Western
Railway, due at Windsor last Thursday night,
came in collision with a gravel train, about
one mile cast of Baptist Creek, or nearly 81
miles from Windsor. The express train was
3:45 minutes behind time; anJ WAS running at
the rate of 26 miles an hour. 'Hhe gravel train
was backing into Chatham, suppOsing that the
Express had passed.
The collision was the most frightful affair
ever known on a western road The Express
consisted of four first class, and two second
class cars, all full of passengers. SO forciblc
was the shock that the car next to the bag
gage car, was jumped completely over the sec
Ond class car, killing or woundng nearly all
the passengers in both cars, and smashing
them to pieces. The front of the first class
cars was also dashed to pieces, and the passcn-
gers in the front part nearly all killed OF badly
injuel
When the daylight dawnod through the
dense for, the most hcart-ret!iny scene pre-
scntcd itself Amid the confused pile of irag-
ments, scattered in every direction, lay the
manylcd remains of more than fifty persons
Here lay the corpse of a mother manglcd be-
yond description, while few feet farther Oh,
was a mass of flesh and b.ood, which had once
been her loving child. Here lay leg CT an
arm, or head, while the body to which they
belonged was buried in the mass Of fragments
now smoking with human gore.
But saddcr yet were the appeals of the
wounded, who lay groaning under the broken
cars, and writhiny i'll pain worse than death.
Then the pleading, fearful entreatics OF moth
crs for their darngs, which this calamity had
rendered unsightly and unknown. Their
sarieks even chilled the hearts of the bravcst,
and unncrved many strong arm. lie who
has seen the sight, or heard the appalling cry,
will remember it to his dying hour, but the
hand of Divinity would fail to do it justice.
Several of our citizens were upon the train.
of whom the son of $. Nj. Holmes, and also
Robert T. Toms, Esq. (who is our informant)
have returned to US unhurt, but impressed with
the saddest picture of human suffering that
has ever fallen beneath their notice. Mr.Toms
SAYS that among the whole number unhnrt,
very few had the nerve to handle the mutllatcd
forms of those who but few minutes be-
fore were as full of life and hope as they. But
there was one whose heroism Is worthy OF par
ticuar notiec-rhs. E. Mcaghcr. Nc sooner
was he clear of the wreck, than throwing aside
his coat and vcst and sciZing an axe, he began
the humane work of helping the suffering. and
never did Il man work with better Will. -
Others, and Mr.. Nuttcr, the conductor, among
| them, worked us men never worked before. -
| The cries of the wounded ncrved their arms
and dsrcgar(ling fatigue and their own bruises
they worked for four hours as earnestly as iUr
| the lives Of tl,eir dearest tricnaS.
! Dr. jackson, Of Hartford county, Ct, who
providentialy y came up on tie morning tram
was unrcmitting in his cXcrtions to alleviate
the sutferngs of the wounded and dying.
! The latest intelligence says that the dead
and wounded have been taken to Chatham
where all proper attention will be bestowed
upon them
We learn from Mr.. Wm III. Weed, of the
! firm Of II u Fnrman &. Co, New l or>, that
Mr. Randall Watson, of Cortland Co., WAS de
tanned at the suspension bridge, to look alter
baggage and came with him Oh the following
! train and witnessed the hcart-rcndiny sight OF
his wife with both legs broken, and one or two
members of his family laying dead ami naa'-
gled in the ruins.
When Mr. Toms left, there had been p
dead mca IL dead women, IL dead children
81 wounded men, and 20 wounded women and
children taken from the mass, of ruins - max
ing 50 in all killed Or wounded. The ruins
| had not al been removed, and it is probable
that this number will be increased some 10 OF
l5. OF the killed y large portion arc foreign
ers. 1t is thought probable that two-third<
Of the wounded will die.
MIR. Tons says that nothing was omitted
which coald be done to alleviate the sutterlnSs
of the wounded. The killed were removed on
one side and covered with canvas. a hand
car was despatched for a physician, who soon
arrived, and the wounded were spread upon
! the cushions of the broken cars, and made as
comfortable as possible.
There could be no possible blame attached
to the conductor, Mr.. Nuttcr, or the engineer,
Mr. Thos Smith, Of the Express train: The
fault lay with the engineer of the gravel train,
who should have known whether the Express
had passed before coming upon the track. Ills
name has not been found out, as nc Immediate
ly left the ground.
Since writing the above, we learn that II
more have died, making So now dead.