New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1855-11-12
DAILY CRESCENT.
AWFUL DISASTER ON THE PACIFIC BArIaoa1
CHAT Loss OF LIFE.

| AWFUL DISASTER ON THE PACIFIC BArLROal
t=if 49, GREAT Less OF LIFEt s
The 81. Louis papers Of the I'd and Sd hav,
accounts Of most appalling disaster on tbt
railroad between thst place aud JefEersoo c;tv
4 By which about thirty Hives were lost and :
| great many persons severely wounded Elm tbs
LIST instant, train started for JefFsyson f,;,,
| with about $40 passengers, 10 celebrate m
completion of the road to that point. m,
Evening News thus relates the catastrsopb,
which followed. ~ ss1 - 80 :
At o'clock we left Hermann, preceded Nv
locomotive and tender, which had been sen
for ward to see that the way WAS clear and n,
danger impending. Soon we came in sight, .
the bridge across the Gasconade river, abou
nine miles from Hermann, and about thirty-6y
from Jefferson City. Che bridge is apprsache,
BY anembsnkmenr, thirty feet high, which ter
inmates in, o massive stone abutment. Fort,
yards from the sbutment, and just at the eda,
Of the river, stands another staunch stone pii
lar, three more Of which reach TO the other lid,
OF the stream snd support the bridge The
river = about two hundred and fifty ards wide
and the bridge thirty feet high, at least. :.
The Pioneer locomotive had crossed the struc.
ture safely, and was waiting on the other side
70 see the result of our attempt There was no
fear OF danger, and no apprehension of peril.
We slowly moved along the sembankment, and
came on to the bridge. The locomotive had
passed the first span, and had its forewbeeIs
above the first pillar beyond the abutment-
there being then, resting ON the first span, the
locomotive, baggage car, and two heavily loaded
passenger cars. The weight was too much for
the long, slender timbers which supported the
rails and the enormous load above Suddenly
we heard q horrid crash = it rings In our ears
now--and saw a movement amongst those i'm
the car IN winch We were seated; then there
came ash-crash-crash each car, came
TO the abutnent, and took the fatal plunge
The affair was but the work Of an instant. We
were running slowly at the time, and the sue
cessive crashes came on at intervals Of nearly q
second. Weourself we're seated in the seventh
car there being three behind us--and when We
heard the horrid sound that came up, as each
car slowly and deliberately took the lesp, NJ
hoped that our car might stop before it reached
the precipice But no--it seemed that the
spirit OF ruin was beneath, ,determinedly drag
ging each car 70 the spot, Wrenching it from it's
fastenings, and hurting it to atoms beneath.
SIX cars fell In one mass, each on the other,
and were shivered into fragments The seventh
tell with its forward end. TO the ground, but the
other cad rested on the top Of the ahutment
Those in it were only bruised The eighth and
ninth cars tumbled down the embankr rnept
before they reached the abutment. ags4 ~
such wreck we never saw, and hope never
again to see. 1t was enc undistinguishab lass
OF wooden beams, seats, iron wheels and rods.
from beneath which came up groans of agony.
Those who could, crawled out Of the ruin im,ne-
diately, and either sought to relieve their own
wounds or the wounds of their friends Some
wept tears Of joy to find their friends alive; and
others shudder ed to find their friends dead
The unipjured organized themselves under the
lead of Mr.. Pride, the Conductor, and enleav
ored by chopping TO extrioate those who we're
yet alive from the wreck. Here a beam was cut
into to disengage a broken arm; there an iron
axle was pryed up to relieve a mutiiated leg
There was no shrieking and screaming, though
all begged, for the love Of heaven, TO be extri-
Gated from some mass of iron or beam Of wood.
which pinned them to the earth. Ali begged
for water, drank it when it was brought, and
prayed for more. There was hardly an entirely
uninjured man to be seen Most Of those who
had escaped, had streams Of blood flowing over
their faces from splinter wounds. Others limped
and hobbled about, looking for theirfriendse A
board shanty was the only shelter to be had.
and that was soon filled with the wounded,
whose silent, speechless agony was enough to
make the stoutest heart shudder.,s Immedlat
after the accident the heavens grew dark and
black as though the night had come. The wind
were rent in twain, and from the crevice CLEANED
the white lightning, and the hoarse thunder bel.
lowed it's cruel mockings at the woe beneath
1t seemed as if the elements were holding high
carnival over the scene OF Slaughter 3 -FN
! The Republican Of the Sd furnishes the fol.
lowing list Of the dead, as far as had been as
certained. It was supposed that few other
bodies were yet to be recovered: ~
- Chappell, father of J. II. Chappell; Rev.
H. Bullard, B B. Dayton, Mann Batter, Thos
Gray, Rev Mr.. Teasdale, g. Best, Patrick Barr,
Mr.. Mott, Representative of. bunk lin county !;
Thos s. 0'Sullivan, Chief Engineer; p. q.
Yosti, (trm of Shields & Yosti y @. Case, E. c.
Blackburn, J. A. Ross, Henry Chouteau, Capt
O'Flaherty, Joseph Harris, Of st. Louis county ;
E. O. Jeffrees, Rep. Of Franklin county ];
Adolphe Abeles, George Eberle, ---- Lynch,
r. Nj Dubois, VIM. Houn, Jos. Finnegan, -
Bryan. .,.... a. .,s=s- .,st -,
Two were not identified and one negro Fs'N
/, Mr.. Moore, of Cape Girardeau, died at the
Hospitallast night s4tsl t%bs s@ ls
Mr. o. Neal, the engineer, was left at Her
mann, very dangerously injured 4.s+.g,
Some of the bodies of the dead were marked
with unusual and terrible mutilations One Of
the survivors informs US that he saw two corpses
with the entrails torn out by splinters. ~ Il
.
THE MEXICAN 1HREE MIhLIess.--s Ion,s of
the Baltimore Sun, says: ssI' saSis9 II g
The President has referred to the Attorney
General the questions which have arisen as to
the legal effect of certain drafts drawn by the
Mexican Minister Of Hacienda, in favor OF How
land 4 Aspinwall and Hargroye and others, on
account Of the three millions pay able, on q GER
tain contingency, to the Mexican government
under the first and third articles Of the Gads-
den treaty, for his opinion. The Attorney Gene
raj has, accordingly, given notice to the parties
that he will receive their statements and argu-
ments in writing, by counsel or otherwise. As
to the other question, under what circumstances,
and when the three millions are demsndable
and payable, it is already decided in the man
ner indicated in my last. The Mexican govern
ment now in existence has, as yet, made no
demand The money will be epsy able upon the
final action Of the joint commission, whose deei-
sion is subject to no alteration. sss .ssr
y LAY