The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1857-03-19

snen xssnrY 70 ONE HUNDRED LIVES LosT.
An accident occurred on the Great w est
RI Railway night before last, which for ils
Multiplied horrors and terrible loss Of life.
urpasses anything hat has ever occutrsa
n the American cenunent. We have r..
sivsd the particulars concerning tais .wiet
raaedy from Nr. d. D. Cook. OF the Niles
who was Il Niagara Falls at the
ime Of the accident, on his way home from |
" Arlington. and came on in the neat train |
o the scene Of The Aissstsr. He arrived |
here in . few hours AFTER its occurFenca.--
\, the time Of his departure, nothing had
,ssn done in the way Of clearing up the
srsck. with the exception Of the extrication
i what dead bodies were within reach from
he outside OF the cars. We give what par
iculars be was able 70 obtain In the bustle
md confusion Of such an unexamplsd oc-
,urrenee
The . o'clock P. n. way passenger train
rom Toronto. going west, consisting OF To-
tender. baggage car, and two
passenger cars, ran o6the track just before
reaching the draw-bridge over the Dss Jar
ainese canal. one mile from Hamilton, c.
W., and pluneing with head-long force up
on the bridge, the whole structure gave
way, and the entire train was precipitated
sixty fset into the water, which was fifteen
feet deep. The locomotive and tender
broke through the instant they struck the
bridge. and, with . headlong leap. buried
themselves under water In On instant. The
baggage car followed. and. in its descent,
depressed the forward end Of the FIRST pas
seager car, 20 thar the coupling which con-
nected il with the last car broke. and it was
hurled through the air, executing q COM
plste somerset, striking bottom upward in
the water, which closed over and covered6t
entirely. with the exception Of a few inches
Of the bottom. Not soul that went down
in that fearful plunge ever saw the light Of
day again. The second passenger car fol.
lowed, striking the FIRST with a terrible
crash, and Gliding 81 at an angle of As de-
eress, was buried two-thirds OF its length
in the water. The only passengers saved
were In the rear end of this car. The loco.
motive and tender were completely sub.
merged, with the baggage and first passen-
ger cars on top Of them. The second pas.
sengsr sar rested partly on the first. which
Circumstance was the only means BY which
Z single life out Of the whole was saved
We viii except, however, the conductor,
Mr.. Edward Barrett, who, with prudent
forethought, which looks very much liAe an
anticipation Of the event, had stationed
himself upon the steps of one of the passen n.
ger csrs, and jumped the moment he cav
the locomotive disappear through the bridge
Nothing was known Of the state of at
fairs inssde Of the frs; car up TO the time O
the departure OF our informant, but thu
scene inside the second is described a. hav
| ing been terrible beyond description. Ac
coFdin9 to the statement Of Capt Alexan
der Mcbride, of PORT Burwell, who escape,
with serious injuries, the passengers al
started 10 their feet At the moment of tn,
cars leaving the track, and had Just game,
the aisle in the centre when the car wen
over. Passengers, seats, stoves, aud every
thing else that the car contained wer
thrown with terrible force to the front enc
whore they lay in inextricable confusion. =
Capt Mcbride was caught among the ruin
in way which secured him from the resc
Of the water, and detained him sometime be
fore he could release himself He describe
the scene - perfectly heartrending; th
shouts, groans and frantic efforts Of the in
jured persons, endeavoring TO extricat
themselves, mingled with the Kissing of tn
red hot stoves and their contents of biszin
coal, and the gurglins of the waters as the
rushed in and closed over the living mass (
struggling life; while wounded and helplei
l persons chung to him with an energy tbs
threatened to eneuiph him among the ger
2asrynrfiap IL. 80 I.
the rear end of the car with few other
they succeeded in gaining the ice, and frol
that the main land, and Immediately sougt
assistance in Hamilton. Dat Of the tw
crowded passenger cara, but thirteen pei
sons were known to have escaped with lif,
and but one solitary person without seriou
Injury. The two cars, according to the state
ment Of Capt. Mcbride, were as full as the
could hold. The number could not hav
been less than one hundred, and il was e,
TINA ted BY some a. high as ona hundre
and fifteen. Nothing could be learned fror
the conductor in regard to the matter, a
he seemed to be in state bordering on il
sanity.
Up to the time OF the departure Of III
Cook, thirty fye corpses had been take
from the second car, which was only tho.
that could be reached from the end whic
was out of water. A locomotive was on tn
spot, and, with cable attached 10 the ca
sss endeaverins to pull it out OF the waie1
but without avail. A hole had been cut i
the bottom of the first car and one or tw
bodies taken out
The names OF the victims recovered, a
far a. they bad been recognized, are as FOL
lows:
| KIILED.--6amuel Zimmerman, banke,
Alexander Bromfisld, engineer; Geore
knight, fireman; Mrs. Stevenson, wife I
IL. p. Stevenson, Of Hamilton; Donal
Stuart, residence not known; j. HendeI
son, Of the locomotive department in Han
!! ilton; Adam Ferrie, Hamilton; son. {
Capt Grahsm of Hamilton; and a Mr. Bal
ton, residence not known.
u WouEDHp.-Tnose who escaped with iii
were, as nearly as could be ascertained a
follows.--Mr Street, residence not knowr
leg badly broken and otherwise much In
jursd; Mr.. Barton, residence not know n, e,
treated from the second car, badly injured
Mr.. Yerhngton, Port Stanley, badly injured
John 8. McCollum, Port Burwell, leg bad
fractured; Mr.. Person, residence not know
badly hurt in the back; Mr. Shurrell, res
dencs not known, life despaired; w. L
Muir, an ahache of the rosd, was on tt
platform with the conductor and Jumped !.
his bidding. lightly hurt; Capt. Alexand,
Burweii, seriously injured ia the head; ar
Edward Richardson, aconductor of anoth,
train, who escaped with slight injury.
i A Mr.. Avery, who was somewhere
the neighborhood at the time ofthe acciden
was the first TO render assistance, BY cuttir
hole through the car and drawing o,
some of the inmates. The 6rst thing he q
hold Of was the corpse of a woman wi
child in her arms. The train was a W,
4 train, and was mostly filled with the bus
ness men OF Toronto and Hamilton. We
few women were aboard. Dir. Zmmerm,
wasthrown from the car in It's descent, Al
, was found upon the ice near the shore, TT
ice was OF thickness OF about ten inch
|, Ia the canal.
i. The following 10 fiom The Toron
Globe
Seventeen bodies were taken to the ba,
gage room, laid side by side. All, with Ii
exception Of two, were recognized. TIL
following is list, AZ near as can be arrive
. 1t: