The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-03-21
Deplorable Railroad Accident al
Hamilton, G. w.
About sixty Lives Lost.

from Toronto to Hamilton, which left thu
former place at o'clock yesterday after
noon.
The number Of passengers was estimated
at - to 100. of whom only Is were taken a
live from the wreck, and of these five have
since died.
The water in the canal is is feet deep, ant
most of those not Immediately killed were
drowned.
The engine and tender with the engineer
and fireman. were pitched headlons into the
canal, and are buried 90 feet below the sur
face. The baggage car and two passenger
cars are completely shattered, and all of the
latter turned upside down, and nearly sub
merged.
When our informant left, this morning
parties were still busy in extricating the
bodies from the wreck.
In an clubhouse adjoining the railway sta
ton at Hamilton, abou: SO or 60 bodies Of
men, women and children, were laid on one
floor.
No inquiry into the cause Ct the accident
has vet been held.
Most of the passengers were from liam
ilton, Toronto aud the adjoining towns.
Samuel Zimmerman. of Niagara Falls
Isaac Buchanan. of Hamilton. Vice PresLen,
of the road, and Capt Twokey, a popular
Commander on Lake Ontario, are anon.
the victims.
Only one Of the lady passengers was saved
and she was considerably cut and bruis.
ed.
A German lad in the after car, seeing the
. conductor hastily rctreatins to the back door
took alarm, and followed him, and he, the
conductor and two Others were the only one.
who escaped with ;riling injuries.
MIR. {. }. Brydges, the managing director
Of the Great Western Railway, and DIR
Mack Ian and Thos. {. Street, of Chippewa
were on the tram. and although con.idcra
bly, injured, escaped with their lives.
The Hamilton Spectator Extra. of Marcl
18th, gives the following particulars of tn,
late terrible accident upon the Toronto dit
Hamilton (Canada) railroad:
/ "a rational calamity NAV fairly be sal (,
/ have bcta!len US. Men who have ever 500,
IN the foremost municipalities the mos
shrew:l, spectators the most keen. merchant
the most far sighted. clrrSvmen the mos
earne>:-have at one fell swoop been taker
from anon. US.
The train from Toronto. due in this CITY a,
aqnarter before p NJ yesterday evening
had come from Toronto as was usual, and
was proceeding at moderate rate of speed
to pass the swim. brid. across the Dt.iar.
dln> canal. Those residing at distance
may not know that a cutting has been mad.
as an Quite: to this canal through the Bur
lington Heights, and that the rai!way crosse.
II by swing bridge sixty feet at least above
the level of the canal. At this time, of course
the water below is covered with ice, abou:
two feet thick
just before the train reached the bridge,
the engine ran off the track, owing, it is sup.
posed, to some defect in the axle. This
however, is a mere surmise, founded only
on the observation of some marks on the
road for some distance on the other side of
the spot where the accident occurred. The
immense weight Of the engine cutting
through the timber of the bridge. produced
the effect naturally to be expected. The
whole structure gave way, ard with one
frish:iul crash. the engine, tender, baggage
car and two first class passenger cars broke
through the severed frame work, and leap
ed. headlonS, into the vawning abyss below.
The engine and tender crushed a, once
through the ice. The baggage car, strikin.
the corner of the tender in tie act of falling
was thrown to one side, and fell some ten
yards from the engine. The first passenger
car rushed after, and turning as it descend
ed' tell on its roof, breaking partly through
the ice and was crushed to atoms, while the
last car fell endways on the ice, and, strange
to say, remained i'll that position.
The loss OF life was of course frichtful.-
there were ninety passengers on the train,
and the list OF those who have escaped only
numbers about twenty. AS far as we can
yet learn, every one in the first car was
killed: those who were not crushed heinz
drowned by the water, which nearly filled
the car. About thirty were in the last car
OF whom ten were taken out dead. and most
OF the others were fearfuly mutiIated The
conductor, Mr.. Barrett the deputy superin.
tendent of the line, Mr.. Muir, and Mr.. Je.-
sop, one OF the auditors. who were on the
hind platform, jumped of and escaped. The
express messenger, Mr., Mr.. Richard
son, conductor of the road. and the mail
conductor, were with the Bassaceman. The
latter jumped over the baggage he had piled
up ready for delivery, and escaped with but
slight injury while the three Others went
down, but, miracuIously enough, were not
much hurt. The engineer and fireman went
under the ice with the locomotive, and their
bodies have not yet been recovered.
The excitement in the city, as the news
spread, was intense. Hundreds swarmed
towards the GreatWestern depot, and stream
ed along the line to the fatal spot. where the
scene presented was such as to battle descrip.
ton. Large locomotive lamps were speedily
brought. Fires were kinded and lurid
glare was thrown over the shattered rem
nants. Special trains were dispatched to the
bridge to bring home the wounded. 1t was
no easy task to descend the steep slope to the
canal. Ropes were lowered and ladders at
tached to them, on which the dead and
wounded from the car which stood cndwavs
were first drawn up. tn. bottom of the car
which had partly sunk through the ice. was
hewn away with axes land the unfortunate mas.
sensers, some badly mutilated and even cut in
pieces. and all saturated with water. were
taken out; many worked with energy and
vISor; but who Was that noble fellow
that every one must have seen, stripped to
his SHIRT sleeves, standing up to his middle in
the freezing water, who, himself host did