The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-01-31
THE DAILY DISPATCH.



RAILROAD AccfDENTs.--A SLEIGH RrDKIE the
CARs.-The Lancaster {Pa,l Express gives an nc.
count Of a singular accident which took place nm
the Philadelphia Railroad, near Christiaua. II
says.
The train, composed Of baggage car and two
passenger cars, was drawn by freight locomotive
the recent storm having disarranged the schedule
which assigns particular locomotives to each train
Alter they left Psrkesburg, and had proceeded
~ our informant thinks, not more than q mile the
passengers inferred from peculiar motion Of the
cars that they were of the track, and Il was sub
sequenily discovered that this inference was corr
rect
signal bell violently that 1t broke, but the engi
neer either did not understand the signal, or paid
no attention to It.
On the train went, whizzing over the snew
track now and then humping over an exposed
cross tie--on, past Penningtonvile. round the
curve and over the bridge at Christiana, until
about hall . mile this side, the ladies' car became
detached and capsized. On still the steam.horse
galoped, evidently pleased At the feat of railroad
ing ithout the of rails, and no doubt 10 love
with the driver who thus gave him loose reiu
without ever looking back to see II his train kept
up until about half mile from the point where
the ladies' car became detached, the second car
also went over, breaking the coupling aud smash.
ing the near end of the car all to pieces Wefor-
got to inquire whether the engineer stopped even
theu, or whether he got stopped at all but we
trus. II VIII be the last John Gilpin race he will
be allowed to ride, with sucn a valuable weight
to carry, unless he can give more satisfactory
explanation Of his conduct than we can hypohe
cate for him.
The most singular eature of the accident is that
no lives we're lost aud but few persons were in
jured. One account states that but one lady WAS
injured another that there were three of them
but the wonder is that ali were not MANNED or
killed. The truck wheels and other fragments
OF the broken cars were scattered along the track
for the distance OF a mile, the cars being almost
entirely demolished. When 1t was first discov.
cred that the were of the track, the passen-
gers were in 4 great terror, aud all rose to their
feet but they passed 80 smoothly over the Chris
iiaua bridge, that they concluded they must be on
the track. aud had just fairly seated themselves
when the crash came upon them
The cars, 1t appears, we're thrown off the track
by the breaking of . rail, AMI the train must have
about four miles before the engineer discovered
that anything was wrong.
The same paper, of Monday evening, contains
the following:
most terrible accident occurred ON the Har-
rsburg Railroad, on Saturday afternoon, which
resulted in the injury of large number of pas.
sengers many of them seriously. The train
which left this city about o'clock, proceeded
on without hindrance until within about four
miles OF Middletowp, when a rail broke, and after
running about fifty yards off the track, the passen
ger car went over An embankment about thcty feet
high, rolling over and oyer, and landing on the
Level with . terrible crash. We have been able to
learn the names of only few Of the injured
Mr.. John Garvin. of Reamstnwn, had both his
legs broken and It's back severely injured. His
injuries are so severe that he Is not expected to
survive. Mr.. John C.. Zell, of this city, was the
next severely injured. He was dreadfully burned
about the head and face. by the stove upsettipg n
the overturning of the and the hot Goals fall.
ing upon him. Mr.. Henry Hayes. late Of tho
l. ellefonte Watchman. was severely injured about
the head and arms James Cameron, formerly OF
this c.tY, brother Of Gen Simon Cameron, and Mr.
Russell, President of the Lewistown Bank, were
also among the injured