New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-19
Nesualork DaiIp aribm'rs
the ERIE RAILROAD DISASTER.
INQUEST CONCLUDED.
yERDICT-..-yOBODY TO BLAME.
INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES.
INQUEST CONCLUDED.
INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES.
CONDITION OF THE WOUNDED

;rvs the Corcrefs irquest upon toe persons A'se
10 ,hs ls.e sccdert on tie E,ie Railroad, ss weu1 ~
h irtelgence Of the condition OF tue ~outded
! b,ouebt dosn BY our reporters at ia'e noul -"
,;oht Arecapitulsiion of the events PreceSins ssd
attendant uron tee melancholy occurrence, drssh noo
The ,txeneu, of those who were eye witnesses OF ana
actors in the tragedy m,y not prove unn'srssths' is
train involved in this Disaster was ths Nigui hAP'ess
which hft New-Yoik q, p. m, fui OF sssense's'
consisted of the engine, tender, t"o psssAs' "'.
6v. passenger csrs Thers does 70. sppsar to have
been apy urtowsd event on the journey un! the t'sh
| arrived at Micdetowp, 66 mles from New hoiA'
Here hot iourns detsiIed the train some ave m'nues
bsh h;rd time. From O.isvie, the next station, eisas
miles further on the train left eight or rine minutes
late the engineer having been detained by examining
N, driving wheels. The distance from oasviue to
where the accden: hsppsred Is about SIX mues 90
do su grade of about IS feet to the me on tue ~ee
| .;as Of the Shswsugurk Mountains. Ine uSox "
bounded on the left hand By the mountaio sde ana os
,hs ,;ob, hand steep embsnkmen of 40 festi hight
as.cenfs 70 the meadows below. Many OF the p's'sS
orr aver that on tne down grade from Otsviue' ne
sneed of the train great a. to cause tne o'sea
aba apprehension Several of them $50 s"'e ina 'n'
f. ,rfu oscillation Of the cars at this time inauced
| them I, 20 forward for safety; indeed tue rApliy
with which they flying along seems TO nave oeen
generally remarked upon inthetrain Ihs unusu0'P'ed
wa, rrob ably owing to the facthst the engineer was
tryug to make up fol lost tiGei although lie ta@
Ia was chi, going at the rate Of 80 miles an hour,
sr.sd no greater than u.ua, and, according to his
view rs,.ctly ae The accident occurred about $3.50,
when i, beirg quite dark, many of toe passengers he'd
,e,.ed down to sleep. When within quattss or
| half . mile Of Shin Hollow watering stston,
,bs psssergers were slammed by unusual concu'son
s ,houeh the train was runnitg over something SsY
sal p.rsons srrspg TO the bslrope and sgnaled tae
r.er 70 stop when they found that the rear eno Oh
the rooe wss loose. The train was stopped Is so'n
possbe ard the conductor Jumped OIL, anu pfoceedeN
with l,n,ern to ascertaa what was the Nter' ne
upd that TIE two CARS were mi'sing, ana 'io
| train wss cautiously cked to search for them La
few minutes the appalling nature OF the disaster oecan
apparent. BY the feeble light OF the moon tue
| missing were cas- discovered nearly demolished a.
| the foot of the embapkmen', and tho
shreks and wsrgs of the wounded csme up with ter
r,ble esi1ctness through the silence OF the n'sht.
| Iisbts were speedily procured, and those tha
we've unirrred Fastened to the refof the unfortunate
suf,,rer Borfi,es were quickly lighted aud fed from
the pptel ed fragments of the cars, by the light OF
| which ard the few lanterns that could be obtained
the work of exricaticg the wourded and the dead
prosecuted. The engine and single passenger car
were promptly dispatched to Port Jervis for medical
ard other assistance. Meanwhile the wounded
| were taken out of the wrecked and carried
up the embankment, whers such temporary relief as
| was within reach was afforded. The werk went on
vigorously ard systematically some using levers TO
| remove The tmbers under which hapless indivd-
usl wac conf fred while others exempo,ized rude lit
ters ard bore the sufferers TO hs top Of the embsnk
ment There the ladies and the survivors took them
in chsrge bsthiig the nsen.ibe with cooling water
igbtoring spring, and bindiogup their ~ourds,
| ss well as the cilcurnstances would slow.
Those who were in the fatal cars state that they
were aroused by fearful jotng as though they hsd
lun of the track which lasted several seconds. This
was caused by the breaking of rail- which tnrsv the
bindmost cars off the track. Everybody appesrs 70
have jumped up n terror the swsyed violently
from eide to side but the presence Of lrtsl danger
paralyzed every tongue. At length the couplings
| snapped, and the two hinjmost cars went hurtlng
down the abyss with force that stopped the breath
| There Kissing, crashing sound, as they
| went over moment of eience when they
| stopped in their mad caresr, ard then arose
cry terrible that II almost froze the blood Mingled
in common ruin nearly 100 persons full halfof
| whom were smartiDg from wounds bruises, or the
| more exorucispg pains Of broken limbs. The last
car had turned over until ii rested upon the roof aud
one Of the heavy iron trucks had broken through kill
ing and manning all beneath. Ths other car rested
its sde upon pile Of stones. 1t was not so badly
broken the last and most Of ts inmates Jared better
than the others lady describing the accident says
She felt conscious that some dreadful accident had
| occurred, when terrible, hissing, crashing sound
| overw bsmed her senses.
She has idea how long she remained ,cious,
| but when she rsgalned her presence Of mind, sle
| Il und herse in total Darkness and heard every
side Of her plerciUg shreks aod groaDs. Among the
agoIizrg cries, her mothers ear soon recognized the
voice Of her daughter calling to her, Mother!
motterP She learned that her child was safs, and
| tainted.
When she came again to consc )usnesd, she tho
dark shadows of men moving about her with lanterns
in their hsLds and the sound Of their voices restored
her to her seDses. Such narrowing spectacle
presented itself 10 her gaze she hpes TO be spared
ever seeing again. At her fee, lsy the corpse Of
infant, the top of ts head crushed by huge beam.
bu, not drop Of blood marrng the pure wheuess Of
face Do the opposite side Of the lay the lfsess
ard mangled form OF a man, whom few moments be-
fore enc had noticed full OF snimstor and earnestly
ticking politics with his male companions by his side.
| II was nearly fifteen minutes bsfore she was pulled
out Of the fragments OF the shattered She was
CON pleely hemmed In, and hardly abls TO move q
single limb During the accident her reticue had bsen
tom rc m beI wrist breaking the chain In two places.
The masks Of the chain still plainly vitible on her
wrist but she fel. not the slightest psn at the time.
On examining the recue. sio IN gold which was in il
| was missing, but her money in bills still remained.
gentleman, IN relating his experience, says that hs
| stood up l. 20 minutes near the door, which
! open, and while passing around the curves he OBJ
served that the cars yibrs:ed considerably the
track and il occurred b him than that tho
hind liable 10 be thrown from the track, going
80 rapidly round the short curves. Prompted by tha
feeling for self preserv alton he changed his position
| and took seat in the forward. II was nov
Just getting dark and the passengers were arranging