The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-11-25
An Escaped LocOmOslve-A, De-
structiOn turned Aside.
"of all the words, BY tongue or pei,
The spsstest are, Il might have be6n, u

The ,ssstsst are, Il might have bssn.n
Between Eve and six yesterday morning.
two passenger locomotives going in opposite
directions on the Little Miami HoadI came
in collision near the new turn.table, a mile
or so above the Front street Depot. The
engineers saw each other in time TO ere.
verse;" and one, or both sprang to the
ground In anticipation OF the shock, which,
however, was not great, as neither was en-.
numbered by the momentum OF train. But
the force Of the collision jeFked the throttle
valve Of the upward engine wide open, aud
before the engineer could regain his footing,
[ il leaped backward with a frightful bound
and disappeared, City-ward, In the thick fog
Horror seized the men gathered at the spot,
for the escaped Monster was fred up for the
Express that run to Chillicothe, and roaring
under full head Of steam fright in its
path mile below were hundred passengers
settled on their cushioned seats in the CoIum.
bus Express, soon to leave the Depot, and
beyond these an unalarmed city Of two hun
6red thousand souls
| II was all with God. No power could
follow after, and the doomed people were
hardly warned by the trembling ground and
the clank Of insane machinery, before the
visitation was upon them
Fortunately, should we not say Providen-
TALLY, switch under the arch of the depot
that should hare been open 10 the outgoing train,
had been left shut by a negligent watchman,
and the fiery iron comet, going now at sew.
enty miles an hour, swept through the build
ing, slmcst singing the faces Of the horror
stricken subjects Of a Passover in the crowd
ed passenger cars on the parallel track-on,
right on, through the Eastern woll of the
Depot, aud now, leaving the track, out upon
the city /! Fortunately, again the direction
Of the engine was aside from the crowded
street, and led straight into one of those
huge piles Of stone coal, that at this season
fill the yards Ct our fuel merchants. Into
this-nearIy fifty feet from the Depot--,he
engine sailed, absolutely ,oithout touching The
Intermediate ground. Here it buried itse II
and wsllowed in its own wreck until its tires
had gone down and its steam quite spent.
People in Newport heard the unusual
noise made by the clang Of the flying engine,
and came over on the terry boat to learn the
cause. .,... ..,. ..ff ....r.
The Ticket Agent of the Little Miami, in
attempting to describe the appearance of the
locomotive os it came through the depot,
uses the most expressive paradox, II saw a
sudden noise go BY, and oil was still again !"
The exact circumstances of the collision
are not easily learned. The Little Miami
Locomotive, Jno. Kugler, was backing down
from Pendleton Shop to take out the 8 A..
NJ. Express, and the Washington was e DING
up to the Turnpike switch for the cars Of
the Marietta Express that followed the Co.
lumbus train with an interval of fifteen min.
utes. The Kugler may huve been little
in advance Of its time, as it should have left
the shops-three miles above the depot-at
$50, and the majority of the testimony
makes the time of collision 5:23 TO $780,
On the other hand, it was incumbent on the
Marietta Engineer to keep out of the Hug
ler's way, and moreover, the apparent force
Of the collision did not justify him in jump.
ing from his engine. But it is not true that
the latter gave his machine "steam" after
he reversed, nor that he was inexperienced
on locomotive. lie (Wutermsn) was the
regulor engineer Of the yard, or switching
engineer. 1t is likely that both engines
were going too fast, considering the circum-
stances Of Time, and the thick fog Cincin.
natl Commercial.