Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1859-07-02
incidents During The Occurrence.

SUFFERING OF THE WOUNDED
incidents During the Occurrence.
PROBABLE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT
Names of the Dead as FAR as known,
And List OF tho Wounded.
The telegraph has already furnished us
with brief statement of the railway disas-
ter on the Southern Michigan Railroad; but
the Chicago Times Of yesterday, gives the
following particulars Of the disaster;
TnE wREoK, MpMaSr, Tuesday, June %.
left for the wreck Of the unfortunate Mi
chigan Southern train at eight p. NJ, this
evening in company with large company of
others, who were proceeding to the scene of
disaster. Our train was unusually crowded
and a,due sense of the solemn nature Of our
arrand seemed TO pervade the whole Of the
officers and passengers. The night was OK
cessively hot, the inconvenience Of the heat
being greatly increased by the want Of wa
ter among the passengers. We would sup-
gest to the management Of this road, prioTi,
the necessity and propriety of attending to so
important matter of comfort From few
miles east Of Chicago to Laporte, we suffered
among the rest, from parchng thirst which
we could not satisfy until we arrived at that
city. At Laporte the first evidences of the
terrible scene, enacted few hours before be-
gan to be manifest in the tears and sobs of
residents of that city, who had friends on
board that unfortunate train. Several wo-
men, who had just received the melancholy
news Of the loss Of some loved one, were
wringing their hands upon the platform in all
the bitter agony Of impulsive grief A few
questions were asked in whispers, and we
passed on. Arriving at South Bend, an over
wholming sense of the ruin we were about
to look on, increased in its intensity, and all
felt the weight Of a calamity coming near
er and nearer to our own hearts.
Proceeding slowly and in silence, wo at
last caught sight Of the glmmer OF the sad
beacon lights built on the edge Of tho ravine,
denoting the fatal spot where so much Of
this lile's mortality" passed at one fatal
plunge into the terror oi,sudden and violent
death. Terrific scenel Fit place for an &C.
cident of such shuddering consequence-of
such startling agony and DEATH The cars
stopped within few yards ofthis dark gulf.
and we alighted amid a crowd of laborers and
villagers who had been strenuously laborinp
in behalf Of their fellow-men so violently
ushered into eternity The scene of the
wreckcan be better realized by n description
of the locality, the works and the tracks pre-
vious to the accident. The rails are hero
run over an embankment some thirty feet
high, crossing a small stream and ravine of
incOnsiderable dimensions. The stream was
carried under the track by a culvert which
from being too small or from being choaked
up with fallen trees brought down by the
freshet, was undoubtedly the cause of the ca
lamity.
The eulvert was built of solid masonry,
and was ten feet wide, that measurement be-
ing regarded as amply sufficient for the
body of water coursing through the ravine.
Whether the engineer who planned that cul-
vert made all proper allowances for the heavy
rains common to all the country situated at
the head of lakes is not for us to say; it
would seem, however, that a ten-foot cul-
vert would afford sufficient capacity for
what is technically known as "dry rum" and
be quite large enough to carry off any freshet
of ordinary power that might pour down its
bed. We do not know whether the debris
that would naturally float down was pro-
yidcd against or not, and must leave the
company to set itself right with the public
on that point without delay, as it is the only
instance in which any possible blame can
attach to the company, or by which they
can be held morally responsible for the cal
amity.
Assuming that, through some cause or
other, the water was not carried off as fast
as it accumulated, the embankment of the
track would operate as dam, which, from
the marks upon the trees and shrubbery, it
evidently did, until an immense body of
water, say twenty feet deep, accumulated a
long distance back, and pressed with its
great force upon the body Of sand of which
the track was composed, and percolating
and undermining it to fearful extent. The
moment the engine struck the spot, the
whole body Of sand gave way, and the train
was instantly buried amid a wild torrent of
drift, sand and water, in indistinguishable
ruin. 1t was but single plunge, and the
whole mass rushed to find its level; tearing
away trees and plowing wider the ravine
With fearful velocity. In fifteen minutes
the ruin was complete, and such Of the pas
sengers as were not hurt could walk over
the bed of the ravine almost dry-shod. 1t
is asserted that the train was running at
slow speed when she met with the accident,
but from the position of the locomotive,
which is buried on the east side of the gulf,
il is our opinion that she was running at the
rate of thirty or thirty-fve miles an hour.
This speed, however, would show no culpa-
bility on the part of any of the officers in
charge, as she would be running about right
at that speed, as soon as she had reached
this point and got over the curve.
AS previous iniormants have stated, tie
whole train, with the exception Of the sleep
ing-car, was shiyered to splinters, and the
loss Of life is as terrible, if not more terrible
than any similar disaster that ever happened
in America. The crash of the wreck was
heard at Mishawaka, and Immediately the
fire-alarm was rung, and the city summoned
from their beds to aid in the recovery Of the
dead and wounded. The bruised and ter
riiied Osgood, unmindful of his own wounds,
leaped from the carnage, and with the assis-
tance Of sonre laborers, had built fires on the
edge Of the gulf by the time the inhabitants
had arrived from Mishawaka. midnight ad-
ding a deeper horror TO the terrific scene.-I
BY means of ropes and chains portions of
the wreck were separated, and the work of
eXcayating the dead, the dying, and the
wounded Immediately commenced. Some
of the bodies were sorely mangled, others
mangled and drowned together. The shock
Of death had apparently been so sudden
with some of them, that they never could
have felt mortal pang, and probably had
sunk into the sleep that knows no waking,
from tine torpor and doze Of the weary trav-
eler, in whi;h many of them had been seen
a few minutes previously.
II is gratifying 70 lenrn that every effort