, 1864-07-21

SIyTY-FOUa UNION AID R2BEL
SOLDIERS KILLED.

TIE ERIE RAILROAD COLLISION
SIXTY FOUR UNIoN AeD REBEL
SOLDIERS KILLED.
(Fton the n. r Tribune, July 1871
cn the 18th inst. a batch 0: Ss,5 rebel pris-
one1s left Poiut Lookout under the charge o'
New York On the 14th, and lett Jereey City at
a. nj. on the morning Of the 18th, en- 1o.st<
for Eluitra, N T., wlither they had been or
deled to proceed. ALL Went well, aud the
convoy reached Port Jervis in the best OF
spirits. At Port Jeryis the double truck OF
tue Erie Railroad ends, and for the next 81 OF
25 miles the road is bnt single track TO
1aclnNaxcu Junction, with occasional
lengths of double track where the nature of
the road permits. .
Throughout the whole of this distance, and
for some miles further On, the railroad runs
up the valley Of the Delaware. and il full Of
saari. curves and awkward turns along
Which it is often impossible for the cvEiue
driver to see more than fifty or slxty yarus in
advance. It was along this piece Of the road,
about two miles from Shoho1a, and when
turning point Of one Of the abnttfng hills.
that lie train Of eighteen emfgrant cars, with
its freight If o5S souls, running at the rate
Of Is miles an hour, met q coal train Of 80
cars, with each load Of twelve tons, that
came thunuering down the incline from Lsk
AWAKEN. When the trains CAME IN sight Of
each other, they conld not have been more
than 100 yards apart, the drivers not having
time even to reverse their engines and jump
OF, before death was upon them; the driver
Of the passenger car, named VIM. Ingram,
and his firem u, named Tutt1e, being both
taken off the engine dead, as was the fire.
nan Of the coal engine, named Phflo Prcntlse.
The shock vas tremendous. and Its results
awful, though Fortunately neither Of the en-
x{~,uh 1x*k St,A FttA,,% %1t.
seDger engine was tuEntd up on end, the
wood Tor 1uc1 being thrown in front. and
buryfpg the driver und fireman before named.
The first car OF course was utterly destroyed,
being jammed as a spectator described 1t to
us, into spncc less than six feet, while to
been tipped On end fell back on its root. 1t
contained 81 men, some of whom were on
the platform ut the time Of the collision, and
from Its wreck 50 were tAken ont dead, only
ore nlan escaping With his lie BY falling be-
tween the platform to the earth. Three Of
the cars In all were totally destroyed. and
seven or eight Of them SO much broken as to
be entirely useless, and it was IN these cars
that the greatest loss OF life occurred; for
when the collision took place TWO Union
soldiers were pluced as Eentincls at each door
OIL the platforms Of each car, which were
also occupied BY some Of the rebels beguil-
ing the way by conversation with the sentry.
OF the me1 thus standing al were Immt-
dia' ely Killed save Ole or TWO.
As coon rs possible the survivors set to
work Under the guidance OF the Captain In
charge Of tho body to extricate the dying aud
the mean time, word was sent to Shohola,
apprizing the authorities there Of the 6tute
oi things, who Immediately telegraphed tor
assistance to Port JerEis, whence in short
time, Hugh Riddle, Esq District Superin-
tendent, arrived on the scene Of disaster, In
$urA
to the injured. The scene Is described by
those who escaped Us most appalling, the
road blocked up with debris, car piled upon
car In the most indesCritable confusion, the
bodies of those thrown rom them covering
the road at every step, the flying dust and
noise of the escaping. steam, and, above all.
the fearful groaus and heart rcnding cries Of
the Injured and expiring will never be tor
gotten Some Of the corpses were shocklngly
n.ntllatcd, heads completely crushed, bodies
tranElxed, impaled on t'mbers or iron rods,
oT smashed between the colliding beams,
while one man was discovered dead sitting on
the top Of the upturned tender, In grotesluc
and ghastl3 mockery Of the scene around
him
When the cries Of the last wounded had
directed the searchers to his place Of fmpris
onnent, and tue Inst corpse removed from
its temporary tomb, It was found that the
victims numbered Ii Union men and II reb-
cle, dcid; while the wounded numbered
about 120, some Of them wounded mortallY
indeed four haye since died, and umoer
Of others cannot be expected to recover. T.
j. RidgWay, Esq, Associate Judge Of Pike
county, WAS soon OH the spot, and nftcr q
in command Of the msn, jury Was impan-
ne1cd and IN inquest held; after which a
large trench WIS dug by the soldiers aud the
rai1say employees, &c feet long, 8 feet wide
and 6 feet deep, in which tho bodies were at
once inferred in boxes, hastily constructed
one being allotted to four rebels and one to
each Union soldier. The wounded were con-
ycyed as soon aB possible to Shohola, where
they met with every attention and aid ttat
surgical skill could suggest and the limited
accommodation permit, from Drs. Ap oley,
Hurdenburg, Cooper, Deborn, Lawrence and
from the inhabitants Of the neighborhood.
The ladies Of the vicinity also we're unwea-
ried in rendering those kind offices which
womanly tenderness alone knows how to be-
stow, besides bringing soups, jellies. and
other delicacies go grateful to the parched
md fevered patient. The names Of these
good Satnaritan5, 60 far us we could ascer-
tain-though II ne do injustice By omitting
any that should be mentioned We sincerely
regret it-are Mesdames Lotus, Deboru,
Gardner, Spring, and Misses Skinner, Bross,
and Hamilton.
At the spot on which the collision took
place the line m ikea sudden bend, like the
eunytx cnrye OF the letter B, and 1t was at
the apex Of this that the collision took place.
arrived At the spot, the Goals trew1ng the
line In I'LL directions, broken couplings and
fragments, gave notice that VIC were ap-
proachlDg the scene Of Some disaster. At
length two upturned tenders, with sides bat
tered and crnmplea, the massive timbers Of
$k.4$- A,~%n 131-n n11t
wheels and a1lts broken, piston rod bent
rs though It had been a, wire, angle irons
twisted out OF I'LL shape, massive bars crum-
pied like paper, wheels filling the ditch,
plank torn in threds, timbers spllotered like
touchwood, cars smashed and overturned,
bore such witness to the fearful nature Of
the shock that one wondered how. when such
rigid things as iron and wood were as straws
before It, flesh and blood should ever survive.
And as one p .sses on little further, and
looks down sheer eighty feet Of perpendicular
rock to the stream below, 1t is Impossible to
awful would have been the loss Of life had
the collision taken place on any Of those mar
row ridges, about fifteen feet wide, which
the road forms at these places.
Some little disapprubation was expressed
st the hastJ burial Of the men, and 1t has
been offered for their Identification, but to
this it may lie apswered that the nutilatton
OF many Of the corpses rendered this impos.
elble, and the weather, on sanitary grounds,
rendered it Indispensable they should be re-
moved, willie there Is no doubt the Govern
ment have all the names OF the missing men
and will give them such publicity as may
meet the q es Of their friends. 1t is certainly,
however, desirable that something more thau
the sham Investigation by the jury, aud which
We ore informed terminated In verdict that
all the comrany's servants were free from
blame and the accident unavoidable, should
take place. The telegraph operator is said to
Lave been intoxicated the night before, but
until he can be met with, and the public will
demand of the State authorities to see that he
is, and can be confronted with the conductor
OF the coal train, 1t will not do to place too
much reliance ON the statement OF the latter.
1t is the duty Of eaeh telegraph clerk to tel
egraph to the clerk Of the next depot fmtne-
dihtely the train has passed his station, and
this book seems to have been regularly kept,
50 far as our inspection went, at Shohola. At
1ackawaxen re were unable to see the book
kept by the absconding operator. Under any
circumstances, If the statement about the
character of tile telegraph operator Is true. II
is most discreditabfe to the com mpauy to have
kept snch q man in SO critical q situation,
| and they are by no means free from the com.
| plicity in the murder which Las just been
r0muliffeA