Delaware State journal and statesman., 1864-07-22
TerrIbIo COllisiOn on the Enc Railroad.

teu hofTOth OF thb bhtue heiu, we arc NOT yet
used to them as to feel nnmoyed When on
similar scale, some fearful railroad c0iaRiropl
prings them 10 us, face 10 face, amid the quiz
OF civil life. One Of these terrible catastiaphel
tho most terrible that has happened in thi
country Tor some years. took place on Fiidn
morning last, when The grave was again openo
20 receive hecntomb Of human life, offered u
she shrine of managerial neliiciency and aubor.
INNATE recklessness. II appears thni on lh,
luh Inst, batch OF $50 Rebel prisoners lef
Point Lookout under the charge Of l25 Onion
soldiers. They safely arrived III New Ynfk ou
The l4th, and left Jersey City At D u. ia., on ths
morning Of the 10th, en- route for Elmira, N. ",
whittier they had been ordered to proceed. All
Wsnt we'll, and the convoy reached Port Ieryis
la the best of upIriis. At Port JerTia the ionbe
tFseF OF the Erie Railroad ends aul for tho
next ~ or 70 miles the road is but singO track
70 Laokawaxen Junction, with oOoasiOnal lengths
OF double track whore the nAture Of tho rad
permits.
Throughout the whole Of this distance, and
Ior eomo milea further on, the railroad runs up
she valley OF the Delaware end is full of sbsrn
DnTvsR and awkward turn9, slonE which n l.
osIso 'npossibe for the enRine-driger TO ees
moTe than tfiy or sixty yards IN advance Il
vas along this piece Of the road nbOnt Two ioIles
nom shobola, and when turning a poiut Of one
OF the abuttng bills, that the train of eighteen
emigisnt cars, with It's freight Of nine hundred
ehn h'yIelght souls, running at the rate of 25
nbeh an houfi met coal train Of fify oars with
each load Of twelve tuns, that came thunder |
ipR doHn the incline from LaokaRaxen When |
shs tTalnn came 10 sight of each other. thoy |
could not have been much more than one hun. |
drsd yards apart, the drivers not having time |
sven 30 reverse their engines and Jump oif. he
Iors desSh was upon them the driver 0f the
Passenger ualn. named VIM. Ingram, aud his
rTeman. named Tutle, bsDg both taken off ibe
engine dead, 40 vas the fireman OF the roai so,
slns, named Philo. Prentiss,
4he epoeh Has tremendous and It's rasulta
swfali though fortunately neither of the engines
leH the line The tender of the passenger en-
sine was turned mp on end, the wood for fuel
peing thrown IN front, and burying the driver
Sau fireman before named. The hrst car Of
course Was utterly destroyed, being ammed as
> spectator described il 10 mo, into space lesa
than six feet, whilo to complete lis denolition
the tender that had been tipped on end fell hack
on itH roof. II contained 81 men. seme of whom
aers on the platform at the time OF the collision.
aud from lts wreck 60 we're taken out dead only
one man escaping with his life by falling be-
tween the platforms to the earth. Three OF the
ears in Rll we're totally destroyed and seven ar
eight OF them 80 much broken "a 10 he eutirelv
Hssess, and II was in these cara thnt the orentest
loss Of life occurred for when the collision took
place two Union Soldiers were placed as senti
1as at each door on the platforms of each car,
nhleh were also oc cupied by gone of the Rebels
bssullinS the way by conversation with the sent
~ VI the men thus standing all were i'm ,,
Killed save one or two.
As soon as possible the survivors set 10 work
ander the guidance Of the Captain in charge CT y
she BODY to extricate the dying and wounded .
rom their fearful position, and, In the mean
VINE, word was sent TO Shohola, apprizing the =
authorities there OF the state OF thing, who i'm.
. sdiately telegraphed for assistanoe 10 Port =.
eRVla, whence, in short time, Hugh Riddle, !,
ssqp District Superintendent, arrived un the
Soene OF disaster IN n relief train, with three y
surgeons 10 attend TO the injured. The scene is u
described by those who escaped as most nppal- ~
tpg, the road blocked up with debris, car piled !.
upon car IN the most indescribabe confusion the :.
podieS of thcee thrown from them covering the ,si
sosa ht every step, the hying dust and blnding q
smoke from the quenohing fires, the noise Of the :"
escaping steam, and, above ALL tho fearful ~
Y oeoh aud heart rending cries of The injured y
nd expiring will never be forgotten. Some Of y,
ne eorpseH were Hhockiugly mutilated, heads ~
ompletely crushed, bodies uansGxed. mpaled Nv
o timber or iron rods, or smashed between tho Il.
ollidipg beams, while ono man Was discovered ~ u,
lead, sitting on the top Of the npturned tender ~
grotesqne aud ghastly mOehery nf the feono ~ ~
round him. VI
When the ories of the last wounded had direes- VI y.
y tbs senrehers TO his place Of imprisonment w. ",
'nd the lost corpse removed from ts temporary "
omn. It was found that the victims numbered r.
~ unlon men and "a Rebels, dead whlc NE ~ ="
Wounded numbered about 100, come VI them v" v"
Wounded mortally-indeed four have since died, u
nd number of others cannot bO expected to w w
seovsF. 7, J. Ridgway, esq, Associate Judge SO ~,
fiEe County, wGs soon on tho spot Rni, after w w
consultation with MF, Riddle and the officer in W \,
oHmAnd OF the meD, jury was impanneled q"
Nd an inquest held sftse which large trench W ~
9ss dug by the soldlers anil the railway en- y. y.
tnak Inaarr G. Il. a
esp IN which tho botieH were al once inferred "a
hoxos, hRstily conslfncied-one being allotted .
Ionr tehels aud one to zach Union e0der-- w w
he wounded were conveyed ss soon as possible Va
shobOls, where they mot with every attention :,
nd cid that surgical skill could suggest and the ~
United accommodation nesmit iu
The ladies' OF the vicinity also we're unWearial na
u rendering those kind Offices which womnnly ps
ehderness alone knows how 10 hestoW, healdes ~ ~
'nnglng soups, eies, and other delicacies so e,' m
rsteful 70 the parched and feyered patient. ~ ~
4he line was cleared on Friday night, and oil III
saturday morning early the officer in command
lroesaded With the rest Of the men to Elmira, ~
aking with him most of the wounded seven or Iu
light Of them cases requiring amputnton, which no
iould not be performed at Shohola, and the y, "
'i6sFs more or leBR severely injured leaving sn w
'dly twenty-five of the wOrst cases at Shohola ny ny
u which, az before stated, four died on SatuF- Oh
lay aud were buried with tho rest in the trench
o the wood between the road and the river sn
The conductor OF the coal train, John Martin. 9l
tAtea that II started as usual from the depot on az
he Hawey branch, and that, coming on the va
aain line at Lackawaxen, he inquired, as re- H
lulrsd by the regulations Of the Company, of an M
ne telegraph operator, Dna Kent ii the line ~
ths single track portion Of it) was clear and ~ %
received for answer that all trains then due had he
laased, the fact being that tho passenger train nj
" which he had information was late, and had wy
lot yet arrived. On receiving the intelligence al
ihs conductor OF the coal train naturally ordered
'he driver to go forward and the train procesS at
81 At Its usual speed along the single trae'. n eI
~, when doubling the point, the rssr t,aio al
ieshsd into 1t. Each train, az j. nsssss 90 W
ton, Is tslegraphed to the part % rnd III ,"is-
graph operator Ia requi,.ed 10 kesp il, a hooE 10
W apart ior that purpose, an account Of the v
s%os nhs y Wnlon Zach train passes his depot v
~ no esp at any moment, by reference to u
" pouS' ascertain what trains are due and o.
H4s' Oays passed, but whether Kent had done =
p or not wa cannot state. Ono thing is certain ~
has he has since sbHeondel. y
ANOTHER ACCIDENT ON TnE ERIE RAILROAD. +"
On Saturday last, as the early morning ex. -"
press on this line was nearing SulleTns Station,
not far from Augusta Bridge, q child about two
years old vas discovered sitting in the middle u
Of the traokl opposite its home. AS soon as il d
wac perceived, every effort was made 10 ston "
the train, but it could not be brought to a niand Il
until about 200 yards beyond the SPOT where the o
nhlid was sitting. On going back, IL was fonnd v
that the child was dead, ita head having been d
crushed by the cow-oatoher, and one of its foet "
cut on. What makes tho affair more lamcnia- 81
BE, and attaches greater blame to the obiIls Il
parents, It's father is employed as wAtchman by q
hhe Erie Railroad Company, aad that, about six II
M mn ttxr I Nj