, 1864-07-04
Frfghtfal Railroad accident,
N IN ETY. LIVES LOET.
a Whole Train precipitsted into
the Richelieu,
tFEom the Toronto Globe, June COL
FIRST DISPATCH,

BE1gn STATION, June 2s
| a serious accident happened this morning,
ABOUT han.Fast one 2. m., to IN emlyra1t
Hilaire, about one mile from the bridge across
the Rfchelieu River, where there Ii aBwinf.
bridge: The swing bridge wns opened aboni
quarter past one, to let q number OF baroes.
IN tow Of steamer, pass. The proper Sig
opened, anu the red light wns burning, The
man In charge Of the bridge, when be heard
the whistle, waved his read hand lamp, The
standing orders are that all tra1ns must come
70 70 full stop before reaching the bridge.
This was disregarded, and the train ran i1ito
the open draw. A number Of emigraats are
Killed and injured, but it Is impossible to say
how m9Dy at present. 4 large body of men
are at work clearing away tic wreck. 1t S
m- u bodies were recovered. and between
~ and ~ taken ont more Or less injured.
Depth OF water In draw, ten feet.
! SECOND DISPATCH.
| ST. u1LA1EE;. june 2o-s.15 a, m,
The train which went over the bridge ut
this place this morning, consisting OF eleven
cars and an engine, Wns precipitated into the
water. There were 354 emigrants on board,
all Germans. At this hour thirty four bodies
have been recovered, aud between thirty and
forty have been taken out, more or less
badly wounded.
The train from Quebec has been DELAYED in
consequence Of the accident, at Hyacinthe.
During the last three hours the debris has
been sufficiently cleared away to allow the
bridge to be closed, and the ordinary traflc
| to be rcsumid. There is one car which hns
not yet been sufficiently reached to allow the
dead to be taken from 1t, Only two living
were rescncd from this car. Their shrieks
the wounded are in d dying state. The depth
Of the water where the accident occurred is
about ten feet. The train was pfecipitated
on the stern Of barge passing at the time,
which lies partly submerged. The conduc-
tor Thomas Finn, Is killed; the fireman,
Nicholas Flynn, supposed to be killed. VIM.
Birney, the driver, went down. with his en-
gine, but escaped with slight injury, So ir
us now appears, dreadful responsibility
rests upon this man for violating the stand
ing order to stop.
THIRD DESPATCH.
BE1tE1L STATION, Il o'clock.
The number Of bodies recovered to this |
time ts ~, OF whom IL are boys, 19 girls s |
men nDd IL women. There are about 70 Sc |
rfously wounded-6ome Of them not expect |
ed to llye. 4 considerable number OF dead |
bodies are known to be still in the wreck. |
About nine o'clock an engine and car arrived /
from Montreal, bringing Coroner Jones, Mr.. |
Pomtnyille, Solicitor Of the Grund 'Trupk,
and large number OF workmen to clear
away the debris In order to get ont The dead
grants: The utmost diligence has been cxer-
cars.lie mostly pile Of fragments, crushed |
together, resting on the barge which Was for
tqnate1y passing through at the moment Of
open water, to tue number Of deaths caused
By being crushed In the smashing ofthe cars,
must hnge heen added yast number OF |
drowned. All the barges in tow Of the steam
'er tl Lad nasS,ed na,, except two. Those on the
soy the train coming, knew what must hap
pen, and Jumping on the barge behind saved |
their Lives. Tue locomotive lies submerged In
the water out Of sight. The appearance pre-
sented by the wreck 1t Is impossible to de-
scribe. The train consisted Of two or three +
cars lifted mp with benches for the emil
grants. The two or three last cars, whea |
we arrived at the ecene Of the accident,
about seven o'clock, remained on the top OF
were a confused broken heap, soma lying on
their stdee, others upside down, broken Into
and crushed by these aboYe them, while iu
some cases car lay fatteucd almost like
Pancakc, between Two others. The wheels
lay confasedly scattered here and there
through the heap. The leg Of clild might
be seen protrUding from under plenk at
another place mans head severed from the
body, which appeared like shapeless mass
OF bloody clothes. The bridge, which Is q
along the top Of the tubc-is some IS Ieef
high, counting from the level Of the rails to |
tile level Of the water. The width opened
By the swing, which is Ut the western ex-
tremity Of the bridge, is shout 60 feet.
When arrived 81 bodies had been recoy-
cred. During the forenoon several Others
hnve been taken out, but the remaining dead
are chiefly In cur SO Wedged In unUp:st the /
fragments Of the Others that many hare not
ye1 been reached As write tue body Of an
ol5 gray haired man, respectfully attired, ia
large, long.handled china pipe. 4 quarter Of
IN hour a5o lad Of fifteen was taken ont,
apparently n1eless, his head covczru With
blood, and presenting fflghttul spectacle. |
On restoratiycs being applied, he WIS found
injured. The blood with which ho was cor-
cred was that Of his mother, beside whose
corpse he bad been lying In the wreck for ten
hours. Within the last few minutes the l.
years, hare been got ont Of the wreck and
borne past to the dead house. The dead are
lying In the upper loft Of shed on the river
side, about one hundred yards below the
ecene Of the accident. A number Of the more |
pa o he ssne Sans Z reaas as Wo or
three have been transferred from the recepta- |
Gle tor the wounded to the ghastly upper |
chamber set apart for the dead. Others OF
the wounded are in tavern close beside the
scene Of the accident, and in the adjacent |
shcds md other outbnilJings.
The Coroner, Immediately on arriving, had
the engine-driycr {1vm- Birney, arrested and
sent him by the delayed train, which passed |
about 10 o'clock, to Montreal, there to be
committed to gaol. The bridge IS nearly
bridge Is open can be seen 525 feet before re-
entering on the bridge. The signal being \
besice the draw-bridge on the western side
Of the river, should thus have been seen by
the driver ut distance Of l. .625 feet. It was
clear night, with no haze to prevent Its be-
ing visible. Birney says that when be saw
the signal he reversed the engine, but those
competent to judge say that ne could have
pulled up the train in one third Of the dis
tance. Moreover, he disregaEded the stand-
ed regulations requiring every train to come
to dead stop before going on the bridge
u regulation which Is, Of course, Of peculiarly
essential Importance rs regards: occasional
trims, such as this one was: Birney has been
III the employment Of the Grand Trunk for
eight or ten years, chiefly as fireman It ia :.
only recentls that he Las been promoted to
the rank of driver.
A brother Of Finn, the deceased conduc-
tor, was driver Of the express train which
to sec how the strong fellow was unnamed,
and wept and moaned in the excess Of his
grief, when, on our arrival ut the bridge, he
was first made acquainted With his brothers.
melancholy fate.
With the assistance of IN Intelligent Ger
man in the employment Of Major Campbell,
Of st. nilairc, entered into conversation
with a number Of the survivors. Ifouud,
however, that they were Of various nnt!onalf-
ties, and knew little of each others affairs.
They came BY the Necknr, which arrived at
Quebec on Sunday afternoon last, f.om Bre-
ber, IS having died on the passage One, an
old man of 63 died after reaching Quebec.
4 number left for the West on Monday, and
3554 started BY this unfortunate train. a few