The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-07-18
TERRIBLE COLLISION ON THE ERIE
RAILROAD,
Dreadful loss Of Iifc-Sixty.foUr Rebel
and Union soldiers ISulrd-Onc Hun.
drCd and Twenty wounded.

hhlhhOhbt
Dreadful loss Of IiTc-Sixty.four Rebel
ana Union Soldiers ISttlrd-OnC Hun.
drCd and Twenty wounded.
Sadly familiar as the last three years have rem
d,rcd the country and the pubic with tales OF
cod, scenes of slaughter, and the accumulated
horrors Of the battlefield, we are not yet So used
O. them as 20 feel unmoyCd when, on smaller
scale, some fearful railroad catastrophe brings
them 60 us face TO face amidthc quiet of civil life.
One of these terrible catast,ophcs, the most
terrible that has happened in this country for
some years, took place ON Friday morning last,
when the grave was again opened to receive %
hccatomb of human life, offered at the shrine Of
managerial mcnrcncy and subordinate reckless
ness. lt appears that on the 18th instant batch
of .g3 Rebel prisoners lcft Point Lookout under
the charge of l2j Union soldiers. They safely
arrived zoo New York on the 18th, and left Jersey
City at D a. VI. on The morning OF the 18th, cli
roitI for RmTg, New York, whittier they had
been ordered to proceed.
An went well, and the convoy reached Port
JCTyi. in the hest uf spirits At Port Jeryis the
double ttnlk of the Eric Railroad ends, and for
tie nest wCuty-tOur or twenty-five miles the
road is hut single track TO LuCkawaNeu june
ton, with occasional lengths OF double track
where ihc nature of the road permits.
Throughout The whole Of this distance, and for
some miles further on, the railroad runs up the
va ley OF the Delaware, and is full Of sharp curves
and awkward turns, along which it is otteu im-
possible for The engine lri' rtO see more than fifty
or siyty yards IN advance. Itwus along this piece
Of the road, about two miles from Shohola, and
when turning point Of one Of the abuttlnr hills,
that the train of eighteen Cmgrant cars, with its
fry' ght Of nine hundred and nifty eight souls,
running 90 the ru'e Of twenty five miles an hour,
met coal train Of fifty cars, with each n load of
twelve tons, that came laundering down the in
cline from lACkawuNen. When the trains came
in sight of each other they could not have been
more th8n one hundred yards apart, the drivers
not having time even 10 revere their engines aud
jump Oh before death was upon them, the driver
OF the passenger train, named William Ingram,
and his fireman, named Iuttlr, being both taken
In the engine dead, ms was the fireman OF the
coal engine named philo. Preutiss.
The shock was tremendous, and its results
awful, though fortunately neither Of the engines
left the line. The tender of the passenger cng @
was turned up on end, tho wood for fuel being
thrown In front, and hurying the driver and ire
man before named. The irstCar, Of course, was
| utterly destroyed, being jnmmed as u spectator
described Il TO us, into space less than six feet
while 10 complete its demolition, the tender chat
had been tipped on end fell back on It's roof It
contained thuty-sCyCu men, some Of whom were
on tie platform az the time Of the collision, and
nom its wreck thrty-siN were taken out dead,
o ly one man escaping with his life by falling
between The platforms to the earth
j,
and seven or eight Of them so much broken rs 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
placed as sentinels at each door on the platforms
| of each car, which were also occupied by some OF
| tie Rebels beguiling the way by conversation
| with the sentry. OF the men thus standing all
| were Immediately killed save one or two.
| As soon rs possible the survivors set to work
under the guidance of the Captain in charge of
| the body, to eXtricato the dying and wounded
| from their fearful position, and, in the mean
| time, word was sent 10 ShOhOla, apprislng the
authorities there Of the state of things, who im-
mcdiately teiegraphed for assistance to Port
| Jeryis, whence, in q short time, Hugh Riddle,
| ESQ. District Superintendent, arrived on the
scene of disaster IN a relief train, with three sur
| geons TO attend to the injured.
The scene is described by those who escaped
as most appalling, the road blocked up with
debris, car piled upon car In the most indescriba-
| bic confusion, the bodies of those thrown from
| them covering the road ut every step, the dying
dust and binding smoke from the quenching
fires, the noise Of he escaping steam, and, above
all, the fearful groans and hclrt-rendng cries of
tie Injured and expiring will never be forgotten.
| Some Of the Corpses were shuckngly mutilatcd,
| heaCS completely crushed, bodies transfxed,
imUaled on limhers or iron rods, or smashed be-
tween the coliiding beams, while one man was
disCON cred dead, sitting on the top of the up
| turned tender, in grotesquc and ghastly mOckery
Of n Q scene around him.
Wren the cries of the last wounded had directed
the sea, Chers to his place of Imprisonment, and
| the last corpse removed from its temp lrary
| tomb, il was found that the victims numbered
| sixteen Union men and forty -four Rebels, dead
while the wounded numbered one hundred aud
| tive niy, some Ofthem wounded mOrtallv-ndeed,
| four has since died, and number Of others can
| not be expected to recover. ]. T. Ridgway, Esq,
Associate Judge of Pike county, was soon on the
| spot, and, after consultation with Mr.. Riddle
! and the officer in command of the men, a iury
onip hpl mn oh,
| large trench was dug by the soldiers and the
| railway employees, 76 feet long, feet wide, and
| 6 feet deep, in which the bodies were at once in-
| tered in boxes, hastily constructed-one being
| allotted to four Rebels and one TO each Uuion
| soldier. The wounded were conveyed as soon
| as possible to ShohOa, where they met with
every attention and aid that surgical skill could
| suggest and the limited accommodation permit
| from Drs Appley, Hardenburg, Cooper, Deborn
| Lawrence, and Walsh, assisted by number ol
volunteers from the inhabitants Of the neighbOr.
| hood.
| The ladies of the vicinity also were unwearied
| in rendering those kind Offices which womanly
| tenderness alone knows how to bestoY, besides
bringing soups, jellies, and other delicacies sC
grato ful 10 the parched and fcyered patient Tht
| names of these good Samaritans, so far as We
| could asCertain-lhOugh il we do injustice by
| omitting any that should be mentioned we sin
cerely regret t-are Mesdames LOTUS, Deb0rn
| Halbut, Kelsall, Johnson, Bross llarwnOd, Gard
| ner, and Spring, and Misses Skinner, Bross, alC
J Hamilton
| The lire was cleared on Friday night, aud OF
| Saturday morning carly the oill'er In comm m,
| proceeded with tic rest Of the men 70 Elmira
! taking with him most Of the wounded, seven o
! eight Of them cases requiring amputatian, which
could no, he performed at Shoh0l and tlc other
! more or less severely injured, leaving ony twenty
| two Of the worst cases at ShOhola, of which ~
| before stated, four died on Saturday aud wer,
| buried with the rest in the trench IN the Woo
| between the road and the river Owing % thi
! Circumstance We have found il impossible 70 gjy
any list OF the casualties; but Of those left a
| ShohOln we have obtained the names of all VIII
! were sufficiently sensible to speak. They are a
| follows
COMPANYs SERVANTS KILLED
william Inpfam, eu- inc driver.
| ---- futile fireman.
Ihllu Prom iss, fireman.
| ---- Roy don, brakeman.
UNION SOLDIERS WOUNDED
Amos Ward, Company G., lllh Veteran Reserve he1