Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-12-26

trip I knew Abbot twas goiug ooe -,
and when about sixty rods exe0 -
bridge gave him o signal to stop; sup
pose he did not see, a. ha did not oSsV
L.; the brake on the passenger cae ~
pat on; at the time I gave the slgesl0s
were going thirty miles an boar I took
particular notice OF the speed, thkukiug
OF the dangerous positioa Wss n
II rail broke or accident ooarfs1 6
i jumped nom the traio Abeat q Ge0k
from the cAasm ut that time The train
was going about ~ miles a. hour heard
no whistle; the signal 20 stop train IN
by swinging the arm, and BY pulling the
bell rope; there WAS no bell rope attached
and gave the signal BY swinging the
arm, the car, Isuppose, WAS full Of men,
and several on the platform where I was.
the car and tender went into the ehasm;
the engine clear TO the edge; the truck
went within two or three fees Of the edge,
the Harlow bridge was S08 feet long; the
distance from the rail 10 the water Ii about
90 feet; from the top OF the abutment TO
the ground was 80 feet; nom there "a
where the car and men landed WAS 10
feet more, making about 46; there was
Dent OF trustle standing about 80 feet
from the abutment; the majority OF the
killed and wounded lay on or near the
sill OF the trestle; thirteen were killed
at this place two died afterwards; I
think about 40 were wounded ! detail
ed man to look after the dead and the
wants Of the wounded; the reason why
bunter was not put, were the grade
was so feet, and nothing could 60 of un-
less showed of; we wanted all the avail
able space to facilitate the passage of the
regular trains; as the only chance, ex-
cept within about one hundred feet OF
the bridge, would have obliged as to go
mile further; since the accident . bum
ter has been put up Is or so feet from
the bridge; we do not back up now; had
there been bunter strong enough to
stop the train, there would, In my opin-
ion, have been as many killed as there
are now, the train WAS going so fast
/ the accident was occasioned by the en-
gineer forgetting what he was doing, I
think ; he has always been considered 8
safe engineer do not know OF his being
hauled off or reprlmanded for miscop-
| duct 1t has been customary 10 b.
trains to points of obstruction to I.
itate doing our work; Mr.. Abbott was
tailed to do the engineer work betw,
the bridge and depot, as it would bri
him near home; Mr.. Tenney was a,
foreman in reconstruction of this bridg
Mr.. Dewey was under Mr.. Tenney
second foreman ] had the general owe
sight Of sill matters pertaining to 70
ming on the road came here as this Wa /,
an important psint; had nothing to say
as how the bridge should be built Mr.,
Tenney did not 90 on the trains except
to and from his meals l rode back and
forward on the train frequently, but had
nothing to do with running the train 81
conductor or other trainman; no one
man was regularly sent with the train
as conductor, bat always some one man
went in that capacity; never told Mr..
Dewey to hurry Mr.. Abbott, but have
hurried men to get through with their
meals and get ready to return to work .
frequently tell trainmen to hurry up,
but that has no reference to engineers
Fastening their speed when no time
for running is specified, the speed ia
limited to Is miles per hour no con.
struction train had been run over Il
miles per hour previous to the one at the
time9f the accidents to my knowledge
heard nothing said that the train was
run too fast the day before; this
train was nearly twice az fast as il
had ran prior to this day.; first noticed
tie great speed at the Elbow bridge
this speed increased till we passed around
the first curve, and at the second curve
Igave the signal to stop; should judgu
the speed WAS 20 miles per hour when ]
gave the signal to stop; there was one
double brake on the car and one on tbs
tender, each acting on eight wheels; the
fireman attends to the brake on the ten
der; no special brakeman was detailed
for this trip; he applied the brake when
gave the signal, but I could not per.
ceive, st the time I jumped, that tho
speed was slackened except by the brakes,
it was impossible to prevent the train
from going or by action Of the brakes
alone, unless the steam was shut of
since putting up the bunter 1t has In
creased the work OF carrying by and de-
lays the train; we did not put bunter
at first, because we wished to run our
heavy timber to the abutment and tip II
over, which we could not do so readily
II 3 bunter WAS In the way; Monday
morning looked the matter over with
the roadmaster Mr.. Warner, about put
ting up bunter, but for the reasons be-
fore given, we did not think it necessary
consider Mr.. Abbott discharged; when
jumped from the engine judged The
engine had not been reversed, az had
perceived no jerking Of the train.
MAsoSrc.--At reg ular communica.
ton OF Marble Lodge No. rs Of F. g. A
~, holder Dec. 9th, A. D. 1857, al
Dandy, tbs following officers were elected
or the year ensuing
VIM Fl. Bond, ". h,
P. Holton, 8. W.
VIM. Fl. Beebe, J. W
D. A. Kelley, Treasurer.
L. P. Howe. Secretary,
&c. Williams, = D.
o. q. Baker, j. D.