Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-07-21

Lne front OF the 1relSnI Train as
shuff1ed lazily off on an obliqu
switch toward the depot and, htel
ally rearing up in air like a might
lion in his rage, crashed throug
the foremost iron wall of OppositiO
and then careened over on the trael
as though bereft of further strength
The tender jumped upon the pros
trate engine, the mail express strucl
against the wreck of iron, tn
baggage car, against the express
the smoking car ran pell- nell int
the fearful ruin, and in less tim,
than it takes to say it the entir'
mass was in a blaze of fire. Th'
shock was terrific. 1t reached tt
the uttermost end Of the train in al
its intensity, shaking the sleepers tC
their feet and appalling the stoutest
hearted men that heard it. No hops
at this awful moment for the poo
people in the smoking car. Trucks
were knocked from under baggage
and express cars and stood locked il
combat, as it were, upon the
track. The body of the bag
gage-car lay at one side, the ex-
press at the other, passenger
coach on top, while thrown in con-
fusion between them all, tossed
torned and blazing from floor tc
roof, was the baggage-car, with its
living freight caught in the stern
and fiery jaws of death. Jets Of
fearful flame sprang upward from
the wreck, or rushed Kissing like
steam from an escape-pipe along
the track and through the passenger
coaches. 1t was a heart-rending
and awfully impressive spectacle to
see the big column of red and roar
ing fame tearing through the wood
work and melting away dozen
human forms without soul under
Heaven being capable of stretch
ing forth an arm to the rescue.
Death, however, did its chief share
of havoc before applying the torch
to finish its CHASTITY work; but hor-
rOr of horrors what a fate was
that reserved for poor DR.. Halleck.
Not a scratch marked him when the
collision occurred. He was in the
foremost sleeping coach, and was
violently pitched forward into
the tangled mass of broken wood
work, but received no injury. Worse
than injury, however, he found
himself, in all his strength and sensi-
billy, locked up in the heavy beams
that made the floor frames Of the
dismantled cars. The dreadful fire
from beneath flared up suddenly
around him. Men with blanched
and bewildered faces stood upon
the track or rushed frantically to
and fro crying, els there no help
for DR.. Halleck?" The fire shot
out with the intensity of a furnace,
and triumphantly defied any man to
approach and rescue the victims
within its grasp. Above the crack
Ting roar the firm and intrepid voice
of the doctor, in the midst of his
remarkable agony, was heard to
cxclaim to the men around the
scene, 81 am not injured; but L can
not escape"
All that could be done by the
people of Mast Hope who focked to
the depot to give assistance failed
to save the ill-fated doctor; but it
is at least consoling to know he
went down to his appalling doom
with all the lofty fortitude and re-
signation of a Christian. But the
doctor was not alone in this calam-
ity. A man named Daniel Baur
was jammed and burned to death in
a similar manner, and Erastus
Wheaton was injured in one of his
feet.
At 9 o'clock in the morning, after
great exertions, six burned bodies
were rescued from the ruins of the
smoking car, and at noon of yester-
day a passenger by the midday train
reported thirteen charred bodies
lying along the track. There were
comparatively few wounded. Flying
splinters were rare, and the terrific
force and suddenness of the shock
left nething to accept but instant
death for those near the point Of
collision. Some of the train men
on the express were hurt, but none
killed. Out of one hundred and
fifty pieces of baggage only eleven
were saved.
From the New York Times. July l6.
Among those killed is Rev. Benz.
B. HalIeck, of 329 East Fourteenth
street, New York, who was in the
smoking car, and was literally
burned to death, being uninjured
otherwise, but wedged by the tim
bers in such a manner that he could
not be extricated. He had gone
forward to the smoking car to enjoy
a cigar before retiring to the Sleep
ing car. When the accident had
occurred, and the uninjured persons
in the train were endeavoring to
rescue those in the front cars, Mr..
Halleck, with great calmness,
directed the efforts of the workers,
but they were unable to help him.
Just before the flames reached him,
he told the persons his name and
residence in a calm and unexcited
manner. They were finally com
PEELED to abandon him and the other
injured passengers to the flames,
and retire beyond sight of the ter
rible scene and hearing of the pitt
Gus cries of the suffering victims.
STATEMENT OF MR.. A.w. GIBSON.
Mr.. Gibson, of Leominster, Mas
sachusetts, who was passenger on
the train at the time the accident
occurred, described it as follows:
1 left Jersey City on the evening
of the 18th, in the $50 express
train bound west. There were
quite a number of passengers on
board. Everything went right until
we neared Mast Hope, about 11:4O
o'clock that night. AT that point
the freight train going west was
waiting our approach, but had not
crossed the switch, so that we might
pass on. Through the carelessness
of its engineer, the engine attached
to the freight train stood on the
frog or switch, and partly on oul