, 1869-03-24
MICHIGAN.
Accident Oh tho Groat Western
Railroad on tho 10th inst.
Names Of Those Seriously
Wounded.
Hospitality of a Poor Woman.
Condition OF the Track and
the Pullman Car

Condition OF the Track and
the Pullman Car.
Ccrrttpordenee o. The Chicago Tnb7re.
DkIRoIr, Mich. March = . 1852.
Having already seen several Incorrect
statements regarding the terrible accident
on the Great Western Railway yesterday
morning. l feel impelled, BY sense Of duty
10 the pnbllc, to give Sou true statement,
not only regarding the occurrence ITSELF but
also The result oi my Inquiries acd observa-
tions relating to the causes which led to It.
These are of so vicious character that they
should no. be passed lightly over.
The catastrophe occurred abou: haN-past
2 o'clock. On the morning OF the .0:h.
The train consisting Of the engine, one OF
two baggage cars, two ordinary passenger
cars, and Pullman palace sleeping car-left
Suspension Bridge about O'Clock the
evening previous. think every berth was
occupied. and there must have been, III re
fore, about twenty-five pcreona On board.
AL appeared 10 be wrapped tn profound
slember until abont h4lCpast i or
O'Clock. when several Of the passengers were
awakened By the jarriDg Of the car, and some
one remarked that the road was very rough
apd must be In bad order. From his time
l did not t{eep. In short time there was q
sudden bump, which startled the inmates.
and Mr.. Lamont, OF Chatham, sprung up IN
his berth and exclaimed, we are ofF the
track u At this 1uomcnt, the train was
rushing on At 4 fearful rate-seeuioglg hn7t
msnenp 1ns put SRs n 'fesh es1 ,s@ a rtts Il ,hs
and thumped fuEfouzly, and We became
conscious that terrible calamity was shout
10 befall u.s. vas in the act OF sps,ns sfng for
tte tels-rope to g1re the alarm to tbs engine
driver. rs were also Two or three Others, v hen
1he car Eavc sudden lurcl and We were, as
1t seemed, Ii an Instant Of time, whlrled iwo
or three times over. What occurred durlug
this time 1t Is impossible to describe, except
to tsy that every thing within the car, ani-
mate and iuaL LimRte, vas thrown and mingled
In chaotic confusion, women shfiskine and chil.
dren crying The car suddenly cea:el to
move. Then the groa0s OF the wounded, the
piteous cries Of mothers for their cai.dsen
and husbands husbands bcseechlne their
wives to cay Il they were yet alive. ali was
In total darkness, ME first thought was Of
flie, but As fror1denee would have 1t the
stores lenatned firm 10 their anchorage, and
Violently. across The car I found ms.
sell On the floor, beneath the berth On
which I hsd slept. Now commenced the
H4fk OF e1tRicating ourselves from the debris
ard sscertalblng who Of us were unharmed.
Several were With great difficulty ertticated
waa some time before out:lde help reached
u.s. 1t finally came, aud with The aid of
those Of VI who were not 50 se1Ious1y
wounded thofe who were unable to walk
were carried to 4 little bou7e bard By, occu-
pied By pcor 1anily, where they had all
the comfort that could BE- given under the
citcum stances. The whole houtc was freely
given up to the uses Of the MANNED, not on
II, but the good woman. Mrs. Monroe, de-.
voted herself unremittingly to the welfare Of
hce tins suddenly imposed guests Wnen
OFT red money she utterly refused to take II,
and when some slight apology vas made for
the Intrusion and tronble, she simply an.
me has chaIcc to do any good, and / am
| thankful to God for the privilege" suca
! dtslatetested kin1Gessis truly worthy Of men.
lion. May God reward her. The par.
ties found to be most seriously Injured
| we're As..James Lamont, Of Chatham. unta.
tie right lung -punctured by the, fractured
bones. BE is dangerously injured and will
| scarcely recover. Mrs. Ehitiamose, Of Dcu.
ver. Col. had her left shoulder jolnt ln1ated
and was other+ise seriously inju;ed a,out
| the scapusa. Sir. Whittamofe Wis also mpci
I
] young lady friend, was also much cut abou,
| the face and otherwise bruised. Mr., aud Mrs.
W. E. Strickland, recently Of Aicht ssn. now
Of New York, wcrc quite seriously injured
the Iormer haying been Knocked senselvss h5
severe blow upon the head. and the latter
she \ as unable to walk. Mr.. Samuel Far
well, Of Utica, n. T., was severely bruised
about tho left upper arm and shoulder
GhNles styermao, Of Musea1ine, Iowa
Ts severely cut aeon: the head
Mich, was much bruised aud cut about ths
face md head. A riece was also seriously
Injured internally. A little 500 Of J. I. Rob
inson, pi Peoria, H., had tere1e cut In th,
forehead, md wa1 otherwise brui>ed Mr.
and Mrs. r. were both also severely brulset
nEo strained. Dr.. Cleres> OF Chicago, VA
severely cut about the lett knee joint; ais
about the forehead, and vas severely brutse,
and s'raiued IN the hip and abdomen. Hi
mother In Law, 3 very a1ed lady, WAS ak
much cut about the lace. Wm. burgess, iton
Lynn, Aass, was qr1te severely hurt. Tw,
or three other persons, whose NAMES d.
not learn, were also seriously injured. DE.
Nalltank and 3ph ger. Mcdonald aud Wi
Hams, Of 1Egersoll, were all unEcual.tmg /
their attention 10 the wounded, aud render.
emiccut professional services IL the suf.rett
The conductor. Jauea f. Webster, Of HAmil
Ion, dld bis utmost 10 assist Us 10 the care
| aAE TQAAAs ~ AAA VI luIPE1%I3E ACCQlNuQu
toes for torwardiny the wounded to LoEd II
/ The station ma:ser ut 1ngcrsoll also rsndese
efIcitnt aid.
Now a word Of the c,uscs that led to th
catastrophe. have collected what I bs
lleye to be indubltable testimony q: to th
following etstc Of facts:
First, The track for fifteen or twent
miles in this immediate portion of th
line has been known for come time
by the msnagers--lo be In An unsafe and dal
| gerous condition from the bad quau:y Of u
rails used. H..
this occasion WAS known to be detective
eonc Of ite gearing and otherwise, and, shcs
! fore, totally uI 1t fJz use. This was spoke
| OF freely ny the employees On the train. bo;
both before and after the occurrence Of It
I accident. Previous to the starting OF It
: House officer as thA. point dis uad:d q lad
irleId from entering The sleeping car, on Il
grourd that 1t was totally unsafe 10 tEaye! Il
: Third. After the train was pR' tially oil II
! track ard the bell Was viofently Fuog,
: warn the engine driver Of the danger, /
whistle for down-brakcs Was heard by Al
! person On the tFala.
Fourth, When|the danger WIS known to Il
!, bFrkesneu, they made no attempt to do +
: brtkes, but the man on the sleeping c,
a leaptd OF to ssye his oTn neck. In reno
/ stsa&lng with him hlterwsrds for his pusilla1
' I iHUuS CtuQ4Sty LIZ Ju5l4uEo AlLNSCA III ~ u
!; ing In the must cool mud inka}ent lauRusG,
y ! thus showing himself totally unfit for Il
= position, not only. but couvictinx himself
q criminal e9lcct Of duty in time Of dauser.
1 Thus, have, without passion or bias, c
q dcavored to depict this horrible catastroph
= and to state clearly and suceinctlT the caus
j, which clearly led to it..
!. flow long must the patient public put .
4 with the recklessncss Of this heartless corp
; ration, who TINS tr1te with the lives OF il
ss community. They seem to care nothing
,. the Eaie1y OF the people, bnt only for t
~ gaiIs OF their traffic. In my opinion tn
l. should be tauEh; an exemplary lesson. r
l. company were, through their agent at L.
don, exceedingly sharp and wary In th
il attempts to settle with the injured partf
4 The cunning plea Of sympathy tor the
. jured and Willingness 70 do them just
!, seduccd several Of the IN Wary Into q sett
e rusut Of their claims On the spot. 4 le
Il however, were not caught In the trap. q
= tie sequel may show them that th
!: sh1eW duess might, with much more ult!ms
!. profit to themselves, be e1peeded ID deyelo
- Ing the best method Of improving their sut
r. and making it safe for The travelling publ
& 4 few Of The sufferers, with q full kuowled
{. of the provcrbtal hard heartedncss Of su
Il corporations, hare determined on an Ell
!. Tor even apd exact justice.
4 BANuEL 8, GET. II. D..
j 1s7 Bseadwa5, New York
). MONTANA.