New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-05-17
THE LATE RAILROAD SLAUGHTER
SCENES OF THE DISASTER
Relation of Eye Witnesses.

The st. Louis papers of Friday give us In
teresting details of the late railIoad catas-
trophe near that city, from which we make
these extracts. J. P. Jackson, the engineer
of the passenger train says:
The train was little over half an hour late
at the time Of the collision. When we got
our orders at Washington, we were instruct
ed that the freight trains going West had
thirty.five minutes of our time between
Meramec and Franklin We were about
fifty minutes late at Washington, behind
our car time. We made the run from Wash
ington to Franklin in about thirty minutes.
We left Franklin thirty five minutes behind
our Car time. Our time there was 4:25,
1t was five o'clock when we left. We
reached Eureka. There met No. 20 Oreight)
regular (being then thirty i've minutes late),
with flags for extra train west. George Du-
Bois, the conductor, was on my engine
when we met No. 20 at Eureka, and asked
the conductor of the freight in regard to
their time. They claimed to have only
twenty minutes on our time. Dubois came
on the engine and told me it was all right
90 ahead. We were then about thirty eight
minutes late. We started out very slow,
and continued SO down the decline this side
of Eureka
The conductor was still on the engine with
ne. About mile from Eureka, the first l
saw of the freight it WAS coming around the
bluff, under full headWay, about 1900 or 1900
feet distant. | whistled down. brakes, re.
versed the engine instantly, gave her sand,
aud told the boys-the fireman and conduc-
tor-to look out, for there she comes, and
jump. l jumped from the engine, among
some new ties, and found myself about
thirty feet over fence, on the right side
coming east.
The collision occurred on hill about
fifteen feet high. / hung TO my engine 10
the last, thinking she would slacken speed.
l couldn't see that the freight shut off
steam at all. The drivers caught the sand
before | jumped, and slipped along. was
terribly stunned, and yet knew where l
was and what had happened. l heard the
collision before l had fairly landed on the
ground. | Was not running over twelve or
fifteen miles an hour at the time. | heard
the conductor on the twenty-nine regular
tell DuBois at Eureka that he had only
twenty minutes on number four's time.
The twenty-nine regular was tagging the
twenty extra.
Mr.. Warner, the express messe- ae: IN the
train, makes this statement
The time of the collision must have been
about twenty-five mira past ave o'clock
in the morning. We were about a mile and
a quarter this side of Eureka. | WAS in the
and was staeding at about the centre OF the
car. There was also there Mr.. Pixley. the
conductor that had been running the Pleas
ant Hill accommodation train.
There was also with US the baggage mas
ter, john Barry, and the porter Of the train,
the colored boy, George Washington. We
four were all stare ding together, and sud-
denly there was the short, sharp whistle
which means down brakes" The porter
~, al l,a do nd
looked out, and quickly slammed it to
again and cried out, Boys. there's fun
ahead :" and then he ran to go out of the
rear door. But We thought he was in sport,
and paid no attention to him, and were Just
laughing and lighting cigars as he was
spriugiug, when instantly the crash came,
and everything was smashed. The porter
had hardly got the words out OF his mouth,
and could not have reached the rear door.
when everything was like crushed and
Queezedup egg.
l went up to the right with the broken up
pieces croTding me, and must have been
forced fifty or sixty feet down the embank-
ment. 1t seeped as if stopped three times
on the way, and each time wondered Whist
would happen to me next. The last jerk l
first thought had left me in the river, which
was near. I found l had slid out of the
wreck Just at the steam box and cylinder,
and it was pretty wet. l found that Barry
was near me, just in the rear, and under the
wreck. He had leg broken, his left hand
badly crushed and serious cut over
his eye. Barry and l were squeezed
out at the right, and Pixley and the
porter to the left, and we were lett
alive and the other two were instantly
killed; / don't think either of those two
could have lived long enough to know what
hurt them. The porter had one of his legs
torn off and his head badly mashed. The
whole car was just squeezed at once into
fragments, and all went out with the flying
rubbish. l don't think there was a piece OF
the Car left as big as your hand.
G. w. Smizer, farmer living near Eu-
reka, heard the whistles of the trains, and
knew collision had occurred. He has.
tened to the spot, and for q moment was
almost paralyzed by the scene that presented
Itself. The two locomotives were crushed
to shapeless masses, and had fallen On the
south side Of the embankment, while most
of the cars fell on the opposite side. The
groans of the wounded and dying were fear
ful. Men were lying helpless under the
ruins of the Cars-sOme with broken legs,
some with crushed arms, and some sutfocat-
irg from the pressure of the weight upon
them. An old man was lying under the
edge of the tender, the dead body of his
little daughter upon his breast, his wounded
son Eear by, and a dead man lying across
his legs. BE begged some one to shoot him
aud put him out Of his misery. Captain E.
Augustine and number of his neighbors
arrived in short time, and all labOred
diligently to rescue the wounded from the
wreck The tender, which fastened the old
man down, was rolled over, and the sufferer
taken out, but he soon died. Several
physicians Of the neighborhood also arrived,
and did all in their to relieve the wounded.
A German, lying among the rubbish,
called Justly fer a doctor, and said his legs
were broken off. He was lifted up, and
then it WAS found that he had not received
a scratch, but was terribly frightened.
Another man was lying on his back, and
he, too, wanted doctor; said he was sure
he was killed. He was raised to his feet,
and was as sound as dollar. He had lost
one of his shoes, and he begged Mr.. Smizer
to find his shoe for him. Mr.. SmIzer pO-
litely invited him to go to d certain hot
place down below.
The accident occurred about mile and a
half east Of Eureka, near point Of rocks at
a stone house. Around this point of rocks
an embankment about twenty feet high for |
q distance of half a mile. At this point the |
road curves very much, and it is impossible |
for train to be seen more than hundred |
yards ahead.
Mr.. G. j. Dubois. the conductor Of the
express, on which such a frlghtful loss OF
life occurred, states that he received orders
20 remain thirtysminutes at Eureka. and
hen 90 ahead. He waited thirty-three
minutes and then proceeded as ordered.
Fearing that something was wrong, he got
lpon the engine in order to keep d lookout
or any other train ahead; was still upon
he engine when he saw the freight coming
Iround the curve, and in an instant after
le was surrounded by dead and mangled
,assengers, and the ruins OF his own train.