Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-07-14
From the Sprins held Republican,
The Rutland Railroad and Its
Victims.

The controversy rs to how the late Mr.
A. r. Field, of Greenfield, and other suf-
ferers, were taken care of after the recent
accident on the Rutland railroad, seems
to be provoking much bitterness. We
have taken no port in it hitherto, except
to give ~ matters of news whatever came
to light upon the subject. and have no de
sire To do any tut full Justice to all par.
ties concerned. We have all faith in the
| humanity and tenderness of fthe people IL
whose vicinity the accident occurred and
are confident that il there were any lack
of proper nursing, it was through the fail
ure of the railroad fficiais to assume the
direction of affairs, and thus organize
good viii into good work.
The first complaint of insufficient treat
ment was an item in the Greenfield
Gazette, which we printed at the time,
and which alleged that Mr.. Field had
nothing TO eat Tor Is hOuts After he was
s,,nidrd, that during that time h. was in
room with man whose wounds made
him insane, that he lay upon bed upon
tbs floor with his feet hanging over the
end, aud That his burma were only dressed
with WI bite paint; also. that icc water
mi lint were not provided and that the
tele2rmIps To and from the wounded were
! DELAYED rhe Greenfield Gazette, this
! week, yeitrrate@ thes" charges. On the
o,hrr hand, the railroad commissioner OF
! tbs State of Vermont, Mr.. Parker, claims
! to have Investigated both the cause OF the
accident and the treatment of the wound
ed. employing III the latter office two OF
three physicians, including Dr. Gold
sspith, fnrmerly professor in the medlca
! school ut Castleton, Vt, and surgeon IL
the aray The statement Of this ply
sici4r, pa os;-hed by Us last week
! is thnt chicken broth aEd other delicacie:
ysra provided for the wCundsa. that Mr.
Fields in,4rirs were such that the easiesi
>Stti9u for bi4u was to sit fropped up
p we'd, with HIS feet hanging over, and
ON ,fe4tment of the wounded was
thAt the Vi be expected, This state,
all tha' co" ~4a by T. H. Holden OF
meut is contirL who z-.s personal
Mount Holly. VT, W. W ,nS WA present.
friend of Mr. FielL r. wr;te, r.
through the whole affair. ~ ;n;,,rea
the Rutland HERALD tina t''0 ~ ~ ba
friend was repeatedly askeu .s'.s.1
would have for nourishment and b'
all solid food, that he had everything DN
wanted AS soon a. asked for, except In
one instance, when, the whisky becoming
exhausted, rum was offered him and re-
fused; whisky was Immediately sent tor
and furnished to the sufferer within 10
minutes. There were three men to wait
upon him and an average OF three women
to every person wounded. A railroad
official was detailed to go to Ludlow for
supplies of food and medicine and by him
plenty of both was provided. The wound
ed, says Mr.. Holden, confessed that better
treatment could not have been asked for
A Mr.. Chase also writes to the New York
World from Boston that everything pos
sible WAS done to mitigate and prevent
suffering.
This. we believe, is fair statement OF
the essential points in the case on both
sides, and we make it in justice to our
readers and to the parties whose hospitali-
ty has been impugned, and also to our
selves, us having been cited IN su't OF
which, through our own reporters, we
know nothing. If parties III Greenfield
are positive that Mr.. Field received criml'
nally inadequate treatment, their test''
mony or affidavits should be given proper
weight by the railroad authorities OF the
State of Vermont.