The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-02-10
NE w YORK.
DETERMINED TO COMMIT SUICIDE.


The Treasury conscience fund.- to-day re-
ceived $50 from an individual in Lowell, Mass.
NEW YORK.
DETERMINED TO COMMIT SUICIDE
NEW YORK, Feb. 9.-Samuel f. Stevens of
Belfast, Me-, who committed suicide at the
Tombs Tuesday night, sent note to friend
on Monday enclosing letter, which clearly
shows that he contemplated suicide as early as
Dec. OATH The wardens of the prison think
that the continued nervous excitement derang-
ed his mind. In the letter Stevens charges
young buchanan and Hayford with being per-
iured villains and dealing extensively in coun-
terfeits for the past twenty years.
THE RECEPTION OF THE FENIAN ExILEs.
The programme for the reception of the
Fenian exiles to-day was fully carried out in
and weather and in the presence of hundreds
OF thousands of their countrymen who crowded
Tammany Hall, in which the formal exercises
OF the welcome occurred, and thronged the
streets through which the procession took its
line of march. Richard O'Gorman delivered
an address of welcome to- which O'Donovan
Rosa and Col. Burke responded, after which
the procession, composed nearly all of Irish
civic, benevolent aed religious Organizations of
this city and Brooklyn and escorted by the
69th regiment, marched from 14th street
through 4th Avenue and the Bowery to City
Hail where they were reviewed by the Mayor
and city authorities and returned up Broad
way to Madison Square, where they were again
reviewed iby the exiles and dismissed. The
cOlored societies who had assigned places in
the procession were not in their places at the
time of starting and could not be found any
where in the vicinity.
THE HUDSON HOLOCAUST.
POUGHKEEPSIE, Feb. 9.-The cOrOners in
vesigation to-day of the disaster was contin-
ued. Edgar Underwood, conductor of the
train, testified;-My train was extra No. 8;
don't run on time, not being regular train !;
had the right of way when passing New Ham
burg; was running on card time according to
the rules of the road; my card time was fiji
teen miles per hour; l was not then making
that time; the running gear of my train was
last examined at Greenbush, and at the water
stations we looked over the train ourselves; we
stopped at Coxsackie, Hudson and Hyde Park
on the way down; examinations were made
with hammers; could not say whether the
train had been examined that night at Cox
sacke and Hyde Park; I went the whole
length of the train on one side and two of my
men on the other; on making examination of
the running gear before we reached Coxsackie
discovered the hot box and in consequence
thereof could not make Hudson ahead of the
regular train; we took the side track at Cox
sackie, where we cooled the Journal staying
there ten minutes after the regular train and
twenty five minutes altogether; that hot Jour-
nal gave me no more trouble that night; was
III Ouc VI tHo tduh CdtS, Luo ulHIu IrOm tue ca
boose: 1 had twenty-five cars in all; my atten-
ton was first called to the trouble on my train
by the night Waterman at New Hamburg; as
we passed that station he halloed; was in the
caboose at the time and heard him; came out
and put on the rear brake and told the caboose
man to give the engineer the signal by drop
ing the white light; l stood on the caboose and
kept signaling till we got near the draw-bridge;
did not hearithe whistle for down break !;
l think l felt the engineer reverse his en-.
rvv~ II .xok4 S-...
grade there. 1t he saw my signals it was his
business to blow for brakes; we generally use
a signal cord but that night it was not safe to
string it; we had a short train and it was not
worth while; it is used generally to give the
engineer information when the train breaks
apart; it would have been difficult for the en-
gineer to get the signal from it if it had been
strung, in consequence of stringing through
brake bands; it is the order of the road that it
shall be strung on all trains; if we had had a
cord we would have tried to pull it but 1 dom
think we could have succeeded; don't think
the engineer could have been notified that way
that night if there had been cord; the bell
cord had been strung over forty-fivs cars when
put ON the brakes the speed of the train was
slackened and we were running slow enough
to get off before We got to that portion of the
bridge which spans the read north of the draw.
bridge. TheIe is down grade there and it is
a hard matter to stop train anyway; had
three brakemen on the train, one on the engine
the second brakeman is in the middle of the
train, but there is no place there for him; it is
Ioncly,s orders to have brakeman in the mid
die OF the train but there was nO,place for him
to stand there on that train except on three or
four boards over the oil tanks; it is not safe for
a man to go there when the train is running:
the walk for him over the top of his cars to the
brakes is about three feet wide. So far as or.
ders are concerned it was the duty of one of NV
brakemen to be in in the middle of the train. I
Ohava0 the order IN ac hoy
cerned a brakeman cannot stand with safety
on the platform of an oil car. My train consist.
ed OF an engine, six express oil cars, two box
cars, two tank cars, four cattle cars, two box
ears and then the caboose; the stock car in the
centre OF the train had brakes ON it; was be-
tween two tank cars and no brakeman could
stand on it even if he had been there
He could have cOntolled but one car, whereas
as he was he could have discovered the acct
dent. would have you understand that it
was to our interest to have man at the rear.
The brakes in the rear were all good and we
had them on as soon as we could. Orders for
man to be in middle of train were given be-
cause he could work from tier to the rear. The
night was pretty cold. 1 was looking out of
the rear window Of the caboose and the rear
brakeman was at the door. When left the
caboose after the train stopped went down
very near to this car, the one that was off the
track. The train then was at dead stand and
eleven GERS ahead of the broken car were de-
tached and on the south side of the draw
bride. don't know how far they were;
could not see. went down on the east side of
my train. The broken car was the forward one
of the train that was left back. The other cars
that had gone on were lying on the up track
crosswse, one end higher than the other
WhenI saw the situation at once ordered
the brakeman down the road with red light.
Iknew the express was behind time because
we should have passed it before got there. He
could not 60 down on either track because of
the track being blockaded, when he halloed to
the man on the engine to go down with
red light. The broken car was on the east
track and my train was on the other
The engineer heard man halloa and balboa
ed back "all right" 1t was not half minute
after gave the order to send a red light before
man to whom gave the order halloaed, "look
out, the express train is coming 1t all han
poned in an instant almost. l was twenty or
twenty-five feet north of the tank car on the
east track, south Of the draw on the bridge
when l gave the order. When first saw t5e
express she was about hundred feet off
dropped my light for signal and think the en-
gineer of the express blOwed s'brakesn Som
express train in thirty seconds after the man
warned me: From the time the train Stoned
TIL the collision occurred not over two minutes
had elapsed. was on the bridge near the
draw when the locomotive struck the oil tank.
l could mt make any more signals than did.
L don't know that any signal was set on the
draw. The first thing / knew after the collis-
ion was getting up off the ice in the river, IS
OF 20 feet from the draw. ] don't know how 1
got there. think the train had nearly stop
ped when it struck the oil tank. L heard
the express train whistle the minute be.
fore I got off my train. She appeared to
be between the water tank aud drawbridqe.
I could net tell where she was. The oil car
was not unusually heavily laden; there was q
light signaling all was right on the drawbridge
tower; if the man had been there 1 don't think
he would have had time to change it to the
danger signal; it would take half minute to
put on the brake; if I had had two more brake.
men on my train it could not have stopped be-
fore it got to the draw.
L think the broken truck under the stock
car tore the track up; we keep man whose
duty is to watch and read signals from both
sides of the engine when going around curves;
it is a straight lire at New Hamburg station.
My engineer must have known there was
something wrong when we put down brakes;
it is mr. duty to see that the bell cord Is strung
the way we were situated that night, we were
running as safe as we could; we can hold our
train in so wards. All the tank cars on this
train were burnep; there were seven of them.
T have been on the road three years.
The inquest was adjourned to Friday. No
more bodies have been found up to Tonight
Tomorrow the locomotive will be raised when
it is expected the remaius of the engineer and