The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-02-10
Hudson River Railroad Disaster.
Beginning of tho Tale of HOrrOr-De-
scripfion of the Collision and
ConfiagraItOn-Thr
Scenes and Incidents.

ConfiagrnItOn--Thrt
scenes and Incidents.
From the New York Herald.
THE ACCIDENT.
At "a minutes after 10 O'Clock on Monday
night special freight train, or ''wlld eat.
AS such arc called in railroad phrase. laden
with petroleum oil IN tanks and barrels.
passed the station Of New Hamburg. 1t
consisted of about so ears. Some two or
three rods below the station one Of the cars
was thrown from or "iumpcd" " the track.
This was not known till the marks It's
wheels left on the ground and ties were
discovered an hour later by the light Of
a lantern in the hands of one OF the hur-
rying passcrs.by. Yard after yard it hur-
ried along. jumping from side TO side, and
marking its devious path. till--when nearly
4 quarter Of Il mile below the station, and
on the drawbridge over WappinSer's
creek-the engineer, doubtless feeling
check in the speed of the train, drew out
the throttle. The renewed force threw the
car, which was already Off the rails, clean
over on and across the opposite or up-track,,
and pell-mell packing of the cars ensued.
At this unfortunate moment sight, al
WAYS grand. but now terrible. greeted the
eyes vi iuC HUI ou btiI i'iolhpliNI'
THE COLLISION AND ITS RESULTS.
Twenty or thirty rods away loomed up,
amid q cloud Of smoke, flashes Of flame.
and shower of sparks, the engine and
train of the New York lightning express.
The engineer of the coming train saw the
car thrown upon his track, and, with start
ing eyes and bIanched cheeks, drew the
valve and let the steam escape. 1t came
forth in torrents and with a Kissing, horri-
bic noise. The fireman, noble man of
great courage, sprung the patent safety
brakes but it was too late. On dashed
the train like thunderbolt The fireman
leaped, and saved bis life. The engineer.
pale but Steadfast, held the valve wide
open. Then there was a crasl-a sheet of
flame leaping hundreds Of feet in the air
the trembling and thunder of in explosion,
| and half hundred souls were hurled ut the
| feet of God.
The car struck by the locomotive of the
express train was Surmounted by two huge
wooden vats containing nou-reiined eNplo-
| sive petroleum. One tank was shattered,
and the oil, rushing forth over the engine.
was gnited by the glowing Goals in the ash
pan. Escaping Gas in the second tank
caught the flame, and the terrific explosion
ensued. The air for thousands of feet was
| filled with the lurid flame Of the burning
gas. 1t aScended to the height Of hundreds
| of feet. 1t enveloped an area of hundreds
more. and those who breathed in that fatal
circle had to nhale liquid fire. Then. be-
fore any had an opportunity to compute
the time, crushed by the weight Of cars,
| dsjointed by the shock, the wooden draw
| bridge crumbled beneath the weight upon
| it, and sank with its load through the ice
and into the water. Then came all
= ln nf hantp's ha1l.
to the sleeping passengers and to the
waking ones. The tide was not vet ut its
tull, and the water was not more than four
feet deep in the cars. 1t burst the doors,
however, Of the baggage ears and came
through the windows of the palace sleep
ing car, with its thirty-three occupants.
Mingled with it were fragments OF broken
ice, sharp, cold, and cutting. 1t rushed
along the paSSage-wayS and deluged the
berthS, freezing where 1t touched. But in
the space above was nothing but lurid
flame-the atmosphere was burning gas.
One. half the person enrclopcd in liquid ice
and the other half in liquid fire !. Such was
The catastrophe.
MR.. CHARLES Il. GREENS ACCOUNT.
Mr.. Green's account of the catastrophe
is that the engineer of the oil train, having
entered upon the bridge and become con-
scious that something was wrong with his
train, swung out the red light, the danger
signal. The other train was only about 100
feet off at the time, and was
JUST ROUNDING THE CURVE,
entering on the bridge, Simmons, the en-
gineer OF the latter, whistled "brakes,"
reversed the engine, and did all that mortal
could do to avert the catastrophe. Train
Conductor Charles Carson and Conductor
Scott were in the car in he rear Of the
Buffalo sleeping car, and promptly fastened
to put on the brakes, which they had scarce
" accomplished when the collision took
place. They had previously shouted to the
passengers in the Car apprising them Of the
danger, and all promptly jumped out and
were saved. An old man and a woman
who fingered in one corner of the car had
a narrow escape, but they, fortunately, got
out in time.
All unite in applauding the heroiSm of
The ill-tated engineer, Doc Simmons. He
and the fireman were OH the locomotive
when they espied the red light on the OPP
pOslte train, and the fireman shouted to
jump off. Il will not" answered SIM
mons,
81 WILL STAY WITH MY ENGINE"
and he resolutely held to his post, while
the fireman jumped of and saved himself.
Simmons was peering out into the dark
ness, shading his eyes with his hands, when
he periShed.
AN EYE-wITNEss'S DESCRIPTION.
The eve witness had seen several Of the
bodies of the dead borne from the Wap.
plnger creek, many of them presenting
ghaStlv spectucles. Mrs. Pease, of Buffalo,
a beautiful woman, was found lying par
TALLY in the water, her right arm resting on
a cake of ice on the delicate and tapering
fingers Of her small white hand solitaire
diamonds glttered in the icevreflected
beams of the morning sun. Mrs. Pease was
Oh her return home from visit to her nu-
merous fashionable friends in New York
city. The same gentleman also saw Mrs.
Fowler and her TWO children taken out Of
the water, all locked together i'll deaths
embrace.
SKETCHES OF VICTIMS.
Rollin German, counsellor at law, and
member of the firm of Austin & German,
American and European commission house,
New York, was roasted alive. The deceased
gentleman was sixty years old, and leaves
wife and i've children in Buffalo, where he
was going. Mr.. German was well known
in the western part Of che State, and repre-
sented the Buffalo district in the Legislature
a number Of years ago.
The Rev. Morrel Fowler, who, with his
entire family, met horrible death, was
well-kuown clergyman of the Episcopal
Church. He was settled ut Batavia, n. T.,
until about two years ago, when he resigned
on account Of ill-health. On his resignation
he was presented with a check for 81 600
by his parisnioners. The letter enclosing
this check, with a savings bank book and
other effects, were found on his body. He
spent last winter at Aiken, :. O., for the
nrh hic health Ha m 5Onfp