Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-07-06
LATER.
Something Further Connected
with the Disaster.


The Funeral Professions Yesterday.
Previous to the extra issued from the
UNION AND AMERICAN Office on Tuesday
evening, and after the inquest held over the
remains of the killed who arrived by the
morning train, Coroner Brien summoned
another jury, composed principally Of me-
chsnlcs, with view OF proceeding to the
wreck, more for the purpose of learning
some particulars with regard to the cause
of the accident than otherwise. Upon ar
irving at the scene of the disaster, the
jury held an inquest over the remains of
Mrs. Burns, after which the ruins were in
spected, and the opinions of the different
mechanics given as to the condition OF the
bridge timbers.
The COrOner's JurY-They Say that
the Bridge Tfmbers were Rotten,
and Unfit for the Passage of an
Ordinary Passenger Ttrain.
The following is The. verdict of the Jury
to which reference is made above:
STATE OF TENNESSEE, DAVIDSON COUNTY,
An lnqusition taken at the site of the
late disaster on the Nashville and North
western railroad on Harpeth river, in the
county aforesaid, the 4th day of July, in
the year Of our Lord, 1871, before me, P.
w. BIien, Coroner of the State for the
county aforesaid, duly commissioned and
qualified according to law, upon the view
OF the body of Catharine Burns, late of said
county and State, then and there lying dead,
and upon the oaths of Joseph Creighton,
foreman, and T. Ii. Brantley, L. @. Stow,
AID. Creighton, W. T. Monroe, !. Harlow aud
j. W. Felts, good and lawful men of the
county aforesaid, who being sworn and
charged to inquire on the part Of said
State, when, where, how, and af er what
manner the said Oatharine Burns came to
her death, they do say upon their oathe,
that the said Catharine Burns came to her
death by the breaking in of the bridge
known as No. Z, over the Harpeth river of
said Nashville AID Northwestern Railroad,
and the precipitation of the car upon which
the said Catharine was passenger into the
river. We found by examination Of the
timbsrs composing said broken bridge that
they were so rotten as to be unfit for the
passage OF an ordinary passenger train.
The Scene at the Wreck-ConditiOn
OF the Cars.
We dispatched reporter to the wreck
on Tuesday morning for the purpose of
obtaining some additional particulars of
the disaster. When he arrived he found
the second baggage car hanging over the
abutment, fastened to the railroad ties and
rails, with its box detached from its for
ward trucks, and entirely loosened from
its rear trucks, which were held in hang
ing position by the timbers of the bridge
and the ties and rails. Upon this car were
pieces of the top timbers. The rear end
of the smoking car fell first, the forward
end striking the pier near it5 top, scraping
it to its base. The car wss splintered in
its front end, into a thousand pieces. Ut
twisted toward the south, showing from
that view, as the car lay upon its top, parts
of the windows in its forward end, and
the whole of the bottom, the rear part
lying in about four feet of water and near
ly striking the bank of the river. The
ladies car fell perpendicularly upon its
forward end, directly upon the rear end of
the smoking car and crushed it, resting at
the same time upon the edge of the
bank, and supported in Its slight
incline by the forward end of the
sleeping car against its bottom
The force of the fall caused instant death
to many, serious wounds to others, and a
complete obstruction to every fixture in
the car. Seats were torn from their fast
enings to the floor, broken at the mould
ings and the cushions, their contents
thrown out and appearing IS if they had
been cut with sharp instruments; water
tanks and racks were piled in confusion
The sleeping-car fell at an angle of
about forty-fve degrees, striking the ladies'
car near the centre of the bottom, thus
forming letter T, broken at the cross.
It's roof was crushed, and its hindmost
trucks torn off, but not O seat was
displaced. The workmen threw GU t
upon the bank, dresses, crinoline, shoes,
boots, coats, hats, etc., all of which were
red with blood. All along the eastern
bank of the river for about one hundred
yards were peices of car seats, pillows, bed
covering and wearing apparel
As soon as all the persons and bodies
were taken out, work upon the wreck was
commenced. The ladies' car was turned
over upon its side upon the southern side
of the bridge. Il was a complete wreck.
Then the trucks of the smoking car were
drawn out, pulling that car stillfurther into
the water.
What Is Solid OF the Bridge.
We publish the following as the sub
stance of statements made TO US Yesterday
by several gentlemen who have visited the
scene of the disaster.
One of the party who went down with
the Coroner's jury on Tuesday, is said,
while examining the bridge, to have run
his walking stick at least four inches into
the wood of the bridge, and the Cononer
hes in his possession piece of timber said
to have been taken from the bridge, which
no one would hesitate to say was very rot
ten. A gentleman living near the river
even says that he saw grass four or five
inches long growing from the decayed tim
bers. We give these merely as the state
ments of gentlemen who have either visit
ed the wreck, or who live in the vicinity,
and from our knowledge of their character
we consider their reputation for veracity
very good. Another gentleman says that
in many places the wood work around the
iron bolts had rotted away. But the report
of the jury, composed Of mechanics, one of
them bridge builder, gives their opinion
in regard to the condition of the tjmbers,
Ne
Searching for More Dead Bodies.
Considerable time was spent yesterday
in dragging the river, with view of re-
covering other victims of the disaster, but
up to the departure of the train, no ad
dltional bodies had been found, and among
many the opinion prevails that all the
killed had been recovered on the morning
of the accident. We hear from Others.
however, that the newsboy on the train is
still missing, and from another source, we
learn that there was soldier in one Of the
CARS who has not since been heard from,
aad if killed, his body not yet recovered.
Dead Instead OF Wounded.
In q former report the name of j. M.
Thompson, of Amherst Courthouse, Vir-
ginia, was given as one of the wounded.
when he should have been reported as one