National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1871-02-24
The Hudson River Railroad Disaster.

!
which large number of persons per
ished.
The intense cold made the work o
searching for the dead very severe. TIL,
thermometer stood blow zero, and ic
was forming rapidly over the surface o
the chasm in the ice where the cars ha,
gone down. The removal of the dea,
from the wreck was Il souls sickening
horrible work. Each corpse Brought {,
light, instead of inuring the spectator
to the ghastly hideodsness of these poo
remnants Of humanity, increased thei
painful sympathetic anguish and filled
them with dread of the possible horrors
still to be encountered. Mangled bv til,
wreck, mutilated by the fire, their fea
lures, where ut all preserved, stamped
with an inefiaceable expression of agony
and terror beyond the power OF depic
ton i'll words, those ghastly corpses were
things of terror in themselves. The
charred body Of Il mother, still cLlspinp
the shrivelled remains of her two child
reu to her blackened breast, was draw
forth, and then the headless body o.
another woman, the body of maj
with the extremities consume,. by fire, ,
mangled mass of shapeless, distorted
fragments OF man, once the engineer
now SO dreadfully dishgured that IT.
once having been a human being seemed
doubt, then more bodies with arms
heads, and legs burned off, frightfu
things, beyond recognition. But why
continue here this dreadful recital; let il
he left in part, at least, to Imagination
None can con- lure up i'll their minds d
picture more iuIl # vivid horrors than
tins scene presented, one which will not
fall short of the reality. The dead, rs
they were extricated from the wreck,
We're laid upon the floor of baggage cal
brought up for the purpose, and fire
was kept up near them 10 thaw out the
frozen garments of those upon whom any
clothing remained, in order 10 prosecute
the search for means Of identification.
Most OF those found in the wreck Of the
Buffalo coach We're in mass at the lower
end, that plunged down deep in the mud
and water, and seemed to have been
making an effort to reach the door, t.
escape, when death seized them. Ply
sicians and surgeons We're upon the
ground at an early hour, and rendered
al possible aid to alleviate the suferings
ofthe survivors of the catastrophe where
ever their services were required. The
people from Poughkeepsie and New
Hamburg came promptly to aid by their
active kindness in the work. They had
been alarmed during the night by the
noises of the collision and explosions, and
the sight of the great fire subsequently
was seen for miles around
At 8 o'clock i'll the morning the
first body was found. 1t was that
of young man, in the prime of
life, dressed in dark clothes. which were
nearly burnt off the body. The oil from
the burning oil cars falling down into the
chasm had evidently burnt the life out
Of this unfortunate, for his face and body
were charred black, and his mangled
limbs were twisted and broken i'll fear
ful way. The body Of the young man
was identified afterwards as that of DIR.
Nacrede, of 132 East Sixty-frst street,
New York. The father of the unfortu-
nate came on and identified his sons re-
mains
The next was woman with two child
ren in her arms. Her BODY and head
were charred almost to cinder. She
was living on her back, and the children
seemed to have been leaning forward to
kiss her when the death crash came.
She wore black alapaca dress, laced
morocco boots, gold sleve-buttons, and
had three rings on her left hand She
was subsequently identified as the wife
of the Rev. Morrell Fowler, and the body
of her husband, a portly man, WAS found,
terribly distigured, by her side They
were en- route for Salt Lake City.
A woman, with her right arm burnt
nearly off the blackened trunk, was next
dug up. The agony which she endured
before death came to her must have been
terrible
A villager succeeded i'll finding the
body of Peter Vosburg, the conductor of
the Buffalo sleeping car, who went down
with his trust He was terribly burnt
about the body and limbs, but by some
chance the face was not mutilnted much,
and n smile showed the white teeth
through the blackened lips of the dead
man. In his breast pocket, clasped
tightly in his withered hand, was the re-
cord of his car, as it. true to his trust,
caring not SO much for death. he was de-
termined that others who might be killed
should at least be known. The record
was eleven names, as follows Lowell,
Fowler, Pearce, Carly. Forbish, German,
Nancerede, and Rosenthal,
eleven. OF these, not one
death.
The body of once fine looking man
was found lying under the timbers of the
second sleeping car. After great diff
Guilty the body was taken out, and recog-
nized as that of Mr. George s. Bene-
dict, the proprietor of the Cleveland
llaydM. Letters found in his pocket
book established his indentity, and
showed that he had been on visit to
New York tor some days, and had
stopped with his wife at the St Denis
Hotel. The name of MIR. Benedict,
marked ON mis- shirt, completed the iden-
.ifcation.
Many and sad were the stories related
Dy those who had escaped. One gen.
.leman said that he had started for the
West with his wife, and all of his prop
,rty, consisting of $4,000, intending to !
settle there. Wishing to speak with
riend in a rear car, he left his wife for n
but before he could return the
collision came and he did not see her
gain till her mangled and disfgured
,ody was taken from The ruins. A lady |
aid she was on her way to Buffalo with
Ter two sisters, and, wishing to make
ONE arrangements with friends in the
ear car, went back, and had barely es-
aped from the car when the explosion
ook place.
A workman, while engaged in search
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