Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-02-16
THE RAILROAD ACCIDENT.

KEEPsIE - TESTIMONY OF EYE W.T.
NEssEs OF THE DIsAsTER-EsCAPE OF
MIR. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OFTHE
DEAD.
The coroner's inquest in the case Of the
New Hamburger railroad accident COM
menced yesterday at Psughkeepsie, before
Coroner Andrus, over the body OF James
Stafford. The first witness called was
ex-Distriot Attorney VIM. j. Thorne of
Pougbkeepsie, who testified that he was
in the rear car asleep when the crash
came. He described the fire as one great
volume of flame which completely envel-
oped all the cars if there had been half
dozen cars piled up they could not have
been seen for the flames it appeared from
the looks of the ties that the car ran off
the track at New Hamburgh station the
oil car was not on fire until struck by the
locomotive of the up train. Charles Cos
sum, conductor of the express train, testi-
fed that the train left New York six min
utes behind time; was seventeen minutes
behind at Fishkill. He was sitting in the
rear end of the second sleeping car with
conductor Scott when the whistle to down
brakes was given; he and Scott each went
out and put on brake. He felt the en-
gineer reverse his engine in two or three
seconds he felt shock; the car went on
fifteen or twenty feet and then came to-
h,,k
sations. He saw glare of light, and
looking out saw H mass of flames. 1t was
on the river side. The instant the train
stopped light flashed like gunpowder.
There was no fire till the engine struck the
oil from the oil car, which then entered
the fire box and then became ignited.
The fore part of his car was then in the
fire. He heard no explosion. Mr.. Scott
and himself then got all the passengers
out of the car it was the second sleeping
car The train consisted of locomotive,
express car, baggage car, five sleeping
cars and one coach. They went off the
car ; and all the cars in the rear were I'M
coupled and showed back. The first and
second sleeping cars were on the bridge,
and fumes were burning under the bridge
on the ice; he heard no sound of anything
but the roar of flames.
He testified further as follows:
"I had taken up all the tickets of the sleeping
car; you could put thirty passengers in sleep
ing car, but twelve could occupy the whole
there were two staterooms in the first sleeping
car, but only one occupied judge there
were sixteen or seventeen in the first car; made
the statement which appeared in the Poughkeep-
sic Eagle relative to having sixty-fve sleeping
| tickets; found one or two more persons who
said they were in the first sleeping car, but when
1 came TO sift them down they could not tell ]
had on my car fortgseven passengers who told
they were il the sleeping car; there were
three persons who went TO bed at New Ham
burg; that made eighteen missing; there was
one child somewhere in the sleeping car thatI
got half ticket from got no tickets from two
small children found no one to respond to
half ticket; there we're three brakemen on the
train trains az full speed over all bridges. "
During the afternoon session, James
d. Scott, conductor of a sleeping car, tes-
tilted to positive knowledge of the fact
that the passengers of all cars except the
first sleeping car were saved, and that the
train was running about thirty miles an
hour. Hammond V. Grant, conductor of
a sleeping car, testified that directly after
the first shock he saw the first sleeping
car, lying on it's side inclining to the East,
and parallel with the track. 1t was in
flames, and no help could be given to
those inside. The inquest then adjourn
ed till Thursday at 2 p. IN.
1t has been ascertained that man
named Roeenthal, cattle drover, was in
the fret sleeping car and escaped. He
was in the drove yards at Albany on
Tuesday. This fact refutes the state
ment that all persons in the car referred
to persisted.
Graphing continued yesterday, and all
the bodies found were identified. There
are nineteen of them as follows George
S. Benedict, Cleaveland A. A. Gillett,
Buffalo; Arthur NJ Pease and wife, Buff
falo Lucius A. Root, Buffalo; r. Ger I
main; Rev. Morrill, Fowler, wife and
three children DR.. Samuel J. G.. Nan
oreade, Robert Vosburgh, porter of the
Wagner car James Stafford, New York
W. u. Forbush, Buffalo; George r.
Thompson, New York Peter Vosburgh,
sleeping car conductor VIM. @. Curry,
Erie, Pa; r. H. Lowell, New York. Two
more bodies are to be recovered-that of
Simmons, the engineer, and Lawrence
Mooney, the brakeman, which makes
twenty-one victims in all. A child's
underskirt, marked ELLA Shields" was
found on the ice. !
Edgar Underwood, conductor of the
oil train, says he saw the oil car run on
the bridge, and saw it about to cross on
the up track the train was then nearly
stopped when he got off on the up track
and his brother on the down track, both
looking for the up train ; his brother inn
mediately shouted there comes the train
every effort was made to stop it, but it
looked as if no power on earth could do
it he saw the locomotive strike the car,
when the flames burst ont in every di-
rection.
PERSONAL SKETCHES OF THE DEAD.
Walter FL. Forbush, one of the victims
of the New Hamburger accident, was
member of the firm of Fosbush & Hyatt,
patent agents, Buffalo. E. B. Forbush,
the father of this young man, was killed
in the terrible Angola slaughter in De-
cember, 1867. Peter Vosburgh, the sleep
ing car conductor, another victim, resided
at Tribes Hill, Montgomery county. Ar
thur w. Pease was also from Buffalo,
son OF Sheldon Pease. Himself and wife
were both killed. In the afternoon fol-
lowing the accident laborer from Hud.
son had both of legs badly crushed by
heavy stick of timber falling upon him.
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