The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-06-27
TERRIBLE RAILROAD ACCIDENT
Two Men Killed and one badly In
jured.
NEARaY WHOLE TssAIN OF CARS
sMASHE up.

The most serious accident that ever occurred
on the Portland & Kennebec Railroad Maine
CENTRALLY took place yesterday mile and
half beyond Freeport, about % IL miles east
| of this city. The train was the through mail
from Bangor, which leaves Augusta at IL M,
| with Pullman palace car, and embraced cars
from Skowhegan and Pennington attached.
] Moe cars composed the train, all pretty wen
| filled with passengers, and uhder cnuseo vi
Mr.. Thomas Howard, competent ana expert
epced conductor. who had been for years en-
ployed on the road. When the train reached
the point designated, which was on a curve.
the mail agent, as he told his experience, felt
| from the jar that the cars had left the road
| and were going over. He grasped support
| and was thrown down and badly bruised, re-
ceiving Commissions on his neck. His face and
| his right hand were badly cut and his wrist
dislocated. As soon as possible be climbed out
| of the car, which had been thrown on its side
| and dragged along and ground into the earth,
and discovered that the tender was lying on its
side and the baggage and a number of cars in
the rear We're either thrown upon their sides or
turned diagonally across the track. The most
| fearful part of the dis lster occurred on board
the mail aud baggage car which was divided
| into several compartments In the baggage
department were four men; Mr.. George Chase,
baggage master, Augustus Larrabee, spare
| baggage master, Albert Barron, brakeman,
| and Mr.. Durgin, an express messenger, who
was off duty. Chase, when the car turned
over, was thrown out of the open door under
the car as it went over and dragged along I'M
der the moving mass for some distance. He
died instantly and his body was awfully crush
ed and maDgIed. Larrabee had his leg broken
between the ankle and knee by the baggage
falling upon him. Durgin escaped with few
bruises. Mr.. Tarbox the regular express
messenger, who was in his department
ofthe car, had his thumb broken and his
hand badly bruised. Alfred Barron, the
brakeman, heard the signal which was Civ
en- from the engine when the accident was
discovered. and stepped upon the rear foot
board to set the brake. When the cars came
together his leg was caught between them in
some indescribable manner, by the rotary mo-
ton OF the two, and the limb was crushed and
mangled in a fearful way, ard confined be-
tween the two 50 that it was found impossible
to force the cars apart and the man was
thrown over and hung by his broken and
manglsd limb. DR.. f. N. Otis of New York.
who CHANGED to be on board the train, ampu-
tated the crushed fragment with common
knife and saw, and SO relieved him from his
terrible position. The train, when brought to
a full stop, was in the following condition: The
engine tore away from the tender and kept the
rails, and saved the fireman and engineer from
injury. The baggage Car was completely de-
molished, with the end partially buried in the
ground. 1t was from under this car that the
dead body of Chase was taken. Next come
an Androscoggin railroad car, from Farming
ton, with the end stove in. Next car belong
ing to the Knox and Lincoln road Like the |
others it lay on its side, with the end crushed
IN. The car from Skowhegan followed this,
aud it was almost q wreck. The Bangor bag
gage car stood diagonally across the way, with |
one end plunged in the bank. The smoking |
car of the Bangor train came next. 1t was
turned diagonally across the track and had one |
end torn off. The two remaining passenger
cars, and the Pullman parlor car remained on |
the rails uniDjured, and were sent back to /
Brunswick, with the passengers, the dead body |
of Chase and the injured man, Barron.
DR.. John d. Liccoln of Brunswick was sent
for and he administered for Baron, but the
man died about o'clock last night. In all the
wreck and crush of matter that we have de-
scribed it may almost be counted as a miracle |
that no passenger was materially injured A |
number were badly frightened and Jared, and
one old lady who had suffered from previous
dislocation of the hip complained bitterly of
her injuries.
The accident was occasioned by the breaking
of wheel under the tender, letting the for
ward part down upon the track, tearing up the
sleepers and twisting the rails as if they had
been subject to intense heat. Some portions |
of the wreck were thrown distance of over a |
rod from the rails, and the appearance of the
wreck was lamentable in the extreme. Moth |
ing like it was ever witnessed in the State. As |
soon as the news of the accident reached the
city Mr.. Bailey, the local agent, went out with
a train of cars to the assistance of the injured
train and gathered force of over sixty men.
The train left at O'clock and returned at 6.45
bringing the passengers and the injured man
Larrabee. The passengers bound West were
enabled to take the 6 o'clock express for Bos- |
ton, which was detained by Mr.. Chase, the Su-
perintendent of the P. S. & P. road, for that
purpose. The s. Is train for Augusta left at
7.15, and il was understood that the road was
then passable.
The excitement in town on the receipt OF .he |
news was intense, and disaster was largely
magnified by rumOrs. 1t was difficult to OBJ |
tain information until Mr.. Bailey's train re-
turned, on account of the location Of tue acci-
dent. 10 add to the excitement the fire re-
corded in another place, broke out not far from
the depot just rs the train from tue place of the
accident returned.
Chase belonged in SSowhegan and leaves a
wife and young daughter He had been in the
employ of the Portl and and Kennebec Railroad
Company about eight years. Barron also lived
at Skowhegan, and leaves family. Larrabee
is resident of Portland. He also is man of |
family. The deceased are spoken of very |
highly by their comrades. Mr.. Howard who /
narrowly escaped death, being about to pass
into the baggage car, when it left the rails,was
quick to meet the emergency and did hero's /
work in behalf of the suffering men and also to |
restore quiet and procure assistance as p, ompt-
ly.