Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-12-27
THE RAILWAY HOLOCAUST.
Further Details from Prospect Station
4e Persons Burned and Mangled.


catlOn.
CcRRY, Pa, Dec. 25.-,Among the killed
IS Mark Haight, of Brockton, banker, one
leg shattered, The other burned off at the
thigh, and badly bruised about the head;
Mr.. Osborne, Of Westfall, side of head
smashed, and one leg burned off below the
knee. Among the Injured is Mrs. j. NJ.
Carleton, Mil village, child saved and hus-
band missing; John Cowdry, Cory, two
large wounds over the left eye, and burned
about the body. Fay Flanders, conductor,
will probably recover if his internal injuries
are not too severe. He loses two toes on
the left foot and half of the right foot. His
ribs were broken by being pulled out with
a chain. Earl Bacon, reported dead, is on
| ly Slightly injured, having secured the reg
istered letters and then jumped.
| TWeDty-one were killed altogether and
bodies recovered; sixteen are so charred as
| to be unknown; four are in the. CkaUtaqua
House awaiting relatives, and one is at
| Prospect. There are yet three to five bod
les under the ruins, reduced to ashes, dis
tinguishable only by pieces Of skulls and
| bones.
The train was sgning on down grade of
| eighty-two to eighty-five feet to the mile,
was about sixty rods from the Prospect
! depot, and had steam shut of. 1t was
about three feet from the north end OF the
| tressle when the broken wheel of the ten
der was discovered, when, under the impe-
| tus of the down grade, a stoppage could not
| be made. Every care is being taken Of the
wounded, who are scattered around in the
farm-houses near, and medical attendance
was promptly furnished.
The conductors pocket showed thirty
seven through tickets taken up, and one to
Prospect. There were supposed to be for
| ty-two to fifty persons on board. The
| train consisted of one passenger car, one
baggage car, engine and tender.
New YORK, Dec. 26.-The Tribune pub
fishes the following additional particulars Of
the Goose-creek railroad disaster: The cars
turned completely over, and bottomsides
| up. They fell perpendicularly TO the ground
below, q distance of 20 feet. When the
cars struck, the trucks crushed through the
bottoms of them. As the stoves of the pas
senger cars were directly under the trucks,
! they were crushed to pieces, and immedi
ately the woodwork of che cars took fire.
Offorty-six people known to have been in
the two cars, but one escaped unaided,
namely, the brakeman on the passenger
coach, who jumped clear off tho cars as
they were falling. The woodwork of the
| passenger car, thickly coated as it was with
varnish, burned freely; before anything
could be done by the force at hand to pre-
vent, the flames enveloped both ends of the
car and crept rapidly toward the centre.
Penned within it at this time, with no pos
sible chance to extricate themselves, were
forty y-three passengers, the conductor, and
one child. OF those seated in the ends of
the car, none escaped; but, help arriving,
about 25 dead and living were taken out Of
the center Of it, and the flames were extin-
guished, or more correctly speaking went
| out for the the lack of anything further to
feed upon. The remains of the other pas
sengers were then recovered, aud all
brought to this place. The roll foots up as
follows: Saved, all more or less injured. 10;
dead, 10, missing, 8. The ad, with
four exceptions, were burned so as to be
unrecognizable from the features, and
there are but three thatseoald possibly be
identified from the shreds of clothing ad-
herring to the roasted flesh. Five were
beadess and without limbs; and the re-
naming nrAs had the flesh all burned off
the extremitiss. The eight missing are
supposed TO have been completely con-
sumed; and there are pieces of skulls,
watches, and the like, sufficient TO justify
such belief. Four others are known to
have been on the train, named CathariDe
Kelly, Kitty Ryan, aud Mr.. and Mrs. Wilbur
Rice, all of Titusville, Pa !; it is thought they
will be identified tomorrow, as friends
are here for that purpose. The case
Of the two last named is peculiarly sad
one. Mr.. Rice was the only son of James
Rice, leading citizen of Titusvile, and his
wife, the only daughter of Austin Jackson,
Of Rochester, New York. They were mar
ried on the 9Th of this month, and we're on
the way to Rochester to spend Christmas.
Judging from the clothing, baggage, and ap-
pearance of those coming to identify them,
a number of the dead belonged to the lower
classes. The bodies are laid out in the
freight-house there, and will be kept several
days for Identification.
The Frightful Story in Fail.
ERIE, Pa, Dec. 26.-The immediate
cause of the accident at Prospect station
was broken fsnge on the tender wheel.
About 60 rods west of the station is tres
tie work some 20 feet high over which the
locomotive and tender of the eastern bound
express passed in safety, but the baggage
and passenger cars, only two coaches being
on the train, were thrown from the trestle,
fell thirty feet and struck top downwards.
The weight of the trucks crushed in the
cars, closing up the windows, and TO render
the situation en- more terrible the passen-
ger coach was partially tilted upon its
side so that for the occupants of that side |
there were absolutely no means of escape. |
Almost Immediately the cars took fire, the |
passenger coach burning at both ends, |
Some half dozen persons waiting at the |
station were soon at the scene of the &C |
cident, but they worked at immense disad- |
vantage. No water could be had and the |
snow that was scraped up had little effect !
in staying the flames. Only two axes were |
available and the wood work of the Car |
was bolted together so firmly and Intricate
ly, that but little headway could be made |
with them.
All the time these efforts were being put |
forth, the flames were steadily gaining and |
the shrieks of the imprisoned victims as
the scorching heat enveloped them was sp-
palling to the stoutest hearts. Now and |
then rope was put through crevice fast
ened to form and the sufferer pulled out
by main strength. Sometime it would |
be lifeless body, and char /
red arms, legs or head would
drop off in the struggle. In three CT four
instances the head was thus separated from
the trunk, and in as many more cases the
body was bereft of its limbs. The body of
q lady was thus rescued from the flames,
the head and one arm swapping off like
piece of charcoal, while the other arm was
untouched; dainty kid glove covering the
hand and her fingers wearing their jewelled
ornaments. The body will doubtless be re-
cogn zed with the aid of the rings; but for
these it would have been impossible to iden-
tify it. The body of three other ladies
we're taken out, neither of which it is be-
lieved csn be recognized by friends. In all
it is estimated that fully 10 of the 10 forms
removed from the burning cars are unre-
cognizable. 1t is supposed that in addition
to the bodies recovered number of others
were consumed in the burning cars, and
that nothing but their blackened bones will
be discovered when the fire is extinguished
and the ashes raked over. Adding these to
the number injured that will die, it is esti-