, 1874-06-30

Fiftoon to Tsvonty.fOur 1nolsos OF
lstatn-Enll In Etvc Alinttcs~-Esv,
IsnslrbnA Trains Nrcuiscds q Eirc-
1nttD Kl1lcd4 anil I'M Engineer 1snullY


Isnsir0nA Trntns Wrorkcd. F'irc-
1nnD Killed. mil nm Engineer IsntllY
injured.
from ths Aust,n talinn.> Rtatster, Jane Is.
a groat fall OF raiu. extending over .uomrar-
atively small extent OF country, took plnco enat
OF Drownsdalo OIL Saturday Inst, about IL q. m.
Tho Bturm came from tic southeast, apparent
1y, nnd struck tho Southern Minnesota Railroad
lour miles east Of tlls place. Tie cloud was not
largo, but doino, and tho conditions necessary
as to precpitato its contonts to tho oartii In at,
incredibly short apaco Of timn. In fact.
auch rapid fall Of water was it TINT
.a By many u, + t " was called yeritan!e wstos. y
mich toll, bnt 1t iB colnputod, TINT ut ioast IL
inchcs Of water (Bono Bay feot) foil in oue-
third aa mary minutes, Evnn tho ridges for
moment Woro covered with . Bhcot Of water Hey-
oral inches deep. Had the rainfall extended
oycr, q great oxtont Of country, the couanquencos
must have hcon torribo. Aa it was they woro
bnd enongh. About fonr milos east Of thin
r'aco the Southern Minnesota lla!lroal crossoa
i slough, tho distance from ridge to rilgo on
onoh side being perhaps ono-llnlf q mi!o. Tho
omhanhnent where 1t crosseH tho channel Is
about Il feet high. and has = culvort 3
fcat vida by 9 feet high. to discharge. the
surplus wator Of tho slough, which is dry, how
evor, most OF tho tmo. The basin dlninetl by it
to tic place where It orossea tho railroad lias IN
area Of about f1ve-eighths Of n Rqnare milo, aud
yot, small ns the nren was, the culyert, though
probably tlischarglng at tho ratio of more than
2,00o cubic feet per minute, did not suffice to
carry OH tho water. and I'll short tlno lake of
soyernl acres In extent and reacling to Within
only or feet Of tho top of tho etn-
bankmcnt WINS formed, and the pent.up watera
wore rushing ont ut such furious rate tllnt tho
80 feet wide IN tho ombanhment speedily
followed. Tho rails md tics hold together
30 that tho break could not be discovered by an
approaching train until within few foot Tho
pasaenger-train bonnd wont and duo hero Mt
l1:17, camo In during the storm. luckily oacnp-
Ing tho terrlblo calamity which must havo boz
fn!!on 1t had it boon an hour later. An EASTERN
bound frciBht-train due lere at 2:07, was moro
urfortumase. The enginoer discovered the bsea1s
only IN time to put on aseam in tho win effort
to make hls enetuo clear tho break. THE fraii
support sunk boneath it nnd it plunged mndly
iuto tho onposito baulk, half -hurying itself iii
tho solid eartl: Five empty cars eraslled into
the hro ehes snsr fo1n a with tho enfS engine
driven by tho momentum gained by tho previous
ataep descent, pasaoa, ana, loaving thor trucks
with tho general wreca, rolled down tue Gmbank-
mont OIL Tho further sido. The eighth chr,
on tho bank md tho forward end resting OH tho
rear Of tho NOW thoroughly demolished engine.
The remaining cars, with the cabooao, in which
wese some fifteen or twenty persons, remained
on thcjengine2 The cab WIS crushed to atoms,
aud tho whole Of tho upper part Of
light, bell, wlistle,-aIl swept or by tho
cur. which passed over !; md tho debris Of tho
tendez. Ave cars, as,A tho trucks Of throe more,
WIS piled whero tho fireman mud engineer wout
down. Then, too, 4 protruding rail had bcon
driven through tho engine from front to furunca
anl Hood Of boiling water was pouring out,
adding to the agony aud danger Of tic unfoltu
should escape instant death, aud get tho en-
queer, with broken leg and shoulder, aud fear-