Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-11-12

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, JR., in his
paper on railroads, in the Novemper At
tdntie, thus describes tho Peterborough ac-
| cident:-
A very apt illustration OF what might
have been the result in these cases was fur
nished In an accident, not dissimilar TO
that at Sbipton- on Cherwell in character,
which happened in Massachusetts on the
Boston & Providence Railroad upon July
Is, 1872. AS an express train was running
up to Boston about noon of that day, and
at rate of speed of some forty miles an
hour IL came In contact with a horse and
wagon at a grade crossing in the town of
Peterborough The train was made up of
thoroughly well-built cars, equipped with
both the Miller pla form and the westing-
house train-brake There was no time in
which to check the speed, and it thus be-
came a simple question of strength Of con-
struction, TO be tested in an unavoidable
collision. The engine struck The wagon,
and instantly destroyed ii. The horse had
already cleared the rails when the wagon
was struck, but, portion Of his harness
getting caught on the locomotive, he was
thrown down and dragged a short distance
until his body came in contact with the
platform of station close to the spot of col
lision. The body was then forced under
the cars, having been almost insianlane-
ously rolled aud pounded up into hard,
unyielding mass. Tue results which en-
sued were certainly very singular. Next
to the locomotive was an ordinary baggage
and mail car, and il was under this car,
and between its forward and lis hind
truck, that the body of the horse was
forced coming then directly in contact with
the truck of the rear wheels, it tore 1t from
its lastenlngs and thus let the rear end Of
the car drop upon the track. In falling,
this end snapped the coupling by its
weight, and so disconnected the train, the
locomotive going of towards Boston drag
ging this single car, with one end of it
humping along the track. Meanwhile the
succeeding car OF the train had swept over
the body of the horse and the disconnected
truck, which were thus brought i'm con-
tact with its own wheels, which in their
turn were also torn off; and so great was
the impetus that in this way all of the four
passenger cars which composed that part
of the train were successfully driven clean
off their rolling gear, and not only did they
slide off the track, but they crossed rail-
road siding which happened to be at that
point, went down an embankment some
three or four feet in height, demolished
fence, passed into an adjoining field, and
then at last, after glancing from the stump
of a large Oak-tree, they finally came to
stand-still some two hundred feet from the
point at which they bad left the track.
There was not in this case even an APP
proach TO telescoping; on the contrary,
each car rested perfectly firmly in its place
as regarded all the others, not a person
was injured, and when the wheelless train
at last became stationary the astonished
passengers got up and hurried through the
doors, The very glass in which as well as
that in the windows was unbroken. Here
was an iudispuable victory of skill and
science over accident, showing most WV
idly 10 what an infinitesima extreme the
dangers incident 10 telescoping may be re-
duced.