Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-01-11
THE ASHTABULA DISASTER.
A Graphic Narrative of the Dreadful
Affair by a Lady Survivor.
/. NJ. WHITE, Publisher.

one of the survivors of the Ashtabula
catastrophe. arrived in this city on yes
terday afternoon, and repaired to the
residence of William G. Van Alstyne,
No. 219 North State Street, where, later
in the day, she was interviewed by re-
norter of the Times. Miss Shepard was
expecting to take the evening train for
home. To look at her, and to hear her
relate. in strong and vivacious language,
the story of the awful calamity, one
could hardly imagine that only 48 hours
before she had been precipitated seven
tv feet into a miscellaneous pile of iron
trusses, shattered cars, crashing glass,
and snow and ice and rocks. A slight
abrasure on the right hand was the only
hurt she had to exhibit. She had suffer-
ed less from the actual plunge into the
river than from tho subsequent exertion
in caring for less fortunate ones and
the wearsome and unavoidable task of
relating her experiences to the hum
dreds who piled her with questions be-
tween Ashtabula and Chicago.
"Suppose " you tell that story just once
more, and to 100000 readers" said the
man of the Times.
Il will try" replied Miss Shepard,
''and l will begin by stating that l left
Albany, N. Y, Thursday afternoon at
2 O'Clock, in the sleeping-car Palatine.
There were sixteen gentlemen and four
ladies in the car. 1t was storming ter
rifcallv, ard we expected to be showed
in. The condition of the track threw
US several hours behind time. AS we
neared' Ashtabula
THE TRAIN QUICKENED ITS SPEED
a little, for the reason, suppose, that
the track was less obstructed than fur
ther east. / should guess that the
speed Of the train, when we reached
the bridge, was fifteen miles an hour"
sWell, go on with your narration,
Miss Sheppard" said the reporter,
eagerly.
"The passengers" she continued,
"were grouped about the car in twos,
fours, and even larger parties. Some
were lunching, some were chatting, and
quite a number were playing cards.
The bell-rope snapped in two, one
piece flying against one of the lamp
globes, smashing it and knocking the
burning candle to the floor. Then the
cars ahead of us went bump, bump,
bump, as if the wheels were jumping
over ties. Until the humping sensation
was felt every one thought the glass
globe had been broken by an explosion.
"Several jumped up,' added Miss
Shepard, after short pause, ''and
some seized the tops of the seats to
steady themselves. A half minute or
so had now elapsed since the rope
broke. Suddenly there was
AN AWFUL CRASH.
I can't describe the noise. There were
all sorts of sounds. | could hear above
all a sharp, ringing sound, as if all the
glass in the train was being shattered
to pieces. Some oae cried out, 'We
are going down. AT that moment all
the lights in the car went out. 1t was
utter darkness. stood up in the GEN.
ter of the aisle. knew that something
awful was happening, and, having had
some previous experience in railroad
accidents, braced myself the best L
knew how. felt the car floor sinking
from under my feet. The sensation of
falling was very apparent. l thought
of great many things, and l made up
my mind that was going to be killed.
For the first few seconds we seemed to
be dropping in silence. [ could hear
the other passengers breathing. Then
suddenly the car was filled with flying
splinters and dust, and we seemed
breathing some heavy substance. For
a moment | was almost sutfOcated. We
went down, down-oh, it was awful. 1t
seemed to me that we had been falling
two minutes. The berths were slipping
from their fastenings and falling upon
the passengers. We heard an awful
crash. As the sound died away we
heard heavy groans all around us. 1t
was rs dark as the grave.
"Well," said Miss Shepard, after
moments reflection, in which she evil
IDENTIFY saw the wreck in her minds
eye, "I was thrown down. just how
l fell is more than | can say.
A GENTLEMAN HAD FALLEN ACROSS
me, but we were both on our feet in a
moment. Every one was scrambling
and struggling to get out. | heard
some one say, Hurry out; the car will
be on fire in minute Another man
shouted, 'The water is coming in and
we will be drowned The car seemed
lying partly on one side. In the
scramble man got hold of me and
cried out, Help me; don't leave MEL
A woman cried from one corner of the
car, Help me; save my husband He
was caught under berth and some
seats. / was feeling around in the dark,
trying to release him, when some men
at the other end of the car said they
were ali right and would help the man
out. groped along TO the door, crawl
ing over the heating arrangement in
getting to it. The fire had not yet
broken out in sour car. While was
getting out through the door the others
We're climbing out through the win
dOws."
What did you do then?" queried
the reporter.
"On the left the cars were in blaze.
On the right d pile of rubbish, as high
as l could see, barred escape. In front
OF me were some cars standing ON end,
or in sloping position. l followed
hS