New-York tribune., 1877-01-01

was preclpltateU ntO lhe lo'ih0 10 eiiou''J
estimated from 131 to 160; the number ac-
tually lost is still matter of conjecture.
STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS.
AcCo5-ST OF THE pIsAsrER GIVEN BY THE IN
GINFER OF THE LEADING ENGINE-THE KILLED
ESTIMATED AT ABOUT 1O0-"ANOTHER AN
GoLA'-HEARTRENDING DETAILS.
IBY TELEGRAPH TO TIE TRIRUNE.l
CLEVELAND, Ohio Dec. 31.-Workmen at the
wreck Of the train at Ashtabula to-day have cleared
away the remainder Of the debris. Only two more
bodies have been recovered to-day which, with the
S4 taken out yesterday, are oil that will probably
ever be found. The rest arc burned to ashes. A
few of the chaTred and mangled bodies recovered
have been identified and were brought 10 Cleveland
tonight. Among them are the remains Of Dr. A. IL.
Washburn. Rector of Grace Church of this city,
whose death has created a profound impression.
Young Nussbaum Of New-York aud the fireman
of the wrecked engine have died. There is
report in circulation that Immediately after the
accident the Superintendent of the road telcgraphcd
instructions TO forbid the of water to extngmsh
the fire. and thereby permit all evidence of the num-
Der killed 10 be destroyed. This is ab-
Lurd and false. All rumOrs, of which there
are many charging that the bridge had been con-
demucd and was known TO be unsafe, are malicious
inventions. Among the most interesting reports
obtained to-day Is the following, procured at Erie,
Penn, 10y reporter of The Clerc'0Rd LSdder, from
Mr.. Mcclure, engineer of the leading engine, which
broke loose from tle train and was saved. Mr.. Nc
Guire was the only unhurt man who saw the whole
Of the calamity under the most favorable circum-
tances and reports as follows:
Daniel MEG lire, engineer OF the Socrates, states
that his engine was ahead .' the Columbia. All
the stations between Erie ana Ashtabula. with the
exception Of three, were stopped at. II train was
running slowly. lie felt the bridge give away when
two car-ltrcths from the west end; he felt It
settle down; had his hand on the throttle and
pulled il wide OPEN The draw-bar connecting the
engines was snapped bv the sudden JERK. The
trucks of his tank did not clear, and settled
down but the opening wide of the throttle saved th@
engine and the trucks were pulled on. lie ran NJ
the track 100 yards and gave the alarm bv re-
peated whistles and ringing Of the bell. He
saw the engine Columbia sink with the
bridge and turn bottom upward. The express,
baggage and passenger cars followed IN heap,
tie passenger cars landing on the express cars and
all went into the river The fire first broke out ~
the last sleeper, which swung over to one
side and soon was i'll blaze. In two or
three minutes the entire wreck was mass ot
flames The shrieks of the living and tie
dying were terrible to hear; but their voices were
soon husheG as the fire king embraced them. l was
one Of the s at the wreck and pulled several out OF
the ice aud helped TO extucate some from the debris
One woman was pinned down by her legs on
burning car; her cries for help were pitoOus and in
despair, as the flames circled around she sArekcd,
Take all ak and cut off my legs" but it was inl-
possible to reach her. and she was consumed
The paint on the burning cars snapped
like powder soaring many wOrkmen.
I couldn't estimate the number burned but think
100 peTished ty fame ano water Some were
killed outright. A husband and wife IN the burn
ing wreck were held down by distractions, and
calmly awaited their fate. Their lips moved
ns If in prayer Neither pen nor tongue can describe
the horrors Of the scene. H. 20 minutes after the
fire started it was impossible to extricate the pas
tengers. The engineer Of the Columbia Pap
Folsom of Cleveland, says his engine turned
bottom upward. lie was thrown vlo-
Iently through the window of the cab
and was badly cut. Mcclure helped pick
him up bruised and lleedng, his first words were,
Another Angola horror, Dam
The train was running at the rate of 10 miles an
hour at the time. The bridge was considered safe.
Passenger train Ne. 8. with two engines,
had passed safely over the bridge about o'clock.
His train struck the bridge at 7:32. Thinks the
frJst and the weather and heavy train snapped the
bridge Six engines had tested the bridge without
straiuing il. At the time Of the accident tlc
stern was at its hight. He could not
see TWO car lengths ahead Of his engine, and
this rendered it next to impossible to give immc-
date assistance. This completely ecliPscs the An
COLA horror. lie thinks no one would have escaped
from the doomed train had lac not saved his engine,
thus enabling him to give the alarm. Terrible
indeed would it have teen had the Socrates gone
over in the binding furious storm. No one would
have known Of the disa ter, and the next train dae
would have shared the fate and Been thrown
iato the river. lie ha, Dcon III the service OF The
company since 800 ana never saw such u storm be
fore.