Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-01-01

lC q StillEk ~ q Pa'oSS
persons, engaged 10 a friendly gam OF card,
when suddenly he heard The wludo" glass
breaking in the forward part oil the car aus;
almost Instantly the car began to tall. tie vas
seated with his back toward the trout OF til"
car, aud as be w:ut down he SIT as quietly as
he could ari he'd Cd. Wheo the Car sttusk
the bottom oil the ravine he found himself al
most uuhurl, although one OF the men who was
playing cards with him, whose name ne did cot
know, was killed; viii g another-a MIR. Shep
pard, of New Yurk-had his leg brokco.
Mr.. Carter says the front Of the car Was
much lower than the rear, and that the flames
in trout began to eat their way upward aut
| spread win great rapidity. He turned to a.
| slst Mr. Sheppard, aud with great dlthculif
| succeeded 10 getting him out. When MI.
| Sheppard was iairly out Carter returned to the
assistance ui a wuu,au who was calling tor help
at the front eLd OF the car. He got her uut,
aud as she Was quite thlDly clad, gave her HI,
ovcrcoat. After reaching a hotel be tound
himself severely bruised in several places.
ln the great panic cf the h. ur Il man rushed
down to Tic scenc of the disaster, ready to help
10 rescuing, he said. a woman struggling Tor
lie. and Went to her assistance. he carried
| her 10y main force to solid ice, and thee, urged
by The cr.rs Cft.,e mother, went back 10 rescue
| her daughter. a sweet child of three or four
years.
The wood Of the srlinteriug car had caught
he child il is grasp aud Tie ire comp;e'cd
the horrible work. The man was c'mpelled 10
see the child tnvelopeu III flames and TO hear
her help me, mother rluglng out 10 an
agory of ueutt. IL a moment she was lost,
.wrpt up by The sharp tongue OF hire, while the
mother 10 helpless agony tell TO n" earth 10 a
deadly sw1or. There Was on board "A family
named Bcnn t Oh tuclr way lrtm New I0rk
State to } tfvr,on, Ashtabuia county. The
father and mother ct Out OF the wreck, auu
Tie children were ouiy saved by being tossed
irrn TIC arms of one man Ia a1o.hcr over the
pile of burning wucd. OIc of the FOUR children
was sri ,uSIy iLiured and all wer1 slightly
scra'ch,d.
n, KIT moruipg the lrother. who Was c%uclentc,
gave birth to a child, the event being hastcutt
by the excitement she had undergone.
Mrs Erauc OF Rochester, vino was 30 badly
turned about the lower part of the body, Is IN il
criticaI cvLdltlon aud las but Il slight charcc
fr lite.
Sheppard, who's, Rescue was Prev 'uSly de-
scribed, had Que leg ~tc.r!u.ly CRUSHED, nccess!-
Eating its amputaiioD, aud he now Is doing well.
1t seems that the train had Just about cover
ed he bridg: when it fell. as fragments lie
across the raviue touching the base of the abut-
ments on either side. When one stauds at the
foot OF the ravine and looks up 1t seems an ut
ter imrossibirity that any man could take a leap
| from SO great a height and live, yet a number cs
capped comparatively unharmed, and had 1t not
been fr the fire probably Tot one third would
have been lost.
The water 10 the creek is only about three
feet deep, anu it is thought by some that when
it is dragged a number Of bodies may be found.
4 stock drover is another witness as TO the
rapiiity with which the fire did its work. He
says he was one of the first out OF the wreck
aud that five minutes had not elapsed before
the vii ole thing was in flames.
The railroad officials did all 10 their power
for all the sufferers They also seemed anxious
that the facts should be published and desired
to suppress. Dotbiug. Every facility possible
was given representatives of the press to go TO
The hojtom facts 10 every Instance.
The work Of recovering bodies from the
wreck is still! going 90. Forty bodies have al
ready been brought out and there are still evl
dcnccs of many more being under the DEBRIS.
1t is impossible to identify more than three OF
the OOulGS, all II ICSt dtC NV
blackened beyond recognition. The dead LIST
can only be asccrtaiued when it becomes grad.
ually apparent that those who were known to
have bren passengers on this Ill lated train do
not m Ike their appearance.
Thirty tour bodies had been taken cut at E
D. 10. Saturday. None are in condition to DC
| identified. The killed cannot number less than
100 and may reach l20, as only "a out OF lIO
or ia passengers have been found. Rcv. a.
Il. Washburn, rector Of Grace Church, Cleve-
land, is among the lost.
Most of the dead seem to have been from
New Y, rk, New England aud Illinois. The
cars we're ~entirely consumed, and a majority OF
the bodies were reduced to ashes; those which
are 10 any degree preserved Were saved from
being entirely burned by the wafer.
The bridge was an iron Howe truss o. l5U
feet span, built 10 1865, and was considered
one of The best bridges on the road, and lis TALL
is attributed to the action of the frost IN the
iron. The only remaining part of the train Is
the leading engine, which, at the momeut oil
the accident, broke its couplings aud leaped
forward, the tender jumping from the rails.
The other engine lies completely wrecked,
with wheels uppcrmust, at the bottom OF the
ravine.
The following, from a special dispatch to the
Cleveland Leader, is The very latest from the
wreck at Ashtabula
The haggard dawn which drove the dark
ness OUT of this valley Of the shadow of death
seldom saw a ghastller sight than was revealed
with the coming OF this moruiug. On either
side of the ravine trowned the dark and bare
arches from which the rreacherous tlmbers bad
fallen, while at their base the great heaps Of
ruins covered the hundred men, women and
children who had SO suddenly been called TO
their death.
Three char, d bodies lay where they had
been placed 10 the hurry and confusion Of the
night. Piles of iron lay 90 the thick ice or i'm.
bedded in the shallow water of the stream.
The fires sulouldcred 10 great heaps, where
many OF the helpless victims had been all cou-
sumcd, while men went about in wild cxcte-
ment seeking some trace Of a lost one among
the Waunded or dead.
The list of the saved and wounded having
been already sent, the sad task remains of dis.
covering who may be amoog the dead. The
! Iottnr t,cl- mill ho tho p,oaf "a, tHn,,lt IF oil n,til