Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-01-05

gine. When we got so the top OF the hill
I-McIntyre went to he edge of the pier snC
looked over to the wreck; t,stopPed to tall
with the engineer Of the engine that wa
still on the track; be was standing on thI
ground; the engineer said to me that tn
whole train had gone down except his en-
gine, and that it came near taking him
that 1t came 50 HeeEStshng his engine owe
| that It pulled his tender eff the track. jus
then McTntye said LETS 90 down. below
/ and we may save some. We went dQwI
past the abutment, and not down the stairs
: there was no persons there whomA / e0alC
see, unless they were below the wreck. ]
went 70 the east, / think, up the stream
1t seemed that the coaches as they lay haC
all gone 70 the east Of the bridge. III
stream, as they went dewH,: except tAost
which fell in the line OF the bridge; all tht
Others seeming to fell up stream. At thi.
time locomotive bad fallen right below thi
pier, and thinksit was almost setting or
end, right underneath the pier; next Il
that can't tell what cars lay, as l did no
90 IN them, but kept around the upper side
Didn't notice the express or baggage car
at that time. There was one coach tina
had tipped and stood st an angle of abou
45deg., with the end sticking qp above thu
wreck. 1t might or might not have beer
1.-THE last coach. Idid not notice any cal
down near the east ahutment. II seemed
that the coaches thai hy in the space be
tween the piers were piled one on top of the
other; there might have. been four, shoulf
think not more than four, thst FcEe verl
much out Of line. The coaches that were
in the chasm seemed to be broken badly
but the two coaches that lay up the stream
werp not much damaged. There was no fire
at all when first got there; the first fire
that Rotics was in the oar that was tilted
up against the east abRtnent, 1t might
have been five minates after | got there
before the flames began to show, so as to
light up around, Rheh i iiFst noticed that
fire; the next place. Eslpn | Noticed seemed
20 be neat where che angine was, There
did not SEEM % 'ne a musil difference IN time
i as TO these two fires; when I looked, the
fire seemed to break ont st each end of
the wreck, and not in the middle; there
| was no 6Fe 10 be seen in the middle of
the wreck. | think ! game up in about
ten minutes, though it might have been
fifteen, after the FIRE broke out; and then
the fire extended nearly across, but not
| quite, as there was a pldee IN the middle
| not on fire; but the fire was not then blaz-
| ing up very much, in from ten to fifteen
minutes, ct last the fire had not become
general through the Efssk. After came
up l did not return. When left the fire
could not have been extinguished without
considerable less, it had gained considera-
BILE force. Up to the time when I left, all
the persons seemed to direct their energies
to saving people. There was nothing that
could be done towards putting out the fire
as there were no buckets or anything else
to put it ont With. Up to the time when 1
left there was quite =, number Of people
waiting to be helped up. Should say there
were twenty people then, able to help them
selves. who bad either got out or been taken
out from the cars, One lady whom took
out of the water, between, two coaches, l
brought there, Should think there were
from fifteen to twenty at Least, waiting
there, who evidently had been taken cut Of
the wreck. At theitime when ! left, could
hear screams and cries for help pretty
much all through the wreck, from GRe pier
to the other Don't know, Of my own
knowledge, of any orders having been given
not to put out the fire. Phe only reason,
so far as knoY Why the fire was not put
out, was the lack OF -faeiiities, The fire
department had not arrived when | came
up. When l first got there, before it was
burned, the top Of the wreck must have
been twenty or twenty-five feet high from
the level Of the stream; should think as
much rs twenty feet. At this time l had
seen the Conductors be came up right
ahead Of me, with two men assisting him.
Heard him make q statement about the
number of passengers on the train. The
two men who were helping him asked how
many were on the train, and he answered,
''one hundred and sixty" or about zone
hundred and sixty, Was Immediately be-
hind him, as close as possible, and recog-
nized him.
Mr.. Sherman; N'How long after you
came up, before the Fire engine or Fire
company cameY. answer; ! could not
state. Were you there at the time when
it did conner" ! was not. Idont repallect
seeing anything belonging to the Fire de-
partmsnt, s'Mhat DO, you SAY about its
being possible tp have put out the fire at |
the time wheH 1on same up. think 1t
could OF been pEt0ut, bnt NOT without con-
siderable loss, for the fire extended pretty
nearly across from one pier to the other; it
might have been put out at that time by
stream from good fire engine in fifteen
minutes. "HOw many persons were there,
at the wreck, at the time when you leftY'
There might be two hundred should think
two hundred, but could not tell, they were
going and coming, "What more could be
done than was done, with the means that |
you had, to save the passengers on the
wreck?" ] think that everything was done
that gould be done to save the people uPto !
the time when ! left.
While | was there, my attention, and |
that Of other citizens seemed to be devoted |
entirely to saving lives, instead of fighting |
aFe, That was the first thought in our |
minds. and every one seemed to feel so. |
Think that everything was done that could |
of been done to ssVe life. When ! say we |
had no facilities theEe tor putting out fire, |
mean that all I saw while ! was there was |
some axes, no pals buckets or fire sP- |
PaFatus Of any kind.
Adjourned to one o'clock p. m.
TResdaE Afternoon.
James A. Manning, recalled; Mr.. Til |
den is Superintendent OF the Water depart
ment, of the Lake Shore road, when we
put in that pump down there at the pump /
ing house we took q connection from the |
main pipe. To this was attached valve
with 8 inch coupling. Asked Mr.. Tilden
at the time, what he intended it for, as
there was no danger of fire around there.
He said it might be, used for the purpose
of making a connection with wash basin
or perhaps sometime fountain, This Is
not strictly plug, but valve. 1t is un-
dsrneath the floor. Is attached to the
pump. If hose Of the proper size were
attached to it, and the pump worked,
would be able to put. on pressure Of one
hundred and sixty pounds to the square
inch, and could inGFsase that to three
hundred pounds if necessary, il the hose
and pipe would stand it. The size Of that
valve, as measured it last evening, meas
uring the coupling-this coupling Of the
fire engine here-Lake Erie engine-is a
three inch male screw, but the threads
are different, In measuring down there
| would say that the scFeE would not
stand great pressure, but possibly might
have got them down to hold a pressure
sufficient to eaFry water to the fire. From
our pumping hs4se to this Lake Erie en-
CINE house is distance Of about 400 hun
dred Yards. ] was not aware at that time
that there was q quantity Of aew hose
here at the engine, hoHsss Though kpew
there was hose here belonging to the IRE
department.. AT the time Of the fire L
thought II / only bad a hose to fit , the
valve l could have put out the fire, or at
least might have put it out; but had no
hose there; didn't think of'the hose in the I
Lake Erie eagiRe-heGse, and did not
know at that time that it would fit; did
not at the time think OF taking the hose
from this Lake Erie house and attaching
il to our engine down in the pumP-house.
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