Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-01-05
Another Railroad Horror
A CROWDED TRAIN FALLS WITH
A BRIDGE AT ASHTABULA OHIO.
Over one Hundred Persons Killed and
Burned. and Sixty Wounded.

ONe1 oAo 0unureu PERSONS Killed and
Burned. and Sixty Wounded.
The whole country has been stirred
this week with the profoundest emo.
tons of horror over the details of a
railroad accident, which occurred
last Friday evening, at Ashtabula,
Ohio, on the Lake Shore road. The
western bouud passenger express
train, consisting of eleven coaches,
and drawn by two engincs,in passing
an iron bridge over the Ashtabu!a
creek, just at the edge of the villa ge,
went crashing through the structure,
all the cars and the rear engine fall
ing sixty feet to the bed of the river
The number of passengers Oh the
train is estimated at oOO,and of those
a large proportion were killed out
right or were dro wned in the creek
A few escaped unhurt, others with
wounds more Or less serious, and the
balance imprisoned in the wreck OF
the bridge and cars, were burned be
fore help could reach them.
The night was terrible cold, and
the snow driving furiously, which
seriously impeded the efforts of the
citizens who came to the assistance
of the sufferers. In this frichtfi,I
holocaust, over one hundred men
women and children, were literally
roasted to death before the ewes OF
those who would help them buI
could not. Altogether it was one OF
the tfrightful accidents on record
We give below some of the tcstlmo
ny taken at the Coroner's inquest:
The first witness examined was
James Manning, the engineer of the
water works of the railroad company
employed on the flats near the bridge,
the person nearest at the time of the
accident. He was descending the
stairs leading from the top of the
cmbankment, when he heard sound
as of the giving way of iron, and 4
minute after loud crash, and then
the sound of cars dropping one by
one into the abyss. He reached the
top of the embankment and observed
the locomotive that had passed over
the bridge in safety, and did not real.
ize the terrible nature of the acci.
dent. lie hurried toward the bridge
however, and was met by the en-
gineer, Dan Guirc, who said: ':My
God, Manning, they are all down in
the river The witness then hasten
cd to the scene, which was already
being Illuminated by livid fames.-
He described the situation of the
coaches as they lay In the river as
nearly as possible; one was tilted On
end. The flames started in one
place and he saw no fire elsewhere,
except as it spread from this. The
witness went to the pump-house and
procured an axe and pail, gave them
to a man with request to put out
the fire. Don't know whether they
were used or not; knew of no other
persons trying to extlnguish the blaze
at that time. The time of the acct.
dent, as learned from the clock OF
the engine, that stopped, was pre-.
clsely 1882 of Friday evening. The
last person got out aliveat 10 o'clock.
The wreck was then one mass OF
flames. There was little wind, and
what there was blew in gusts. There
was no hose in the waterworks en-.
glnc house sufficiently long TO be
used.
The next witness was Capt. Chas
II. Tyler, of st. Louis, commission
merchant. He had his face terribl,
bruised and right hand injured. lie
was in appearance, and in his ans
wers, exceedingly Intelligent
While the train was at Buffalo, he
examined the coaches, and was sat.
istied that fully 200 persons, seventy
more than the conductor stated or
the day previous, were on the train
Mr.. Tyler said he had been captain
OF steamboats, on the Mississippi
river for twenty-four years, and was
competent to judge of the number
on board from experience. lie had
also travelled great deal. There
were nineteen passengers in his car,
named the Palatine. Several card
parties were formed just before the
accident occurred. The train was
going at the rate of fifteen miles an
hour when the bcll-rope snapped,
breaking and eStinguishing three Of
the lamps. Ten seconds later he
felt the coach going into the river
The car was enveloped in utter dark
ness. The anguish of the moment
was horrible in the extreme. The
abyss was passed, the suspense over,
and the terriable crash at the bottom
came. Across the rear part OF the
"Palatine" fell the "City of Buffalo, -
crushing two men, all in the "Pala
tine" who were killed. Witness
thought every person in the Getty of
Buffalo" was destroyed, as in climb
ing over that car to place of safety
he was unable to discover any signs
of life within. The others fell to-
gether, and scores of persons lay on
the wreck, giving vent to the most
frightful means, which seemed as if
they could be heard for miles. The
fire broke ont in three places almost
simultaneously. IF water had been
put on the flames even as late as .
O'Clock some persons that were burn
ed might have been saved. Did not
know whether or not any order had
been received from the railroad au-
thorities not to put water on the
burning wreck,
L. L. Hiss, the evangelist, and his
wife are among the victims. Mr..
Bliss escaped unhurt from the crash
but in the attempt to enter the burn
ing cars to rescue his wife, was
overwhelmed and met his fate in
her company.