St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-01-05
Worse and Worse.
ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE KILLED

Further details of the great accident
on the Lake Shore railroad at Ashta-
bula, o., on Friday evening, show that
it was even more horrible than at first
reported, and the number of killed is
variously estimated at from 100 to 100
The work of determining the number
will be slow, for it can only be done by
counting up the people missing, after
those that came out with their lives are
all accounted for. The bodies are, most
of them, burned and bruised beyond all
semblance to human beings, and can be
| identified only by bits of clothing OF
other articles known to have belonged
to the victims. Not over 40 bodies
have probably been taken out, though
about a hundred men are at work. The
houses in the vicinity are crowded with
the wounded, and present quite as hor-
rifying a spectacle as the wreck itself.
Thirty of the injured have been taken
to Cleveland.
The train hands tell this story of the
disaster: The train, numbering IL cars
one drawing-room, three sleepers, two
tirst-class coaches, one smoking car and
four baggage and express cars-drawn
by two engines, the Socrates and the
Columbia, was moving along slowly.
the Socrates, the forward engine, hav-
ing got fairly to the west side of the
bridge, when the engineer felt a sudden
jar, the coupling between the two en-
gines broke, and all behind the Socrates
fell. Even this engine was pulled back
nearly to the edge of the broken span
before the coupling was severed, and it
regained its forward motion barely in
time to save itself. The distance to the
ice below is variOusly stated at from SO
to rs feet, but it was great enough to
completely wreck the engine Colum bia
which lies with its wheels uppermost,
and to smash the cars as if thew had
been blown to pieces with nitro-glyce-
rine. Fire broke out simultaneously in
all the cars, slowly burning to death the
people confined by the debris, while
Others hoated off under the ice that had
been broken, or were drowned by the
water that flowed in among the de-
molished cars.
The people of Ashtabula were warn
ed of the catastrophe by a general fire
alarm, and shortly all the fire engines
and nearly the whole village were on
their way to the scene, about mile
from town. The storm was so terrible
that no business had been done in town
since a or o'clock, and so they were
greatly impeded in their work but
axes, ropes and stretchers were brought
into use, and all the wounded that were
accessible were taken to the neighbour
ing houses.
The cause of the accident is still a
mystery, and Charles Collins, chief en-
gineer of the road, says he can give no
theory to account for it. The general
impression is, however, that the iron of
the bridge had been made brittle bv
the frost, and that the heavy train broke
it by running off the track. The bridge
was one of the well-knOwn Howe truss
pattern, built entirely of iron, had been
in use ii years, and was considered one
of the best on the line. 1t had been
tested with six locomotives, and at the
time of the accident was thought to be
in perfect condition. The whole length
of the bridge was 157 feet, and it had
an arch $50 feet long in the clear.
Over 100 men continued to work clear
ing away debris, Sunday, but their labor
was rewarded by the recovery of only
two more bodies and some unrecopniz-
able burned pieces of flesh; and the be-
lief is gaining ground that many of the
passengers were totally or almost Who'll
ly consumed. Intense excitement pre-
walls, and scores of persons arrived from
the East and West in search of informa-
ton regarding missing friends. Little
satisfaction can be given them, how
ever. kilograms are also being con-
stantly received, asking news of absent
ones. The boxes in the freight house
containing bodies were numbered, YES
terday, and white paper labels placed
on those that had been identified.
There are Sc bodies or masses of charred
and blackened flesh in the boxes, and