The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-01-31

AA6IFORU, OOuus, JAM 1Os
Latest advices from the scene of the
railroad disaster last night, and from
places where the wounded were taken,
place the number of dead at thirteen.
1t is possible that more may be found
in the wreck. T. NJ. Elmer, conductor,
thus describes the accident:
had been in the mail compartment in the
paggagc-car, where left Mr.. Jones, Superintend-
int bd h hsa s s tie ggt os e
the haggage-car, and WAS about to open 1t, when
l felt the rear end settling and heard loud
crash. My hand was almost on tb door-knob.
get away from the fire SO as not t" be burn ID.
ap hf settled and Of then the Whole sar
down with yer, little pitching one side, and
struck. l had jumped back from the door
and was few seats back, close to = window.
through, striking me on tie head, knocking me
Stunned r pS e tg 8" the ~at The
car ali passengers, whom did not know. Il was
ssc ne o sh xhcS
hole was large enough for man to crawl through.
%thfF nunG s the
through the floor and windows and was
aapy rising Il got up to When 0 we 1 ksew
that the car had struck lotion and we felt safe:
There we're no expressions of allrm BY ether Of
ing an effort I" get through the 6oie but. when
everything came to standstill, we went to work
to rescue ourselves, which was accomplished by
through he assisted another, and then the Others
were helped out. After getting ont we went to
the car behind, which was lying. corner ways. out
the windows. This car was pitched down. and it
appeared as if more of the passengers must be
jammed on the lower end.
The cries were heartrendng Men and women
appeared to he suffering from extreme pain.
Some were crying piteously: oh. don't step on
me:" Get of, for my legs are Lroken;"'" -, Help
sisted several ladies ont. and got out one young
nun who was up to his chin in water, After
doing this. l was 20 thoroughly chilled through
Mr.. Elmer was about his regular
business yesterday, and ran on trains
back and forth to Tariffville. He wears
u patch over cut on his temple.
The bridge was built by A. ID. Briggs
& Co., of Springfield, Mass, in Decem-
Der, 1875. 1t Isl Howe truss with two
spans, each being 1G3 feet long. There
seems to have been nothing wrong with
the structure. The timbers where
they were broken off and splintcred
are sound. The spans were long, but
some of the most experienced railroad
men agree, that the accident was wholly
caused by the tremendous weight of
two engines passing over at the same
time. Both certainly weighed sixty
tons, and possibly more. One man,
who stood at the depot in Tariffvillc as
the train left there, noticed its make
up, and reports that he waited in sus-
pense to see whether it would pass over
the bridge safely, and, while he was
waiting. heard the crash, The suppo-
sition is that the supporting iron col
umns broke, causing the timbers to
snap. The bridge is elevated about
ten feet above the river at the pres
ent stage of water, is approached from
the east by an embankment, and from
the west by large trestle-work
across meadows. The first locomotive
had cleared the west span and entered
upon the trestle-work, when the entire
span gave way, breaking off imme-
diately east Of heavy stone structure
in the center of the river. As the
structure gave way the first engine was
hurled violently over, imbedded in the
ground and completely wrecked. The
other engine and the baggage-car went
down with the wreck in an upright
position, and the side of heavy truss
fell over upon them. The first passen.
ger car was whirled around and sank
to the bottom of the river, lying nearly
parallel with the stream. The second
passenger car went down end foremost
upon the first car, smashing the largest
portion into kindling-wood, the rear
end resting upon the Bird ge. The next
car occupied a similar position, but
swerved to the left, and did not rest up.
on the car in front. None of the re-
naming coaches left the track.
The crash and cries of the wounded
and dying speedily brought assistance
but the first-comers worked at a great
disadvantage. The cars had broken
through the ice, which made it difficult
to approach near enough to reach the
passengers.
The scenes on the relief-train were
heart-rending. In every car were mer
and women with heads bandaged anG
arms in sings. Some had been terri
| Uly SCttllCus AL OuC pd1SSCuNC1 >CtSl
were the bodies of three women, and
in the baggage-car two more, just a
they had been taken from the wreck
The Rev. Mr.. Thomas, of Winsted
with both limbs fractured and severely
injured internally, crawled out of tht
wreck, through the roof of car, t.
the ice and then to shore.
Nearly all the dead were in the frs
passenger car, which is almost a com
plete wreck, although one body wa:
taken from the second car this evening
where it was found caught under bro
ken seat. Five young men from New
Hartford, among the killed, were of :
party of six who were on the platform
Of car enjoying a moonlight ride ani
whistlins in chorus. The only survivor
If the six was inside at tho time.