Litchfield enquirer., 1878-01-24
The TarrifYille Slaughter.

A report of the awful wreck of a Connecti cut Western train at the Tariffville bridge over the Pennington River will be found on our fourth page. It is in the main condensed from the very full reports of the Courant and Post with corrected list of the dead and seriously wounded. Of the last all seem to be doing we'll, except Milton Gibson of Winsted, ard Frederick Hotchkiss of Canton. The latter suffered severe internal injury, while the form CT, though. net so badly hurt, was in feeble health at the time of the accident and his life is still considered in danger. ..
 The cause of the injury, so far as has been ascertained, was the inability of the bridge to sustain the weight of two heavy engines This bridge has been subjected to as heavy strain before but now, for some unknown reason, it gave way. The bridges on that line of road are necessarily light, and are not covered still it seems hardly possible that there could have been any such decay of the timbers in the few years since it's erection as would mate rially lessen it's strength. On the contrary it seems more probable that the accident resulted from some defective bolt or brace In run ming heavy trains with two engines together across light bridges like the one in question, very careful railroad men uncouple the first engine and send it over first. Had this been done in the present instance the accident would not have occurred. Dr. '
 Whatever the causes of the disaster, it's re- suits are before us in all their grim reality. Thirteen lives have certainly been lost two more are still in@anger; and, at the latest &C., counts, fifty nfgfEss have been wounded. some very seriously. The horror and grief and mourning in the heavily stricken communities of Winsted and New Hartford is said to have been absolutely indescribable. Yet those who have visited the scene of the accident, and have seen the wreck of the cars, especially of the first that plunged into the chasm, can hard ly believe that of the sixty or more people who went down with the first car even ten could ever have come out alive or that, of the 100or more others imperilled in succeeding cars near ly all should have escaped alive, ,and most with out serious injury. The delverance of the many is vastly more wonderful than the loss of the few.
 This frightful disaster cannot but make the public little scary of excursion trains on small roads with light and perhaps insufficient bridges. It strikes us however, that fear is only reasonable when two engines are run to- gether These, weighing some 30 tons each, do make load that may prove too much for light, long bridge Mere crowding of pas sengers, however, cannot make weight that is likely to be dangerous. Sixty people of average weight would hardly make total of five tons, and the ordinary load of a train Of loaded freight, must be nearly "f not quite as great as that of a train of crowded passenger cars.
 The question which has not yet been mooted as we have noticed, is with regard to the legal responsibility of the company Even if judgments to the amount of $100, 900 could be obtained against the Connecticut Western Railroad Company. of .whom could they be collected? The stock of the road is worthless Are the bondholders liable for the negligence or misconduct of the present man. agers of that road