Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-04-09
A PASSENGERS STATEMENT

accident was caused by the burning of the
bridge timbers
A PASSENGERS STATEMENT
Hearing that NJ, Robert Maugheimer of the
firm Of Maunheimer Bros, was passenger on
the train, GLOBE reporter called upon that
gentleman, who said, when the accident oc-
cured he was sleeping in a Pullman car. He
felt three small jerks and then the cars stop
ped. He hurried on a pair of slippers and
stepped out, and saw that the trestle bridge
had broken through and the engine and two
cars lying beneath. The two cars were burning.
He got off the sleeper, and climbed down the
trest]e, height of 8 Or 10 feet, and ran to
where the engine was. The fireman was dead
He must have been killed instantly,
for the coal was all piled on toy of him.
but the engineer suffering terri
bly,. Il do not want to look upon
such another sight, Mr.. Maunheimer said.
ut makes me shudder to think of it, and shall
not want 70 travel again for WHILE There
was hole in the poor fellows head above the
eve, and the eye was prOtruding from the sock
ct; his face covered with gore; his head
cut in several places, and he complained dread
fully of his side and stomach. The doctor said
the lower part of the body was scalded dread
fully; the groans Of the poor man were terrible
to hear, and the sight made one quite sick.
The doctor told me that he could not live to
get to Baraboo.
A little fellow in the baggage bruised
considerably as the car rolled over on its side,
but he did no omplain much The wrecked
cars lay all night at right angles to the track,
and the smoking car pitched down one end of
the other resting on the ttestle. 1t caught
fire, and for some time it was thought the
sleeper would burn, for it was found inn
possible to uncouple them. Final
iy tho employees cut down
some trees and broke the smoking car away,
and there being plenty of water near, ex-
tinguished the fire. The trestle work is about
200 feet long,
Reporter-How did the accident happen?
Mr.. M cannot say. We were all i'll bed
Mt the time, and knew nothing till we felt
bridge fire and broke through.
Reporter-Did you notice where the bridge
had been burned and SO wrecked?
Mr.. MI do not think it had been on fire. l
think the accident happened from rotten tim
Der. If the bridge had been on fire the engineer
must have seen it, for there is big curve
quarter OF mile from the bridge:
and if there had been fire it must
have been from the train. l ex-
amined the timber and found it very rotten
where it was broken through and the fire box
of the engine set fire to the rotten dry wood
afterward. Many of the passengers thought
the same, but the railroad men say the bridge
was set on fire by train passing early in the
night. 1t was about o'clock in the morning
when the accident happened. The baggage car
was completely consumed. A travelling man
lost his two trunks Of samples. The mails
were all lost. We were delayed about two
hours. The employees, especially those in charge
help to save the baggage and take care Of the
wounded man. His sutferings were horrible
and his groans fearful. l shall. in future.
travel as little as possible.
POSTOFFICE INTERVIEW.
A reporter of the GLOBE called upon Mr..
OBrien, the obliging deputy postmaster.
through whose fundamentally the story of the
mail agent on the connecting West Wisconsin
railroad was heard. The mail agents version
OF the accident was to the effect that the
bridge, or, rather, the north approach to the
bridge, had caught fire, most probably from a
passing train. Before the engineer was aware
of any danger, the engine, which was going
quite slowly at the time suddenly fell through
the chasm, the tender following, and with the
baggage and express cars, was piled upoh the
engine. This completely filled the gap which
was not large, as the descent to the river is not
deep. The fireman was instantly killed, and
the engineer was so badly scalded that his re-
covery is deemed utterly hopeless. The bag
gage and express cars became detached from
the balance Of the train, so that
none Of the passengers were injured
IN the least. No sooner did the two first cars
descend upon the wrecked engine below than
they became ignited, and every effort was bent
toward rescuing their contents, but all the bag
gage, all the mail matter, and all the express
matter, excepting the money, was destroyed.
There was no mail agent upon the train, the
mail matter being carried in the luggage car
The end OF the first passenger car nearest the
wreck was considerably scorched.
IN reply to various inquiries, Mr.. O'Brien
SAID the accident would have little effect upon
correspondence at this point, as the train only
collected the way letters for St. Paul. mailed
between Camp Douglas junction and here. No
registered letters, except from between those
points, would be destroyed, as they come with
the through mail, which is in
variably brought from Chicago over the
Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul road, unless
this road is blockaded or broken up. The
through mail had been received all right in
this usual course. The mails, however, for dis
tribution on the Winona & St. Peter railroad
would be on the train, we'll as those for
points In Wisconsin between Elroy and Hudson.
The mail agent running on the Chicago,
Milwaukee & st. Paul railroad, who was pres
ent at the conversation and who had formerly
run upon the Northwestern, estimated the
amount OF mail matter destroyed at about if
teen sacks Of papers and five or six locked
pouches.
AT THE RAILROAD OFFICE.
reporter of the GLOBE, with the view of
possibly ascertaining the railroads version Of
the disaster, called at the Northwestern COM
pany's ticket Office, corner of Third and Jack
son streets. The time of the visit was nearly
clock IN the evening, some thirteen hours
after the occurrence of the accident The Of
nee is IN full telegrapbic communication with
the whole line of road, the telegraph instru-
ment being in the business apartment And,
yet, there was not single soul among the Of
ticials who had heard Of the accident or could
tell whe Re the conductor of the connecting and