Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1878-10-31

Elmlra II those early days Owego was the
ilrgest and most thriving Of any. and was con
nected by 9 horse railroad with Ithaca: bu
tlmess changes have more favored Elmira ani
blnghamp ton. until in fact they have far ad
Yanced heyond their sister village, The roai
to Dunkirk. :. wy /" y
Our cars were rather poor affair com
pared Win the palace drawing room and ho
tei coaches, but people were just as comforta.
oie ihen seated IN an old box car with siz
WINDOWS on q side as those on the improved
pan. Inc engines were OF smaller pattern
IMAM the heavy coal.burners at present in use
anu n:t Inougn NOT as strong, were capable Of
pulllng quite load. Sometimes, in case ol
aelay, our wood supply would run out, and
then the whole force on the train was Obliged
TO turn out and cut enough wood to enable us
TO make the nearest station.
IN the matter of baggage, where now O
spacious new Saratoga or an ornamented can.
vaaed- covered russell is a necessity, an old
painted wooden chest, with iron handles, was
usual' while hair.trunk and carpet-bag
seemed luxury. There were no baggage
stnasners' then; they came with modern i'm
proVements Our taggage-cars were simply
Ordinary box-carss, painted yellow, with door
on each end, and window and door on The
sldes; the platforms were without ratings,
But very few of these cars had even a stove in
them, ana were decidedly uncomfortable, be-
ing 100 not in summer and very cold in winter
A rae OF thirty or forty miles in the dead of
winter, ana not even time to run into the
coach to getwarm Isn't it a cheeeful thought?
But such was our business, and such was rail
reading twenty five years ago
speaking OF accidents, I Will give YOU an
account of few. Among the mahS such ia.
mlllar to al cd railroad men there was one
wnlch most impresses me, and when hap
,ene t. the tr''n on which was -nnnin e,
at Deposit, in the winter of 1852, Think. We
were eastward bound, and VIII lie stopping for
dlnner at this place, the scene occurred. I
had scarcely seated myself at the table in the
dlnnlng-room before there was heard great
Yelling and shouting amolg the crowd on
the train and at the station. 1t was useless
to ask the cause of this sudden outburst. as
IN heat OF exiitment NOBODY >eemed to
know anything. Upon rushing out soon
discovered a freight train coming at fright.
full speed down the grade from the summit,
and that she must run into us. It was tut the
work OF mom-nt; she couldn't stop; we
had no time To get out On she crashed, co :.
lidlng with terrible force with the rear of our
train, and making a complete wreck of ~.
erything: AS soon as the passengers became
aware Ut the approaching danger there was a
general panic in that train; each one strug
Cling with the other to reach the door, and
consequently the loss of life was large. A
party of Mohawk Indians were in the real
car, and being ignorant of this sudden out
burst and unable 70 understand its meaning
ran hither and thi her, some jumping of
the doom d car and others rrshng into the
forward cars. Among them was young
squaw the Notwithstanding Indian / evei
saw-who ran for the forward platform of the
rear car, which she succeeded in reaching
just as the train crashed into it's rear. s:
sudden was the ,r that she was thrown upo1
the track, directly across the rails, and hel
head was severed from her body.
We gathered up the remains, placed then
in box and gave them in charge of hel
riends, She was buried in Owego, where
through the influence of the late Judge C. P
Avery of that place, large and elaborate
monument of white marble was erected, with
this inscription: sacred to the memory o
Sa-sa-na-oft; by birth Child of the Forest, b,
adoption Child of God' Here her people
come every year and pay respect to the mem
DRY of their lamented sister. In quiet cor
ner of Evergreen Cemetery, at that place
stands the "1ndian Girls Monument familiar
to every one in the Susquehanna Valley; it.
lone and seemingly sad seclusion in its SHADY
reserve upon the mountain overlooking rive
and railroad, and the bit of romance connect
ed with itSmaking it attractive to all visitors
at OwegoSonce the home of N. P. Willis, tn.
poet On the same train was little girl he
tween IL and Is years of age, journeyins
from Great Bend to her home Otisville
She had been at the bend to attend the funcr
al OF her aunt, who was buried on the preced
ing day. She too, was in the rear car, and il
the excitement and panic was unable to es
cape. With terrible crash the engine of tn,
freight train forced its way into the rear ent
of the Car, filling it full of scalding steam
which n tod no If tho
motive. With the sudden jar the girl mus
! have been thrown to the floor, and was ther,
scalded to a frightful mass, so intense was tn,
heat OF the steam. AS soon as possible tn,
| Col was forced open and the body OF the poo
| unfortunate, who was still alive and suffern.
beyond description, was removed to NOR
| comfortable quarters. So terrible was til,
| though every possible care and attention wa
5iven, the flesh would peel off her BODY will
the merest touch.
In this painful trial she exhibited the mos
wonderful patience, and was conscious of he
condition to the end. After we had got he
in more agreeable position she gave brie
account of herself, with her name and place
OF residence: The fortitude and meeknes
she displayed have never seen tqualed. With
out murmur, and with a smile of gentl.
peace and resignation, calm SIS the departing
day, she passed away within an hour afte
her recovery from the wreck. Thave thou h
OF this sad sight thousand times, and al
often have | fervently thanked God that a.
yet no child of mine had ever met such fate
1t is sad to witneas the decease of strons
man, or to assemble at the death-bed o
departing friends, but to see young beauti
full maiden, just verging into happy woman
hood, thus cut off. is fearful.
zone night about II o'clock we left Por
Jervis on time, bound westward. It was i1
the spring of the year, the weather was bad
rain had been pouring down necessarily thu
whole day long, and did not like the prospec
ahead, Dark! you couldn't see your hane
those rocks and cliffs at about thirty miles ar
hour. TO tell the trnth, was uneasy in mint
regarding the safety of the trip.
horr;d, dismal feeling, such as I have
never experienced before or since, seemed tt
creep over me, notwithstanding my endeavor!
to shake it off with the idea that it was simply
nervousness: Hurrying through with my
work, and after close inspection to see thai
all was right within, lit cigar, and repair
ing to the smOking.car, seated myself by the
stove. Scarcely five minntrs afterward, anc
hardly before had time to direct my Thoughts
from the mental gloom from which l wa
suffering, there came shrill short whistle
known to the boys as signal ef danger, iol
lowed by series of crashes, a terrible jar, ant
rushed out to see what was the trouble
There was the engine cut loose from the trair
lying upon it's side, nearly parallel with the
track, close up to the rocks, while my car wa.
prtcipitated over the cliff into the river, abou
thirty feet down. It appears that large
rock had fallen to the track, and as the from
of The lomotive struck it she glanced to thu
left, and turned over on her side, while thu
baggage-car, following next, had glanced il
the opposite direction, broke her coupling
and gone clean down the bank. The fireman
was killed outright while the engineer wa:
hurled out of the forward cab-window to the
| track, and the boiler of the engine cam,
down upon him resting upon his legs ant
hips. His name, think, was Talloman-s
good fellow, too and there he lay with abou
| twelve tons of red-hot iron crushing him tx
the ground.
We had no jack.screws or derricks to proE
| or raise the engine with, and were alone or
| the rocky cut in the middle of the night
| with nothing on earth to rescue or relieve the
| poor fellow with. His sufferings for the few
| awful minutes which proceeded his deatt
| were fearful 20 contemplate. oh, save me!
he cried, with an expression of painful horro
| and desperate agony. 'For Gods sake, if ",
| are men help me! don't care if lose m,
| legs, only save me from this terrible death
Ny wife and child will starve. Oh, God! it
killing me?' An there he moaned away hi
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