New-York tribune., 1878-01-17

THE BRIDGE RECKLESSLY OVEELOADED-A eCi1Nh
OF rFRRoR-TURfEEN LIVES LosT-Lisr OF The
KIiLED AND SERIOUSLY WOUNDED.
iRY TELEGRaPH 10 THE TEmUNE]
HARTFORD, Conn, Jan. 16-The latest adj
vices from the scene and places where wounded were
taken after the disaster place the number OF dead at
thirteen TITS possible that yet be found In
the wreck as the debris of ono car is not yet removed
so thoroughly as TO make it certain that all bodies nave
been recovered.
MIR. fIMEg's EXPERIENCE.
The experience Of Conductor NJ. Elmer is much IKE
fbo OF many passengers, he describes the accident as
follows:
l had bern in the mail comra'tment Of the baggage
car where left superintendent Jones aSsorng tckt,s
LaI started 10 go through the train and had sol JUS Nv
ibe front door OF the hagaee-raT which WAS ah"ut TO
o,cn when feat the end settling ana hcarI lono
crash XIV hand waa almost on the door knob Close by
i cnrncr NJ thr ear 10 INV right was the stove In which
there wa a vcry hot 1irc My hfs thought was 20 ge!
away fr4n the lire 30 as not be burned The rear end
- Tie ta- VET down little forward and settled, ana
thcn the whole car dropped down, win bnt very ite
cSI i@oSI me door, aud was fsw sears Nac close to
window, wh,n the car brought un, JGSt "S ~
roof sud came thrOGch, striking me on
the head lnocSigg Inc down {rheTc J., Gu, nef ms ms
left tCppc, hut not serious one W. S'N1nes ~ @ tc
blow but oo0u what the situation was; lhriS were
know. It was very dark in thc car; 80 thSt
could nothing executing - atieaK oi H."
which through the aoe in the @ roe; r made by & S
bcan. This beam had come oOWh eng ms, @ ama n"''
crushed the roof that tbcre was plenty ci E0on lot
- II
ing. and We led 10 gr' out On, !o.uu We -; C'S ,, &
reach thc roof. Meanwhile the water WAS COMING III"
fhp car through the hOOr and windows and was rapidly
rising II 20; NJ 70 POM appl5 V.,a GU VIZ, ] - - & t
when kncW thSt The car had s'Iuch hotcm ana Icl
safer There expression of alhra ny any "i Us
We waited foT tic tilao hcing without n' Sl an CnnrI
70 get out through h5 hoc; hu; Whon cYcS Iu- came
TO a stauls went to wo'kio rc>cuo OpiS lvcNwhca
did by luling one man up ~ h' io1l' 10 ,>',sr
another aftry &c got tntcugh and tn the o'helh were
Cs0h car, hr.nd which Vas lying ccr,er-ways, GU, Of
which passengers were craving tAr0H@h me WhVo"s
the passengers mus, b anmCd in ihc leyeg end. The
cries were hear;yerdi,e OF 'nen and women, many {"
some were CRYING piti0usy. "Oh, don't step on
me" get of for my legs are b'%kci,, %'
sisted several ladies ont, and cot out one Young man
who up 70 his neck IN water: Amer dong IN,
was Thoroughly chilled through that became numb
and had to -iye up
Mr. Elmer was ABOUT his regular business today ana
run on the trains back and forth 10 Iarfyile lie
wears patch over the cut in his head.
CHARACTER OF THE BRIDGE.
The bridge was bu by \. u. Briggs d Co.. OF sprnl>
field Mass aad completed in DtccmbcI, 1s7G II - a
Towe trus with spans, each being l65 feet long
There seem, Ia have been uoshing wronr with the
structure. The imbors where they broken Oh and
srlnteIc5 sound. Tie spans were loHs. 5ut were
undoubtedly secure enough for the ordinary business OF
The road theory tha OF the locomotives left the
track on the bridge and broke the tmbcrs, causing TIE
whole span TO give way, is not supported
by any reasonable explanation. some OF the
most experienced railroad men and the most disinter
esed who looked the ruins over carefully, agree that
the accident wholly caused By The tremendous
weight OF locomotives passing over a tn same tht
and ht tn only the train would Have conc
over s2ieY. The locomotive were o! tLr first ca-
though one was heavier by several than the other.
one weighing as reported by The road OH crs twenty
eight tons AMI tie other thirty tons TAoJ are OF tic
class reported 70 the Railroad Commissioners thirty
five engine, That IT, including equipments OF coai
and water BotI certainly weigh sixty tons aad possibly
moro One man who stood at tho depot al Tariff
vile. as the train left there, noticed it MAKE
up and reported yesterday that rs waited u sspee 70
see whether would pass over The bridge SAFELY, and
while he was waiting heard the crash, and not fn
prised that the accident occurred. The bect of u0se
bet qualified to judge from an examination.
OF the wreck is, that the supporting iron rods
broke first. which caused The timb'Ts 10 sraV
apart This breaking OF the rods Of due to
the strain which should never huvc brea ru Gpon
them Had locomotive been in the Of the uda,
the unusual pressure would have been avoided.
TIE CATAsIBOTHE
Tie bridge. which is elevated about ten feet above hc
river at tic present stage Of the water, approached
from the east br "a embanlnent and from the west by
n long trestr-woli across the meadows The hrs loco
motive cleared the span and entered upon the
trcstlt+work. when the eutire span gave way.
breaking of Immediately cast Of the heavy stone pier IN
the OF tie river. As the gave WA tho
first locomotive hurled violently oyer and
inbeidins itseH in the ground. was completely
wrecked The other engine and the baggage-ctr
went down with the wreck 81 upright posiiiou.
The Gya young men from Ncw-IIaItford among the
KILLED. were of party Of six who the platform
OF the enjoying the moonlight ride, and wlistling
chorus Tho only survivor OF the had left the party.
and inside at the time OF the accident
Mr. Frederick HOtchsiss. Of Canton, Occl. pied seat
with Howard L. Warner, who instantly killed. Mr..
HochkIss found himself the the centre
ment Of The bridge, suffering from injuries about
the head His seat-mate had disappeared but how he
could not tell.
The Railroad Commissioners VIII commence an invcs-
tgaton tomorrow. They pronounced the bridge safe
two months ago cOron.s jury has been impanelcd.