The Portland daily press., 1880-12-20
DERAILED.
Serious Accident on the Nashua g. Roch-
ester.

The boat train over the Portland & Roches-
ter road, due in this city at 10 p. m. Saturday,
| was delayed until p. M by an accident which
| happened to the train at East Derry N. H.,
| on the line of the Nashua & Rochester. Learn
| ing that one of the passengers on the train was
| stopping in this city PRESS reporter inter-
viewed him yesterday.
The gentleman in question is Mr. Capstck
who resides in New York, and with his daugh-
| ter Lizzie was on his way to Portland to visit
| another daughter, Mrs. Stafford, who resides
| at No. 249 Congress street. Mr. Capstick stated
| to the reporter that when the train left Nashua
it appeared to him that it was proceeding at a
very high speed. The train consisted OF loco
motive, express freight car, a long car-con-
| tanning the baggage car, mail car and smoking
car-and one passenger car. The latter con-
tanned about twenty passengers, of whom, per-
| haps one third were ladies'. So rapid was the
| progress of the train that the car shook and
| rolled as if at sea. Mr.. Capstick had been in
the smoking car, and on his return to the pas
senger car remarked that the train was going
| too fast to preserve its equilibrium, when SUM-
denly the car left the track aud bumped up
encountering the end of the platform of the
station at East Derry, rushed up the platform
several lengths and stopped. The passengers
were all very much shaken up and bruised by
knocking against the irons of the seats, but re
ceived no serious injury. Mr. Capstick left
the car and looking back he saw in the distance
the mail and smoking car lying on its side some
distance from the track, and men climbing out
OF the windows. One man-who it was after
wards reported was Charles B. Tilden, a pa
tent lawyer of Nashua, with an Office in Bos-
on,-who was in the smoking car, was badly
hurt and carried off by the engine for surgical
assistance. The conductor was very civil and
kind, and seemed DESTROYS to do all he could.
Mr.. Capstick went back and examined the
track, as he heard the accident was due to
broken rail. he says that where the accident
occurred the rails were what, we believe, are
technically called strapped rails, that whore
the rails meet together irons are placed on
either side Of the point Of iointure, and then
bolted to the rails On one side of the track
the rail was properly strapped. On the other
the bolts were gone, and evidently had been
previous to the accident Just under the join
ture, between the sleepers, was distance of
some twenty inches, with nothing to support
the ends of the rails firmly. His theory is that
going at such high rate of speed, the loco
motive jumping up and down, when the en-
engine jumped on to this spot where the rails
Joined they gave way at once. The engine and
express freight going so fast kept the track,
but the mail car then struck the broken rail
and was diverted to one side and went over.
The passenger Car tooka lean to the other side
and struck over the break and then met
switch rail which swung the car over SO that it
struck the long inclined platform of the sta
ton, which is constructed in that way SO as to
allow baggage trucks to be run up on to the
platform. This inclined platform probably
saved many lives. Mr.. Capstick says in other
places he found rails where belts were missing
and he brings to this city pieces of the torn
sleepers which certainly are considerably de-
cayed. A wrecking train was sent down and
the train proceeded. After it started Mr.. Cap
stick says the engineer commenced to run at
the same rate of speed as before, but upon his
protests to the conductor, that official made
the engineer reduce the speed.
A reporter for the PRESS visited Mr. Small,
mail agent, who boards at the Preble House.
Mr.. Small was in the mail car at the time of
the accident He said the cause of the acct
| dent was broken rail. The train was going
| pretty fast to make up time when the mail car,
which he was in, suddenly left the track, ran
| some thirty rods and turned over. A large
safe in the express part of the car was thrown
through the mail end, knocking his case of
letters to the winds. There was very hot
stove in the car, and if it had not happened to
have been bolted into place with unusual pre-
caution all in the three compartments must
have lost their lives. He did not think he was
hurt at the time, but soon after and since his
back and kidneys have troubled him consider
ably, although he now thought he should be
| round all right in few days. He was able to
! get about yesterday. Mr.. Purintor, the other
mail AGENT lives in Limington. BE was badly
hurt about the head and took the stage from
WATERFORD Centre for his home.
| The only Portland man on board the train
| whom we can learn OF who was hurt, was Mr..
Libby, formerly agent of the District Express
Company, and express agent for the Portland
& Rochester. Mr.. Flagg, express agent, and
Mr.. Balloon, baggage master, had narrow es-
capes, but received only severe bruises. The
mail car was completely wrecked. There were
four or five passengers in the smoking car but
Mr.. Tilden seems to have been the only one to
| receive serious injury.
l