The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1880-03-07
ACCIDENT On THE .. 4 w.w.n.R.

Tho most ser;ous mi.hap that has YET
bsfallen the Seattle and Wallis Va,la
Railroad Company crcnrred on ths
Lake tres,ls. two mice this eide oil
Newcastle. ss 10 o'clock yesterday fore.
noon. The engine A A Denny va,
coming from the mine to town .. the
time. drawing behind it train oi
eighteen loaded coal cars. At some
unusual circumstance. while crossing
the trestle, the engineer v.s alarmed.
end. locking back. saw the cars sinking
- though the trestle beneath them VA
giving wsy under their weight Quick
- . thought be put on ell steam. aud
the powerful engine lsaped forward
with . mighty effort. This saved it
and i,s tender snd one coal car, the
coupling lin behind the l.ttsr parting
under the tremendous strain. leaving
the other seventeen cArs on the crash.
ing, descending trestls. The tressle.
IN its highest point. was 95 feet above
the ground. and it, whole length Of 600
feet was covered BY the train. All
went toRe.hsr-an awful wreck Of tim
bsrs and cars. with lGU tons OF coal
mixed through and over it, Three
men were on the back cars. One.
james Williams, the Nswcsstls mine
superintendent. lsspea OF. aid sligh,ed
in the gulch below. not much the worse
for his adventure. Il. L. Thorne. the
conductor, VAS on tho rear car. aud he
also lesped ID Unfortunately for
him. both feet vent into IN open space
bctween ties. and IN falling. while in
that helpless. imprisoned position. both
legs were broken just above the ankles,
the leit leg % bsdly broken - to en-
danger its further preservation. The
third man WAS Vim. Stewart, Q new
miner ~ Newcastle. who Was sitting on
ono Of the cars near the middle Of the
train. snd who fell . distance of sixty
or eighty feet. and was covered With
coal besiiee. He was fsarfully bruised
and ont. The injured men were taken
on the Denny to Rsnton - soon -
possible. where Mr.. Thorns was left at
the house Of his father .in.lsv. Mr..
Smithsrs, and Mr.. Stewart was left as
tho house Of Mr.. Miller; Doctors Bag.
Icy and Wesley visiting them i,u,uedi
stely. Stewart became delirious o
little after soon. and remained 20 until
his death ct q last evening.
Tho cause u the accident will be in.
vestigated personally by the Directors
Of the Company today. It 10 said.
however. by those who. claim t. know,
that the support to one Of the bents
bad b"en sapped by the water in be
canyon. and. - the Whale structure
wss fastened { g.,hsr. the weakening
sinking and destruction Il On. par,
meant the wesks.iu.. sinking and de-.
struction Of ell.
The direct loss. in tho destruction If
trestle and cars aud loss of coal will
be fully Hss Thousand dollars, and the
indirect loss. by the failure 10 sranspos.
tation, detention of shipping. &c :.
nearly or quite o. much more. Two OF
three weeks will DO required to repair
the damage.
Mr.. Stewart Was y new conner, hav.
ing recently arrived from Nanaimo,
and had been ct Newcastle only .
fortnight. Hs was about IS years of
ago. II 10 unknown whether b. leaves
. family or not. Mr.. Thcrne has 40
accident policy Of $4,000. which, ~
long a. 10 10 disabled, will yield hin
an income OF SIS . week.