Morning journal and courier., 1881-08-01
ITS. B. b. CLARK, Rec. Sec. pro tenn
The Accident Near Mott Haven.

l In the accident on the Consolidated rail
 road near Mott Haven, on the Harlen
 branch, last Saturday morning at 2 o'clock | ln which the Washington express crashed in
 to the rear end of freight train, Mir. Geo
 Stevens, of New Rochelle, passenger in the
 caboose, had 8 leg broken and received 6 bruise on the head from flying timbers He 1 sprang from the rear platform behind two brakemen and the conductor at the moment of the crash. The passengers were impris- I oned in the cars, being unable to get off on the trestle, which is about eight feet high. They were thus held prisoners until o'clock | in the morning, at which hour the track was cleared.
 The Washington express was composed of two baggage cars, an ordinary coach and two sleeping cars. It was under charge of Con- ductor Marshall and was drawn by locomotive No. 8, a powerful machine, Lewis Fowler, of Hartford, engineer an old and trustworthy railroader. The freight train had 30 cars and was under charge of Conductor John Kearns. His train was waiting, having been stopped by signal in order to make room for it ct the yard
 The trestle curves sharply to the right .as it approaches from the east, for ming sort of loop covering a distance of about half mile. The express came around the curve at it's usual speed, and when the engineer turned the lower curve of the loop he saw the red light of the freight caboose within five hun dred feet of him. At that instant Mir Fowler saw brakeman jump off the rear end of the caboose with red lantern and run back. It was too late. The brakeman had gone only about three car lengths before the express was on him and he sprang into the swamp and escaped injury. The express ran into the caboose, splitting it literally in two and smashing it to atoms, not a strip four feet long being left, the debris flying high into the air and landing on both sides of the track. The car ahead of the caboose landed on it's roof in the swamp on the left of the track and was utterly demolished. The third car was thrown to the right of the track into the swamp, also landing on it's roof and being in- stantly wrecked. The fourth car was knocked of the track and across it, and the fifth was derailed and it's end stove in. The next car was raised off it's trucks to the top of the boiler of the locomotive, carrying away the headlight smoke-stack, bell, sand box and whistle, and then toppling over.
 To intensity the terror of this midnight cident the brass rim of the whistle dome be- came fastened to the whistle, the rod con- meeting with 1t having been bent so that the whistle screeched forth and could not be si- fenced for ten minutes. The engineer stuck to his post at the peril of his life and saved the lives of his passengers by partly slacken- ing the speed. He reversed his lever and gave the brakes all the power at his command, but the momentum was too great.
 The shock was appalling The passengers were roughly shaken up, and three or four in the sleeping were rudely awakened by being thrown out of their births to the floor The baggage cars were slightly damaged.
 The railroad accident last Friday at Port Chester was no fault of Master Mechanic Kittendorf as has been reported. He had man with danger signal out, but this man was called in.