The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-04-05
NARROW ESCAPE.
A late Accident on the
2. w. & B. B. r.
How an Express Train came
near being Wrecked.
From The Philadelphia Times, March 81.

VI.
The breadth of hair yesterday morn :
ing was was all that stood between a train
load of people and what would have been
one of the most frightfut disasters that
have occurred since the great lay bridge
horror in Scotland. nearly two years ago.
A single half foot of yard.stlck further
and the lbs people would have been hurl>
ed To sudden horrible and appalling
death.
The Southern mail train from Boston to
| New Orleans, known as the fast line,
which LETT Philadelphia at 6:55, and CON
sisted of two passenger cars. both of which
were loaded with passengers, and bag
gage and mail car. was little behind
ftime. The usual running schedule be-
Tween Philadelphia and Wilmington is SIS
minutes, being due at the latter place at
1880. The engineer. an. old and
tried @employs of the road,
wishing to make up for lost
time. was running the train at the rate of
about forty Eve miles an hour. There was
pretty heavy fall of snow at that hour
and lights along the track were In many
instances entirely obscured.
Every body who had travelled over the
Philadelphia. Wilmington and Baltimore
road will recollect that at a point little
north of Wilmington is Brandywine creek.
which is in reality a small, deep river,
being 800 feet wide and from 20 TO 80 feet
ldeep 1t is navigable for boats as Tar up
as Market street, at the northwest end OF
Wilmington. The railroad over the stream
has two spans and draw bridge ia the
middle for the passage OF boats Between
the traffic of the boats and the traffic of
the cars there is constant necessity for
lsome one to be present at all times, net
lonly to work the draw, but to adjust the
signals, which are arranged at intervals
for nearly halt mile up the track. and
which tell the engineer of 9 train when the
ibridge ia open and when it is closed the
former being indicated By a red light and
the latter by white light. The draw
bridge itself is about seventy-fve feet long,
and when open leaves gap about fifteen
greater than car. On this occasion the
bridge tender James johnson, of 700
Buttonwood street. Wilmington. had
thrown open the bridge TO let through q
canal boat 10 tow of the tug Falcon, Capt.
Heacock of Wilmington, in charge. The
canal boat Geo. W. Paush, which is Own
= ed 10 Philadelphia. was loaded with
bleaching powder for the Jesup & Moore
Paper company. and was On its way TO the
: upper Wilmington wharf. On board this
e boat was were two persons, Capt. Duncan
and his wife, The former was at the
helm; bis wife was down in the cabir
lgetttng breakfast. and this cabiu. which i,
lin the front of the boat. had just passed
1.-THE center of the Draw bridge aud the boat
was jast half way through.
Meantime the train. with its living
lfeeight. came laundering on
The morning being cloudy. 81
: stated, and the snow falling thick
!, the red signal light had escaped th:
. / nx1
o fireman, Edgar A Cornelius. were uncon
/, scious OF danger until within forty feet Of
q the bridge Then, like an electric shock
the last red light this side of the bridge
> was open. Action. was not less quick than in
is stant Upon the instant the engines cream
/ ed sdownS brakes The automatic brakes
worked like magic. The train Stacked IN
e stantly, but the momentum OF its speed
a was too great to save all. The engineer
= and fireman held on with grip OF iror
| until the qnivering. grooming, creakiul
Iron, as though impatient Of all restraint
made its plunge into the fatal gap. In the
: same instant the engineer and fireman ha6
dumped. too, on either side of the track,
They landed on the wooden cross
beams of the bridge and miraculous as
may seem were saved.
Tho engine. the moment 1t sprang int
! the gap, broke loose from the tender ant
went down with an awful crash on the TOT
of the canal boat, striking il fairly IN tn
middle. The captain wife, W no. as stated
was in the cabin cooking breakfast. Eel
herself thrown violently on the floor, Will
the b cat was thrown on its side and hfte
almost out on the shore by the shock. Ih
next moment the woman was seen limpIn
up the side of the boat, and vas speedll
rescued by her husband, who had lampe'
sr ashore when the crash came. This va
I'M most lucky, for the next instant the tende
a came. too. and striking the water rigE
re. The locomotive lay on its side, also restin
ct on the edge Of the boat with both smok
~ stack and pilot house gone.
u The excitement in Wilmington ten mil
90 utes later, when all sorts of ruEors sprea
am about. was tremendous Hundreds
r. neenle hecked to the scene. They fouDt
re, what seems almost incredible, that nobod
red had been injured save the engineer an
fnl fireman, whose worst hurts were only tss
ert bruises. Depot master Gookin and b
bic assistant. Mr.. Brison OF WILMINGTON,
,rk once repaired to the scene. and. aft
. about thirty minutes delay. engine No. q
10 charge of another engineer and hrema
having been sent up to take the place
- the wrecked one, resumed its lourne
T. Not enc of the passengers was aware
& their narrow escape until all this was owe
= II seems from all Inquiry TO have been o.
III of those accidents In which blame can
attached to nobody, the thick snow bin
m ling The eyes OF the engineer TO the sigma
Il completely. III.
=