Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-01-26
ANOTHER RAILROAD HORROR.
New YORK, Janus

| NEW YORK. January 10.
| The two rear cars of the Atlantic express
| from the West on the New York Central q
! Hudson River Railroad were crushed anu
damned together by the Tarrytown local
| train near Spuyten Duyyil Creek to-nlgnS'
| The wrecked cars were set on fire, ana nine
persons are known to have persisted in the
| flames. 1t is believed that at least three
| others must have been burned. State Senator
| Webster Wagner is supposed to have been
| crushed between two of his own drawins-room
cars, and to have persisted with the other VIC
tins. The Atlantic express left Albany at
800 D. M, nearly three-quarters of an hour
behind time. The tra:n was a heavy
| one comprising thirteen cars. Next to
| the locomotive were two mallcars
| and baggage-car. Behind them were three
ordinary passenger cars. Five Wagner draw
| ing-room-cars completed the train. Ihey
were the Red Jacket, Sharon, Vanderbilt, Min
nehaha and Empire. The Empire was the
| rear car. At Greenbush, on the opposite
side of the river from Albany, the Wagner
drawing-room car Idlewild, from Troy, was
coupled to and became the last car OF the
train. The train was in charge OF Conductor
George Hanford, an old elnploye on the ROAD.
The conductor of the drawing room-cars was
Mr.. Taylor Two stops were made-one at
Hudson and the other at Poughkeepsie. From
this last point the train began to make up
some of the lost time. A speed of at least
forty miles an hour was maintained until the
Spuyten Duyvil Creek Station was reached.
Here the engineer slowed down ana
the train suddenly came to stop about
midway between that station and the
Kingsbridge Station. Something, it was
said by the train attendants, was
|
son it failed to work. 1t was then few min
utes past seven o'clock. The delay must have
continued between five and ten minutes. Sud-
denly one shrill blast from locomotive was
heard, when the sound OF grinding wneels
from the rear grated harshly on the ear. The
next instant there was shock " hich shivered
the Idlewild to splinters, drove its heavy frame
like telescope into the Empire, and com
pletely wrecked that car in an instant. Two
minutes later the Idlewid was on fire from the
stove in the forward end, which mad been
thrown over by the shock. The flames leaped
| upon the splintered Empire, and that, too, was
filled with fire and smoke almost before he
occupants could escape. At least dozen per-
sons who were in the Idlewild were cut off
from escape, caught by the jagged timbers,
and there held to be slowly roasted alive.
Three Tammany Assemhlymen had Just left
a compartment at the rear of the Empire,
where they had been making merry, and were
going toward the front of the car when the
crush came, which splintered the very COM
pdICHleIlG ticy udu JUST dDdHuoHSu.' 1oCHatoi
Webster Wagner had passed them on his way
to the Idewild. He was not ten feet from
the newspaper correspondent, and must nave
just stepped upon the rear platform OF the
Empire when the Idlewild shot forward and
telescoped the Empire. The first indication
that the Empires passengers had of danger
was the single whistle of the locomotive OF
the local train, the Tarrytown express The
were flung along the car floor. The swivel
chairs, wrenched from their fastenings, were
thrown after them and lay piled on top of the
struggling occupants. A shower of glass
came down from over head, and the roof of
the Empire crushed in upon them by the
weight of the Idlewild's roof, which seemed to
that of the Empire. To add to the confusion
the lights began to glimmer and the darkness
to deepen. Nearly all the occupants found
their way out through windows whose sashes
were buried in heap of debris and were ex-
tracted without having received any severe
bruises Assemblyman Monk was pinned be-
tween timbers close to the roof. The roof
was pried of, and he was with great difficulty
released.
Nearly all of the Idlewild's passengers were
caught in the timbers, and were unable to
move hand or foot. Their shrieks were APP
and there was neither hose, nor pals, nor
water at hand to quench them. Water there
was enough in the creek, not two hundred
feet distant from the doomed cars, but in the
absence of vessels of some description it could
not be obtained. Finally some OF the neigh
bors, whose dwellings fronted on the railroad
track, furnished few wooden pals Valua-
bic time had been lost, and the flames were
now beyond control The villagers continued
to throw water through the Windows nearest
those spots where human voice could be
heard until the heat drove them far beyond
point where the primitive fire apparatus
could be utilized.
LATER.
NEW YORK, January III H. m
survivor, speaking of the accident. SAYS
the warning whistle had hardly effected
brake, and when her engine struck the Idle
wild, it cut through the car like a knife, and
burst into the Empire, till the glare from its
broken headlight streamed upon the startled
and affrighted passengers there.
The occupants of the last were dashed
hither and thither; some made for the doors
and squeezed their way out; some burst
through the windows; some caught by the
crashing seats and struggled to extricate
themselves. A few were crushed to death at
the moment of the collision. But those who
were only disabled crawled to the openings
and strove-with what despairing efforts the
witnesses Of that scene alone knew--to drag
themselves cut of reach of the terrible death
that was coming upon them.
AS the whistle of the Tarrytown express
sounded SO fearfully close at hand, only one
person in the Empire gathered its significance
i" Sit still, y he called. The crash drowned his
words. They had scarcely been uttered be-
AoTc Tie COW Catcher Oh the locomotive was
cutting through the timber of the car, and the
hot breath OF the boiler was fearfully palpable
to the affrighted passengers.
The group of men that found themselves
scattered about on the soft ground in mo-
ment-dazed and bewildered every one Of
them-were presently to be witnesses of a
spectacle dreadful beyond conception.
In breath fire had added its horrors to the
other dreadful aceompaniments of the disas-
ter. The overturned stoves and the dropping
ashes from the engine furnace had done their
work, The wood and upholstery had burst
into flames, and blaze was now leaping up
above the wreck, and sweeping along as If to
swallow 1t. Dreadful cries rang upon the air.
The hoarse calls Of men were mingled with the
horrified shrieks of women, and there was a
depth OF agony about the tones that bctokened
too well how keen!y those who uttered them
lelt the sense of the fate that was overtakinc
Inem. All along the train the lights had been
put out by the shock of the collision, and now
the long line of forward cars lay dark and sui
len with the engine snorting in 'front.' while
there emerged from platform and window a
throng of terrified and bewildered beings.
The glare of the fire brought all swarmins