Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1886-04-14
DISASTROUS TRAIN WRECK.
A Massachusetts, Passenger Train
Dashed Down q 20O-Foot
Embankment.
Many Of the Passengers Killed, and .
Large Number Receive Serious
Injuries.
fGreenfeld, Mass, Dispatch

fGreenfeld, Mass. dispateh.l
A terrible disaster occurred on the Fitch
burg Railroad midway between Bardwelfs
Ferry and West Deerfeld Station. Mass,
an east bound passenger train, due at
Greenfield ut sos p. m, going over an en-
bankment 300 feet high. Six bodies have
already been taken ont Of the ruins, and it
is rot known how many others were killed.
The train was an eastern express, and con-
sisted Of a baggage car, smoker, sleeping
car, mail car and two ordinary passen.
ger cars. The train was in charge Of
Conductor Forster, with Herbert Littiejohn
as engineer. The point where the accident
occurred is the most dangerous on the road,
ran on the edge Of an embankment 300 feet
above the Deertield River. The bank is
steep and is covered with huge bonlders
and masses OF rock. When the train ar
rived at this point the track commenced to
settle under it for a distance covering its
entire length. The coaches broke IRON
their trucks and went rolling over and over
down the precipice. The engine broke
from the tender, tearing up the track for
twenty feet. Below rolled the Deerfield
River, on the very edge Of which the ears
were thrown. As soo as they struck they
caught fire from the stoves. The sleeping
car was an entire wreck. 1t was occupied
by several passengers, not One of whom ut
this hour is known to have escaped injury.
One man, whose name is unknown, was i'm.
prisoned in the wreck of the sleeper, where
he was burned alive. One little girl was
picked mp dead. AS soon as the news
reached Greenfield a special train was made
mp and sent to the scene Of disaster. having
Oh board several physicians, section men
and a few citizens.
On arrival at the scene of wreck a horri-
BILE sight was witnessed. Darkness had set
tied over the spot. Far down on the river
bank could be seen the smonldering embers
Of the holocaust. 1t was impossible to tell
who was hurt or who was killed. Stout
hearted tlackmen were lowered cautiously
down the treacherous height and the work
of rescue began. Merritt Seely, Snperin-
tendent of the National Express Company.
of Boston, was found in the wreck and
taken into the relief car. His left thigh
was broken and also his left leg ut the knee,
besides which he sustained internal iniur-
les from which he will die. d. Crandall. a
postal clerk, was plunged into the river,
and got ashore with difficulty. He was
wounded about the head and his arm was
fractured. The Fitchburg coach was the
only one that escaped the coilfiagration.
Deputy Sheriff Bryant, of Greenfield, who
was in the car, rescued two children from
the flames, but one was dead and the other
dying. Their parents We're ON board, but
cannot he found. Some of the injured and
dead were taken to ShellbuIne Falls. and
some of the wounded to Greenfield. c. p.
Bell, of Nashua, n. H., was cut slightly on
the head and leg, but is not seriously hurt.
He was thrown head foremost into the river
and went to the bottom, barely escaping
drowning. Conductor Forster is reported
safe and but slightly injured. ID. {. Wells,
OF Andover, had his shoulder hurt and head
cut. The car in which he was riding was
broken in two and stood on end within a
few feet Of the river bank. Nicholas Dor
gan, of Greenfield, had his left arm and
ankle broken and was seriously injured in
ternally. A little girl who was n passenger
on the train died in his arms from injuries
received. j. Z. Priest, of Littleton, N. H.,
had his face and head cut. Engineer Lit
tlejohn, Of North Adams, was badly scalded,
1t is believed fatally. A.. X. Warner, Chair
man of the Greenfield Board of Selectlnen.
was badly hurt, but his injuries are not ia
tai.
Frank Lane, of Boston, wal standing on
the platform of the rear car at the time OF
the accident, and is believed to be the only
person who saw the ears go down the en-
bankment. He said he was startled by the
humping of the cars along the ties. He
knew they had left the track. and jumped
just as the train went whirling down the
awful chasm. 1t was an awful night. Not
a star was to be seen and no light Of the
moon Illuminated the fearful blackness of
the scene. To add to the misery of the sit
nation snow soon commenced to fall, and
in the fullest sense it was a night of terror.
The shrieks of the wounded rent the air and
their cries and groans were terrible. The
weeping of a mother over the death of a lit
tie girl was beartrending. Pinned in the
wreck, unable to affect her escape, and ex-
each moment to be crushed by fall
ing boulders or the debris from the track,
she passed an hour Of fearful agony. Lane
stood rooted to the spot, his blood fairly
chilled in his veins. Far below, in the rush
Of the whirling flood, he could hear shrieks
for help, but he was powerless to respond.
The red flames shot up among the shattered
mass and spread with startling rapidity and
the shrieks Of agony We're redoubled as the
imprisoned passengers faced the fire fend's
INC AcAAo"lIS IL utoLuIlctS lIst VI tie
and wounded so far as found:
Killed
z. E. Hayden, Rlanford, Mass.
Chas. Temple, Walthani, Mass.
Chas. Durgan, South Boston.
J. r. Gould, Melbury. Mass.
Viola Littlejohn, North Adams.
Ed Whitehouse. Boston.
Mark +. Spencer, Waltham, Mass.
Merritt Seeley, Boston.
Injured
Michael Dorgan. Greenfield, seriously.
A. d. Cornell. Shelburn Falls, slightly.
c. +. Bell. Nashua, N. H.. badly, Dnt not
Conductor John Foster, slightly.
E. b. Stone. slightly.
j. P. Fowler, of Cambridge. slightly.
A.. G. Harvey, Boston, badly. but not
dangerously.
A. +. Warner, Greenfield. slightly.
Miss A. Derby, slightly.
Mail Agent Putney. slightly.
Henry c. Couillard. Charlemont. badly.
J. T.. Priest. of Littleton. N. H.. seri- |
ously.
Charles Richardson. of North Adams, lost !
finger.
ID. L. Crandall, severely bruised.