Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1886-08-20

arly stages Of decay. A great deal of ad.
'erse criticism has been occasioned by the
act that the wrecked trestle shows a good
many pieces of decayed timber.
It is our opinion, however, formed after
with well.experienced railroad and
bridge men on the spot, that when, il ever.
he responsibility for the wreck is fixed, Il
will not be found to rost with the timber.
whatever it's condition. All experts are agreed
in saying that the timber had nothing to do
with the actual strength of the bridge. All
Inc supporting strain came on the iron-work,
aud the wood was used simply for braoinp
and blocking. The bridge would be useless
without the wood, but its place in the struo.
lure was only secondary.
A. II. Wright of Greenfield Mass one of
tho most expert and best experienced bridge
builders in the country, was on the ground
Nil day yesterday and said that he could see
nothing in the condition of the timber which
led him to think that it caused the wreck.
The trouble would more probably be found
in flaw in the iron, or in one of the large
cast.irou sockets at the top, which received
the ends Of the upper chords. the upripbt
iimbers and the supporting rods Mr.. Clark
of the Central Vermont road also says that
no fault has been found in the timber which
would account for the accident. Unless n
broken journal or wheel is found which
threw a car from the rails, he will attribute
the accident to some hidden flaw in the iron.
So far as the decayed timbers in the trestle
are concerned, r.. +. Brooks, the narrow
gauge superintendent, says positively that
every timber which took any essential strain
was sound, aud the trestle could not have
been crushed had IT not first been pulled of
is feet A year ago he and Mr.. Frisbie per-
sonnv inspected every trestle on the road
~ IN tho fipnlarg IN al 10.
dliou, and replaced all that were decayed.
Mr.. Brooks gives no crcdence to the theory
of overstrain on the bridge, but holds that il
the bridge was good for anything it was good
for many times any load that has ever been
put upon il. The load on Wednesday. he
says, wns light one, and trains of six times
the weight OF the wrecked one have repeated
ly been carried over the bridge, including
sometimes enough cars Of granite to cover it.
Wednesday, load consisted of a car of gran.
tie Ext the engine, a car of plank, two cars
Of cherry lumber, n car of oak lumber, car
of hemlock lumber aud car OF spruce
These comprised the fat cars which went
down. The two box cars beyond the abut-
merit were loaded with chair stock
All Those who Saw the Accident
Are agreed in saying that the whole bridge
went down with a single sudden sharp crash
time in the rear of their house, only few
rods distant, say that the crash came like a
sudden blow without warning or sound of
yielding and giving way. They heard the
engineers whistle and then came the crash.
which was over in two or three seconds.
Three Of Il. L. StockN ellis men were at work
at the time laying new plank in the end of
the highway bridge, and their description is
the same. They heard the whistle aud looked
around the end Of the bridge and saw the
whole bridge and train go down at once. All
the witnesses say that the bridge broke in the
middle, and then rs it collapsed bridge and
train pulled from both ways. The locomo-
tive had evidently Just reached the abutment
at this end of the bridge and was pulled back
several feet 10y the weight of the train As
the bottom iron chords gave way and the
strain came upon the upper wooden chords
there was evidently quick upward move
mrnt and it was in this way undoubtedly
that heavy sections OF the broken timbers
were thrown through the roof of the high
way bridge, remaining just balanced in the
great hole 10 or - feet square which they
stove there. Other than this and the ripping
OF Of some boarding, the highway bridge
suffered no damage. Stockwells horse and
buggy were hitched in the bridge on the side
next the railroad, and the horse stood with
head and fore-feet Just under the eastern
edge of the hole, the debris falling down di.
rectly in front of him, but he was not injured
and did not break away.
The crash of the wreck was heard to the
distance of nearly or quite mile. @. j..
Chandler was fishing under the Vermont Val
ley bridge when the crash came aud he de
scribes the occurrence as all other witnesses
do the break being in the middle of the
bridge lie was sure that Ned Prentice, the
fireman, jumped from the machine and so
saved himself, but Prentice says he went
down with the engine. He had just hred mp
and was leaning out of his window; his first
warning was the sudden giving way, at the
same instant the engineer gave a shout of
alarm and pulled the whistle for brakes, and
then all went down together. The next thing
Prentice knew be WAS in the water among
tue debris and working his way to the top.
As soon as he got ashore he got an ak and
began chopping away Mt the wreck to relieve
the engineer; soon after help came he began
10 feel the result Of the nervous reaction and
the chill from wet clothing and was taken
home.
The sensation to the occupants Of the pas
senger car was that of feeling the car drop
from under them, with violent shock fol
lowing instantly.
The fact that the trestle at the west end OF
the bridge, on which the car stood, was pulled
off it's bearings aud wrecked undoubtedly
saved the disaster from being far more fata
than it Was Had the rails pulled apart al
the abutment and the tTestle been saved, tht
other three cars of the train, including th'
passenger car, would almost inevitably have
been pulled over into the chasm with conse
quences dreadful to contemplate.
When one compares the situation OF th
passenger car in this accident with that oil tn
passenger car in the accident at West DUN
merston two years ago it seems strange tina
the casualties should have been greater in Thu
case than in that Here the car dropped onl.
"a few feet, remaining upright on the rails AM
ties, while at West Dummerston the car mad
a complete revolution down a steep bank, an
vet only one person out of 10 or Is was serl
ously hurt, the injury causing his death.
Has the Bridge Been OVerStrai ned
After gathering up all attainable informa
ton these facts seem to be established In
bridge was built by competent men atte
plans by one of the leading engineers OF Tn
country. 1t was calculated to carry Is to
locomotives and freight cars of three or fou
tons weight and load of eight tons o
freight per car. When asked If 1t would an
swer to increase this load, or to run standard
gauge engines and cars over IT to the grant
quarry as was at one time talked Of MI
Boiler, the designer, replied that, WINE III
bridge would undoubtedly stand the strai
he would not warrant or recommend II 10
any service other than it was designed for.
When the Central Vermont company bega
running the road their engineer Inspected To
bridge and has since had full confidence Il
its safety, but there seems to have been
constant increase in the load to which It ha
been subjected. The new freight cars nav
been increased in weight to and 54 tons an
their nominal load to 10 tons, while 1t IL ne
denied that often a good deal more than ]
tons was carried at a load. The extra loac
have not been those of granite, AZ man
have supposed, for these have rarely exceed
ed 10 tons, but it seems that lumber shlppel
have been in the habit of piling on loads TN
standard gauge roads might object to. IL
the common impression, for instance, I'M
the load Of hemlock on the wrecked tral
contained some IL, 900 or 10000 feet, VINO
indicates q load of as many tons. Wheth'
facts like these and the constant carrying
loads greater than the bridge was design6
to carry, has constituted dangerous owe
strain which fually caused capitalization
the iron and let the bridge down we do II
undertake to say, but simply state facts,
the word of experts can be relied on no,
over. the trouble lay here rather than IN u
decayed wood which has caused so much Ia
among visitors to the wreck. II we are II
mistaken this il the view which Mr.. Wrlg
Of Greenfield, whose Judgment Is compete
and impartial, takes of the subject
4 mo