Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-05-31
TERRIBLE DISASTER
A Crowded Passenger Ger
P.ungos Into the River.
er.UNDER OF A BRIDGE-KEEPER.
He Neglected to Signal the Train When
the Draw Was Opened.

Over Thirty People Drowned or Killed
Thirteen Bodies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Struggle 81 Women and Children I'm
the " .ter-The Calamity Witnessed by
Number OF River Men.
OAKLAND, Cal, May 81.-The careless
ness of q bridge-keeper on the narrow
gauge railroad led to the fatal plunge
Of an engine and one car into . rceek
and a terrible loss of life. Twenty
bodies have been recovered and a. many
moro are missing. The narrow gauge
train connected with the las p. m.
train from San Francisco, and in the
three cars were about $50 passengers.
As the train neared the Webster street
raw-bridge, the passengers who looked
out OF the window were amazed to sec
the draw open. The train came round
the sharp curve At high speed before
the engineer could materially slacken
speed.
The yacht Juniata had just passed
through, and the Rr,dge-keeper made
. desperate effort to CLOSE the draw, but
without success. Luckily the weight
Of the engine and the FIRST coach broke
the train in two and the rest Of 1t was
saved
Removing the Bodies.
The top of the coach was finally cut
oPsa and the work of removing the
bodies commenced, ten bodies being
taken out in quick succession. Conduc@
tor Rerath was seen directly after tho
accident and said: 'In all probability
twenty-five women and children have
persisted"
Three women and three girls were
taken from the watss slive and re-
moved to the hospital. Another young
lady died soon after being taken from
the water. News of the accident
created intense excitement at Oakland
and thousands of people focked to the
morgus and to the scene of the wreck.
The body Of E. P. Robinson, which was
among those taken from the hole cut in
the roof of the car, was among the first
removed. The bodies of six men and
and two women were brought In soon
after, some Of the bodies being at first
left at the receiving hospital, where
the injured were also taken. In short
time thirteen bodies lay on the floor
and on marble stats awaiting identifi-
cation.
The Fatal Plunge.
The engineer was Sam Dunn, the fire.
man Charles OBrien, and the conductor
Ed. Rerath. OF this trio, Rerath es-
oapsd through being in the hind part
of the train. It is rumored that Dunn
and O'Brien jumped and swan to safety,
but it is not believed, as neither has
yet been seen.
When the coach fell through it went
completely under water, but q number
of passengers crawled through the
windows and escaped. The majority of
passengers in the coach were women
and children. From the broken half of
the train the passengers swarmed out,
women shrieking and men half frantic,
although there was no occasion for
their fears, vs. the car was securely
wedged in by the woodwork at the
approach to the bridge.
The car which had followed the en-
CINE to the bottom of the muddy
estuary soon rose. and such of the pas
sengers as had escaped therefrom were
picked up by yachts and small boats
which gathered on the scene
When those were all picked up, the
boats gathered about the car, where
thirty or forty women and children lay
suffooating beneath the water They
could do little or nothing, as it took
several minutes to tear open the roof
of tho coach.
Lat OF the Identified Dead.
The following ia the list of the iden-
titled dead. Martin Kelly, of Oakland;
A. H. Austin, of Austin & Phelps, San
Francisco; Miss Florence Austin; Mrs
O'Bryan O'Connor, of San Francisco; J.
B. Irwin, Of Oakland; E. R. Robinson Of
San Francisco; Luigi Maelesta of San
Francisco; Capt. John Dryer, of Sac
ramsnto; Mr.. Williams, Of San Fran
CISCO; H. w. Aud (colored), of Homo
lulu; two Misses keenan,, Of San Fran
CISCO; H: Malerta, a Japanese boy, o.
San Francisco: