The Portland daily press., 1893-09-01
r. G. HITCHCOCK, Bellows Falls, Vt.
J. E. DEWITT, Portland, Me-, Presi-
dent of the Union Mutual Life Insurance

AiiteIu4oCbulOls
MISS SUSIE CooTING, Boston.
Mrs. G. BIsPHEM Philadelphia
Mrs. J. S. WINoHELL, Oneida, N. Y.
An unknown woman, plainly dressed,
apparently about 95 years old.
The train was seven minutes late at
Chester, and the railroad hands say it
was going twenty miles an hour when it
struck the first of the two spans across
the Westfield river The locomotive
seemed to leap across the bridge as the
truss collapsed and fell over to the south.
Only few houses are in the vicinity,
but man drivlng-by whipped up his
horse and gave the alarm through the
village streets In five minutes hundreds
were on the scene. The heroes of the
hour were DR.. George L.. Wood of Collins
vile, who went to the train to meet his
wife. and the colored porters and walters
in the dining car, who did splendid
work. The village people soon recoveed
from the shockssa were hard at work.
The hospital was group of apple trees
in an adjoining orchard where scores
were taken. Ok teams arrived with
loads of straw, cushions, bedding and
food The wounded were soon removed
to the houses of N. A. Harwood,
Washington Moore and J. C. Crocker.
All that. remained on the apple strewn
ground were the thirteen bodies covered
with red blankets from an adjoining
stable Many of the dead were horri-
bly, mutilated. J.E.DeWitt of Portland,
Me-, president of the Union Mutual Life
Insurance Company, was reading a
magazine. M. N. Kirk of Chicago, started
to sit with him, but seeing that he was
absorbed excused himself and went into
the rear car and was thus saved. The
following is the
List of the Wounded.
MRS. Rev. DR.. LLEwELLYN PRATT,
Norwich, Conn.,, cut hand, right thigh
sprained.
ROBERT CUcKsoN, Boston. Wagner car
porter; badly scalded.
MURRAY GRAVEL, Boston, fractured
right thigh and broken forearm.
ETHEL CARSON, Dalton, shoulder
sprained
LEWIS BUCHANAN, Boston, badly
bruised.
ROSE SrEPHANE, Springfield, fractured
ribs.
MARY SADIE, Springfield, bruised
JOHN PLArr, Riyerton, N. j., bruised.
MRS. JOHN PLATT, Riverton, N. j.,
bruised.
Mrs. DR.. ALICE LITTELL, Brookline,
bad scalp wound.
M. F. LEACH, Rainfall, fractured left
thigh.
II Mrs. JAMES T. ELDRIDGE, Boston,
broken hip and fractured shoulder.
Mrs. H. E. WHITNEY, Cleveland, O.,
badly bruised and scalp wound.
Mrs. j. N. WINCHESTER. West Rox-
bury, bruised.
SUMNER CUMMINGS, Worcester, bruised
and sprained knee.
Mrs. SUMNER CUMMINGS, Worcester.
compound fracture of the leg and
bruised.
WELLEsLY PORTER, buffett porter,
Boston, fractured thigh
ARTHUR WILLIAMS, Lenox. bad scalp
wound.
FRANK LANG, Chicago, bruised chest
and back.
WINTHROP WADE, Boston. fractured
left thigh.
Mrs. HELEN RICH, Pittsfeld, cut on
the face.
WALTER HAWKINS, Pittsfeld, bad
scalp wound and serious confusion
of mouth and nose.
LEWIS MITCHELL, Albany, badly
bruised and fractured ribs.
VIM. HORTON, Albany, locomotive en-
gineer, badly bruised, left hip broken,
internal injuries feared.
J. WALDRoN JOHNSON, Boston, porter,
bad scalp wound.
JOHN EMERSON, brakeman, Boston,
left eye badly bruised.
E. B. ADAMS, Holyoke, head bruised.
MRS. AVERY, Holyoke, hip injured.
Theories As To the Cause.
Ine DrluB0 lUOhS dS tHOliSu ~ udu oCcn
thrown from the abutments rather than
broken down. 1t has fallen to the right
of the track and the locomotive lies off
to the right. These facts suggest the
theory that the blow of the locomotive
as it struck the bridge from the curve,
sent it bounding off it's foundation into
the river. The repairs on the bridge
which were going on at the time of the
accident were similar to those made on
other bridges of the line. Their object
was to strengthen the bridge and enable
it to carry the increased weight of the
rolling stock. The floor had been COM
pleted and new and heavier timbers and
ties put in The trusses were not finished
and 1t was these that men were at work
upon when they left at the dinner hour
r. F. Hawkins whose employees were at
work on the bridge and the railroad
officials are confident that the bridge
did not fall from weakness. There is
no evidence that any carelessness of the
men, such as leaving tools around,
helped to derail the train. The railroad
officials say that they find no marks on