Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1896-02-19
ACCIDENT AT LUDLOW.
Mail Train Goes Dcwn a 50.foot bank -Mirac-
ulous Escape from Death-Names of the
Injured Story Of the Accident.

A broken rail on the Rutland division of
the c. V. r. II. about three miles north OF
Ludlow precipitated the local express due
here at $50 il the morning down 90
foot embankment yesterday morning.
Every person on board, including the train
men, was more or less injured, but none
seriously.
The list Of the injured is as follows:
| Conductor d. B. Sexton of Rutland,
| bad scalp wound and back bruised
| w. H. Steele Of Rutland, hand cut and
bruised
Express Messenger Z. O. Baker Of Rut-
land, cut over the eye and leg bruised.
Baggagemaster +. c. Blood of Rutland
, scalp wound and bruises about the body
Mail Agent George l.. Fletcher of Ches-
ter, knee injured
Bridgeman T. J. Barber of Rutland,
bruised about the body.
Brakeman Henry Brislin of Rutland,
body badly bruised.
+. d. Dickerman OF Mount Holly,
bruised and wrenched
j. A. Cope of Merden, Conn, leg cut
and bruised.
The train comprised the locomotive,
baggage and express car, combination
mail and smoker and passenger coach.
The engineer was Albert Pratt and the
fireman. Ernest Pelsna. both living in. Rutz.
land. When the train left Rutland there
were but three passengers aboard, but at
Mt. Holly E. d. Dickerman boarded the
train
Near the scene Of the accident there is
sharp curve, and as the train neared this
point there was a jolt and a jar and before
the passengers realized what was up they
were landed in pasture 80 feet below
The baggage and the smoker rolled over
and landed nearly top side down, while the
passenger coach slid down the embank-
ment end ways. As the cars left the rails
the steam pipes were snapped short and
the escaping steam, mixing with the flying
snow, made outside objects indistinguish-
able. With the first pitch the passengers
and crew were thrown from their seats into
the aisle, where broken timbers, glass, and
seat cushions fairly buried them The
locomotive, which had left the rails, still
remained on the bank, in an upright posi-
ton. The forward baggage and express
car was lying on its side in the pasture.
The mail and smoking car rested in an up
right position still farther from the track,
. where it had struck when it stopped rolling
down the embankment This car was the
most badly wrecked of any. On the top
of the rear end protruded part Of the rear
truck, which in some unaccountable man
ner had been thrown upon the roof, while
in the very center rock weighing half a
ton was wedged in an equally unaccounta-
BILE manner In the smoker every seat
was demolished and the sides of the coach
badly crushed in In this car the floor
was literally knee deep in wreckage, mostly
composed of broken glass and splintered
woodwork. How the mail agent came out
of the car alive is a mystery. When the
rear coach, in which the passengers were
seated, left the rails it turned at right
angles and shot down the embankment,
still keeping an upright position.
The injured were soon taken from the
wreck and carried to the farm house of V.
Frost near by. Medical aid was sum
moned from Rutland, and Supt. Baldwin
and DR.. Jenne of St. Albans were on the
scene of the wreck as soon as possible.
1t was nearly ? o'clock before the engine
!. was back on the rails and the road in a
condition to resume travel
In an interview Conductor ID. B. Sexton
said: AT the time of the accident l was
standing at the rear end of the rear coacl
looking out of the door. The first l real
lied that anything was wrong was wher
the first jolt came. With the jar came
twisting, wrenching motion that threw me
off my feet, and sent me backward dowr
, the aisle. That was the last remembered
until the car stopped. When / realized
where | was | found the chandelier ant
the door on top of me, and the car in con
fusion. On getting up | saw that none o
f the passengers were killed, and hastene'
, forward to look up the crew. do not Sc
| how it was possible ior the train to g
down that bank without killing some one
: 1t was simply Miraculous
e 1t is reported to-day that the injured ar
a doing well.
Two pounds free if you don't like il
: Har,nlosa Caan