The Portland daily press., 1897-10-25

| Garrison, N Y, October 24.-From
| the sleep that means, refreshment and
rest, to the eternal sleep that knows no
wakening, plunged in the. twinkling OF
an eye this morning, twenty eight souls,
men, women and children Into the
Shiny bed of the Hudson river ploughed
train laden with slumbering humanity.
dragging through the waters the helpless
passengers.
There was nothing to presage the
| terrible accident which SO suddenly de-
prived these uufortunates of life.
The New York Central train which left
Buffalo last night had progressed for
nearly nine-tenths of the distance towards
its destination. The engineer and his fire.
man had just noted the gray dawn break
ing in the east and the light streak of red
| betokening the SUMS appearance when,
! the great engine, servant on the
rails, devil off, plunged into the depths
of the river. Neither engineer nor fireman
will ever tell the story of the terri BILE
moment, for with his hand on the
pA-AcooiSj UAiO OAE1uoOI p4AASCtl WlGu lis
engine to the river bottom and the fire.
man, too, was at his post. Behind them
came the express car, the combination
car and the sleepers, and these piled on
top of the engine.
1t is known that it was little foegy
and that the track was not visible, but if
there was any break in the lines of steel
it must have been of very recent happen
ing, for only an hour before there had
passed yer it heavy passenger train
laden with human freight. Neither is
there an explanation ready. All is con-
lecture.
The section of the road was supposed to
be the very best on the entire division.
There was a great heavy retaining wall
all along the bank and, while the tide
was high, it was not unprecedented.
Whas seems to have happened was that
underneath the tracks and the ties, the
heavy wall had given way and when the
great weight of the engine struck the
unsupported tracks, it went crashing
through the rest of the wall and toppled
over in the river.
Then there happened, what on the rail :
road at any other time would have caused
disaster, but now proved blessing.
AS the train plunged over the embank-
ment the coupling that held the last three
of the six sleepers broke, and they
miraoulously remained on the broken
track. In that way some sixty lives were
saved.
OF eye Witnesses there were none, ex-
cept the crew of tug boat passi ng with
tow. They saw the train with its lights
as it came dashing around the curves and
then saw the greater part Of 1t go into the
river. Some of the cars with closed win
dows f1oated, and the tug, whistling for
help, cast off Its hawser and started to
the rescue. A porter jumped from one of
the cars that remained on the track and
ran into the yard Of Augustus Carr's
house near where the accident occurred
and stood screaming for help and moan
ing that the train was in the river and that
the passengers were drowned. Carr hastily
dressed himself and getting boat, rowed
with the porter to the scene of the acoi-
dent. AS they turned point in the bank,
they came upon the express car and the
combination car floating about twenty
feet from the shore. but sinking every
minute. One man was taken from the
top Of the car and efforts were made to
rescue those inside who might be alive.
A few were gotten out, the passengers
left upon the track making a human
bridge to the shore to take the wounded
over on. The day coach and smoker had
gone down in the deeper water and rescue
was impossible. In the latter coach the
conditions must have been horrible. The
cars turned completely over and the pas
senger en- d of it was in the deep water,
while the baggage end stood up towards
the surface. The men in that lower end
must have fou ght like flends for brief
period, for the bodies when taken out
were a mass of wounds.
The closing scene of the first day of this
tragedy is drawn around common car
that stands near the scene of the accident,
where nearly score of badly mutilated
bodies, none of them vet claimed by
friends, are lying in long row, grue.
some evidences OF disaster, the greatest
that has ever occurred on this railroad.
The wrecked train was known as the
state express. 1t left Buffalo at O'Clock
last night and was due in New York at
O'Clock this morning. The train was
hauled by engine S72 and consisted of one
American express, one composite baggage
and smoking car, one day coach and six
sleepers. This was the make up of the
train when it left Poughkeepsie, the last
stopping place before the disaster, at SIS
a. m. At this time there was in the
smoker in addition to the baggage man,
Herman Acker of Peekskill, who was
in his compartment. eight Cinnamon. en-