Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-10-26

this part of the road last week, and the
/ section where the disaster occurred
was passed as perfect.
The coroner's jury will meet. Tues
day night. to conduct an investigation.
In the meantime the railroad commits
| sioners and officials Of the New York
Central railroad are also investigating
into the cause Of the disaster
| At 3 o'clock in the afternoon in
pouring rain, the wrecking company
made another vigorous search for the
bodies of the engineer and fireman and
Supt. Van Ettan's clerk. Mr.. Mckay.
Before the driver entered the water,
he was approached by E. Tompkins,
an engineer on the New York Central,
and brother of Tompkins, the fire.
man, who are dead at the bottom OF
the river. Tompkins asked him to do
everything possible to secure the bodies
and he was joined in the request by
Frank Foyle. a brother of the dead
engineer. The diver promised to make
a vigorous search for the bodies and
was gone rs minutes. When he came
up he declared that 1t was his belief
that the bodies were some distance
away from the wrecked engine. He
said:
| THE boiler and machinery Of the
engine lie out some so feet from shore
and the cow catcher and front Of the
boiler are away down in the river.
The body Of the engine left the trucks,
for the trucks are within 25 feet Of th-
shore, and further up the stream. The
tender broke away from the engine and
lies partly turned over somewhat to tn :
| rear.
| THE cab of the engine is badly
smashed, but I could find no trace Of
any of the missing men and don't be-
| lieve they are near the engine.
should say that if they did not jump.
and it looks as if they did not have
time. the rush of water through the
cab being SO fierce that it fairly swept
them out of it and drowned them. j
would not be surprised if they are half
a mile or mile beyond the engine"
| Still later in the day the diver went
| down again and began the work Of
| fastening lines and tackle to the tend
er so that it can be raised. When this
| is accomplished the other parts viii
| be brought up and if the bodies of the
| three men are not found by that time
| the search will be abandoned. the
theory being that the bodies would
| eventually come to the surface.
The number of persons who have
visited the wreck, today, was well in
| the thousands. Women formed the
| greater part of the visitors and Chief
| Detective Humphreys says he saw
| woman at the place at O'Clock this
morning. Nothing could induce any
of them to leave the place and despite
the heavy rain they stood about the
spot for hours. The spectators were
| finally rewarded for their vigil by see
| ing the derrick hoist the last of thu
| two sleeping cars. the Hermes and
Niobe. out of the water and place them
on a transport. The cars were then
towed down the river and set on fire.
The two divers We're also the object
of much attention. The relic hunters
were particularly active.
| At O'Clock, tonight, but for q
| few burning embers and the twisted
rails, it would be difficult to determine
| any signs of the wreck. Division
Superintendent Mccoy decided that
none of the cars would ever be fit for
use again, and that with the exceptions
of the cushions there was nothing
worth saving. The torch was applied
to the day coach and combination
smoking car and baggage car.
The work of raising the sleeping
coach Hermes proceeded slowly and il
was not until ! o'clock that it was
f1oated upon transport While being
raised the trucks gave way and fell
with crash into the river. The car
was towed down the river and deposit
ed on the bank, where it was destroyed
by fire. The last coach Of the ill-fated
train, the Niobe. was gotten out of the
water at 5 o'clock and also burned.
The express car is around the littl.
knoll of the mountain. 300 yards be-
low. No attempt will be made to raise
it until tomorrow.
All day a large force of men has
been at work. building another track.
i and there will soon be two tracks at
this point. The northbound track was
moved over feet east, a firm bed COM
posed of sand, gravel and broken
stones having been prepared for it. A
track has also been planned for south
bound trains. Superintendent Mccoy
thinks the two tracks will be in oper-
alton by tomorrow night.
Second Vice President w. Seward
| Webb. General Superintendent Edgar
Van Etten. of the Mohawk and Malone
division. and General Manager ]. w.
Toucey, visited the scene of the wreck.
this afternoon. A consultation was
held with General Road Master Otis
and Superintendent Mccoy. All eX-
pressed themselves as being satisfied
with the progress that was being made
and said every effort would be made
to find the bodies of the dead engineer,
| fireman and private secretary.