The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-25

swan ashore. Though badly hurt he
helped another passenger out. w. S. Lang
ford of Bayonne, n j. was in one of the
last coaches, which remained on the track.
He secured an AK. and, chopping out a
panel of one of the partly submerged cars.
he helped to rescue four people.
At o'clock one of the express trains left
the scene with a man who had died on the
track and about twenty-five injured per-
sons. The dead man and five injured were
left at Peekskill where the injured were
taken to the Helping Hand Hospital, while
the train proceeded to New York with the
rest of the injured. This train had hardly
left the scene of the disaster when a spe-
c.al engine arrived bringing Division Super
intendent Mccoy and Trainmasters Wickes
ard Stack from Tarrytown, and almost
simultaneously a wrecking train arrived
Poughkeepsie. The officials saw at once
that the wrecking cars would be of little
avail in raising the cars from their position
in the river, where they were almost COM
pletely submerged, so the Chapman Wreck
ing Company, of New York, was notified
to send a river derrick and floats to raise
the cars.
AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT.
General Manager Toucey gave out the fol-
lowing statement as the cause of the disas-
ter:
1.-THE accident was caused by the bed of
the railroad being washed out in some in
explicable manner. In this undermined con-
dition the track sank as soon as the weight
of the train was put on it and the embank-
ment giving way, the train was, of course
precipitated into the river. Such conditions
as this we have never looked for. Trains
have been running over this spot for years
and years without accident difficulty of
any kind, and this piece of track was con-
sidered as good any section of the rail-
| road. Not only was the roadbed the hard
est kind of an embankment, but it was
strengthened by a retaining water wall of
solid masonry three feet thick.
other railroad officials were of the opin-
ion that q quicksand foundation of some
kind below the water line was responsible
for the sinking of the roadbed.
Before 10 o'clock this morning a large
number of curious spectators had gathered
at the scene, coming from the nearby towns
boats The number of morbidly curious
steadily increased the day wore on, and
excursion boats even came from places far
up and down the river, all loaded down to
the waters edge, until at midafternoon
there were fully 10000 about the wreck. 1t.
required the utmost exertion the part of
Chief Humphrey, of the railroad police, and
his force of detectives to hold these people
far enough in check to allow the railroad
men to proceed with their work. Chief
Humphrey did good work in recovering
about they got no opportunity to ply their
trade.
The American Express Company had
number of it's agents at the scene early in
the day, but they were powerless to do
anything, as no attempt was made to raise
their car. 1t was said that this car con-
tanned thousands of dollars worth OF val
uables, but the officials said that all would
be recovered, as the valuables were In a
stationary safe attached to the car. 1t was
at first thought that the express messen-
ger, John Smith, of Buffalo, had lost his
life, but it was subsequently learned that
he had been rescued by one of the tugs and
sent to New York with the first lot of sur
vivors.
Among the railroad men it was generally
believed that A. G. Mckay, of Harlem, pri-
vate secretary to the general superintend-
emit, Van Etten, had lost his life in the
wreck. He was a passenger on the train
and was last seen at Albany. where it
was said he boarded the locomotive to ride
with the engineer. If that is true he shared
the fate of the engineer and fireman, at
any rate he was still missing up to late
hour.
The terrible evidences of the frightful
wreck were visibly tonight under intensely
spectacular circumstances The great
wrecking car torch threw a red glare over
the men busily engaged in tearing apart
the wreckage to get at any bodies that
might be under it. The men worked with
as much energy as if there were living
creatures to be saved and ever and anon
would bring to the surface body cramped
into an abnormal position and then renew
their efforts. On the top of the partly SUBJ
merged cars a gang OF men chopped away
with axes, and the huge derrick from the
wrecking train tore out the mahogany
trimmings and ceilings and berths in the
endeavor to recover somebody's loved one
from the wreck. In shore a gang Of men
worked to get the inside or uptrack
paired that there would be no trouble in
getting trains through
-~--
THE DEAD ESTIMATED.
Many Passengers, However, Are Not
Accounted For.
GARRISON'S STATION N V Oct "a