The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1897-10-28
A Frightful Railroad Accident
Train Plunses into the Hudson River. Twenty
eight lives lost by Drowning

GARRIsoN's, n. Y, Oct. 25. The
Buffalo and New York special, which left
Albany at B. Is yesterday morning, south
bound, was wrecked near here on the New
York Central Railroad about 6 o'clock.
Twenty-eight lives were lost by drowning.
There are many Injured. The engine.
smoking car, one coach and four sleepers
were thrown into the Hudson River. The
engine, with the bodies of Engineer
Foyle and Fireman Tompkns of East AL
bany, lies in so feet of water.
The engineer and his fireman had lust
noted the gray dawn breaking in the east
aud the light streak of red betokening
the suns appearance when the great en-
gine plunged into the depths of the river.
Neither engineer nor fireman will ever
tell the story of the terrible moment. for.
with his hand on the throttle, the engin-
eer plunged with his engine to the river
bottom. The fireman, too, was at his post.
Behind them came the express car, the
combination car, day coach and the
sleepers, and these piled on top of the
engine.
1t is known that it was little fogey
and that the track was not visible but if
lHUiC W do diy DIedh III lUe lDeS OF steel
it must have been of very recent happen
ing, for only an hour before there had
passed over it a heavy passenger train.
Neither is there an explanation ready.
All is conjecture.
The section of the road was supposed
to be the very best on the entire division.
There was great heavy retaining wall all
along the bank, and, while the tide was
high, it was not unprecedented. What
seems to have happened was that under
meath the tracks and the ties the heavy
wall had given way and that when the
great weight of the engine struck the I'M
supported 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 a very blessing
AS the train plunged over the embank
ment the coupling that held the last three
of the six sleepers broke and they miracu
lOusly remained on the broken track. In
that way some 80 lives We're saved
OF eye witnesses there were none ex-
cept the crew of a tug boat passing with
tow. They saw the train with its lights
as it came flashing around the curve, aud
then saw the greater part of it go into the
river. Some of the cars with closed Win
dows tloated 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 house, near
where the accident occurred, and stood
screaming for help and moaning that the
train was in the river and the passengers
drowned Carr hastily dressed himself
and, getting a boat, rowed with the por-
ter to the scene of the accident As they
turned point in the bank they came upon
the express car and the combination car
floating about 20 feet from tie 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 We're gotten out,
the passengers left upon the track making
a human bridge to the shore to take the
wounded oveI on.
The day coach and the sleeper had gone
down in the deeper water and rescue was
impossible.
In the combination car the conditions
must have been horrible The car turned
completely over and the passenger end of
it was in the deep water while the bag
gage end stood up toward the surface.
The men in that lower end must have
fought like fiends for a brief period, for
the bodies when taken out We're a mass of
wounds