The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1897-10-28
DEATH PLUNGE.
NEW YORK CENTRAL TRAIN
JUMPED INTO THE HUDSON.
Twenty. Eight Perishsd while Asleep
Broken Coupling Saved the
Lives of at Least Sixty
Cause Unknown.

an eye - souls, men, women and chill.
dren, near this place.
Just at daylight New York Central
train jumped into the Hudson river
Sunday.
Neither engineer nor fireman will
ever tell the story of that terrible mo-
ment, for with his hand upon the
throttle the engineer plunged with hil
engine TO the river bottom, and the fire
man, toe, was at his post. Behind them
came the express car, the combination
Car and the sleepers, and these piled or
top of the engine.
1t is known that it was tritle foggy
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
happening, for only an hour before
there had passed over it a heavy pas
senger train laden with human freight
Neither Is there any explanation ready
All is conjecture.
The section Of road was supposed tC
be the very best on the entire division
There was great heavy retaining wal
all along the bank, aud while the tide
was high it was not unprecedented.
What seems TO have happened wa
that underneath the tracks and ties the
heavy wall had given away and wher
the great weight of the engine struck
the unsupported tracks it went crash
ing through the rest of the wall anC
topped over into the river.
As the train plunged over the em
bankment the coupling that held the
last three of the six sleepers broke anC
they miraculOusly remained on thtl
broken track. In that way some ii
lives were saved.
Of eye witnesses there were none
except the crew of tugbOat passing
with tow.
They saw the train with its light al
IL came flashing about the curve anOI
then saw the greater part of it go into
the river. Some of the cars with
closed windows floated and the tug
whistled for help, cast oil its hawser
and started 10 the rescue. A porter
jumUed from one of the cars that re.
manned on the track and ran into the
yard OF Augustus Cars house, near
which the accident occurred, and stood
screaming for help, and moaning
"The train is in the river, all our pas.
sengers are drowning" n a few min.
utes Carr had dressed himself and, get.
ting boat, rOwed with the porter tC
the scene. As they turned a point in !
the bank they came upon the express
car and the combination car floating |
about 20 feet from shore, but sinking !
every minute. one man was taken |
from the top of the car and efforts were
made to rescue those inside.
A few were gotten out, the passeu- |
gers lett upon the track making q hu |
man bridge to the shore to take the |
wounded on. The day coach ana |
smoker had gone down in deeper |
water ard rescue was impossible. In |
the latter coach the conditions must
have been horrible. The car turned |
complete Y over and the passenger end |
of 1t was IN deep water, while the bag. |
gage end stood up toward the surface |
The men in that lower end must have |
fought like tiends 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 q COM
mon car shat stands near the scene of |
the a Iorut, where nearly score OF
badly uurllated bodies, none of them
yet claimed by friends, are lying in
long row, grewsOme evidences of a dis.
RSter, thu greatest that has ever occur
red on this railroad.
The wrecked train was known as the
state e.rross, from Buffalo TO New
York. The train was hauled by engine
Si2 and consisted of one American ex
press car. one composite baggage ana
smoking cur, one day coach and siG
sleepers. FOughkeepsie was the last
stopping place of the train before the
disaster.
AT TINS time there We're in the
NmOker, III addition TO the baggageman,
Herman .Cker Of Pcekskill, who was in
his compartment, eight Cinnamon, en-
route from the Canadian border to New
York, and a middle-aged man, supposed
to be Thomas Reilly of 2SGO Wisconsin
avenue, IT. Louis All of these, ex-
cepting the baggagemaster, perished
The day coach contained IS or 20 pas
sengers, many Of whom were women
and children.
How many of these escaped is not
known, but at least - were drowned
or killed in this car. Behind the coach
were the six sleepers with about 60 pas.
sengers.
The total cargo of human freight
consisted of something over 100 people.
Conductor Parish, who was in charge
OF the train, and who was making up
his report in one Of the cars when the
crash came, was rendered unconscious
by blow on the head. When he re.
covered he was three seats ahead of the
one in which he had been sitting.
One OF the few occupants of the coach
who escaped was Frank j. Degan,
wood fnisher of New York. His lett
eye was cut by broken glass and his
body was slightly bruised, Mr.. Degan
made this statement:
6 with my friend, w. II. G. Myers
of Passalc, n. j., WHO was killed in the
car from which / escaped, had been
to poughkeepsie. We boarded the
train at that place and took a seat in
the coach. Three otner people got on
at POughkeepsie. one was woman
and the two others were men, one of
whom looked like a railroad emplOye.
AS near as can judge there were IS
people in the coach, most OF them
being women and children, and nearly
all were asirep.
myers and sat in the middle of the
car. When the crash came the car
gave a great lurch and rolled over on
its side, The water rushed in and al
most instantly the lights went out /
knew we were in the river, and the car
seemed to plough through the water for
some time after il was submerged.
tine car was tilted over on one side
and / managed to reach the fan light
overhead and cling to it until help
came
81 heard people in the back part of
the car grOanlng as If they were
pinned fast lt was so dark | could see
no one, and | think the passengers
must have been drowned like rats.
After while, it seemed an age, | heard
people on top of the car and an AK
crashed through the roof The noise
of that AK in tie splintered timbers
made the sweetest music 1 ever heard
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