The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-10-29
III YER OF DEATH.
Wreck of Passenger Train on
the New York Central.

Twenty Eight More Carried Into
Eternity settling of the ROadbed
Given as the Cause.
Garrisons, N. Y, Oct. 25.-Just at the
break of day Sunday the New York and
Boston special express train over the
New York Central and Hudson River
railroad was thrown from the track
into the Hudson river at Corbin's basin,
two miles below here.
There W ere SO passengers and IA train
hands on board. No list was obtained
OF those who were in the sleeping cars.
Twenty three persons are known to be
dead and the list is not yet complete.
The bodies recovered are all at Cold
Spring, where the coroner has his office.
The engine and express car are in 50
feet of WEter. The combination bag
gage and smoking car and one day
coach are submerged.
There was nothing to presage the ter
rible accident which so suddenly de-
prived these unfortunates of life. Inc
New York Central train which left Bur
falo Saturday night had progressed for
nearly nine-tenthS of the distance To-
wards it's destination. The engineer and
his fireman had just noted the gray dawn
breaking in the east and the light streak
of red betokening the suns appearance,
when the great engine, servant on the
rails and devil off, 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 engineer plunged with
his engine to the river bottom and the
IL D11,s ,,1
them came the express car, the combina-
ton car and the sleepers, and these
piled on top of the engine.
1t is known that it was little 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 heavy train laden
with human freight; neither is there an
explanation ready, and all is conjecture.
What 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 railroad at any other time !
would have caused disaster, but now
proved very blessing. AS the train
plunged over the embankment the coup |
ling that held the last three of the six |
sleepers broke and they miraculously re-
manned on the broken track. In that way |
some 60 lives were saved.
The wrecked train was known as the
state express. 1t left Buffalo at 7
o'clock Saturday night and was due in
New York at Z Sunday morning The
train was hauled by engine 872, and con-
sisted Of one American express car, one
composite baggage and smoking car
one day coach and six seepers. This was
the makeup of the train when it left
Poughkeepsie, the last stopping place
before the disaster, at 5:15 a. m. At this
time there were in the smoker in addi-
ton to the baggage man, Herman Acker
of Peekskill, who was in his compart-
ment; eight Cinnamon, en- route from
the Canadian border to New York, and
a middle aged man, supposed to be
Thomas Reilly of st. Louis. All of these
excepting the baggage master persisted
The day coach contained IS or 20 passen-
gers, many of whom were women and
children. How many of these escaped
is not known, but at least IL were
drowned or killed in this car. Behind
the coach were the six sleepers, the
Glenalpine, with Is passengers; the
Hermes with IL, the Niobe with II, the
Diana with about Is, Anita, nearly full,
and Backet River with no passengers
The total cargo of human freight con-
sisted of something over 100 people
At Fiskill the train lessened its speed
as it is customary to run from that point
TO Tarrytown at the rate of about 2E
miles an hour. Most of the passengers |
were asleep, those in the sleepers being |
in their berths, while the occupants of
the coach and smoker were for the most |
part doubled up In their seats. Just | ,
how the train met its awful fate will |
never be fully known for the men who |
first felt the danger Engineer John Foyle
and Fireman John Tompkins, lie dead |
in the cab of their locomotive at 'he ,
bottom of the river. 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 rem
dered unconscious by blow on the
head. When he recovered he was three
seats ahead of the one in which he hac
been sitting.
When a diver arrived from New York .
this afternoon the first thing he did was
to go through the submerged sleeping ,
cars. He reported that he found nc ,
bodies, but said that one or more might
be under the berths, which were in great
confusion. 1t was three o'clock before
the derrick and hosting engine could ,
raise the combination car, consisting OF ;
the smoker and baggage compartments, q,
to such a position that the top of 1t
was out of water. Slowly the Big load .
began to rise, and in a few minutes it
had been turned over so that the win :
dows were clear of the water. The
body of man came out of window az
this car was being brought to the shore
A boat was near by and the oarsmen
secured the body. A derrick next pulled G
the day coach to the shore, and the
parties were able to reach it. q
it is known there were many ]
more in the coach, but six bodies were h
and two of these were women. Il
They were all placed side by side.
Brought Down by n Bullet.
Manchester, N. H, Oct. 26.-John c. y
Clark, an officer at the Hillsborougk =
county farm at Goffstown, fired at Gas
par Blanchette, a runaway prisoner,
striking hin, habipd the right ear The