Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1887 — SCORES OF VICTIMS. [ARTICLE]

SCORES OF VICTIMS.

Six Cars Crowded with People Plunge Through aViaduct in Boston. Flaws in the Iron-Work the Cause of the Appalling Catastrophe. Thirty Killed, Eight Mortally Wounded, and Upward of a Hundred Injured. [Boston special.! An accident which equals, if it does not surpass in number of dead and wounded, the recent horrible railroad disaster near Hartford, Vt., occurred Monday morning in the suburbs of Boston, on the Boston & Providence Railroad. As the Dedham branch train, which leaves Dedham at 7 .-05 a. m. and is due at Boston at 7:40 a. m„ was passing over the Bußsev Park bridge, which crosses South street between Forest Hill and Roslindale, about a mile from Jamaica Plain, the structure gave way and six cars, heavily laden with human beings, plunged thirty feet to the roadway beneath. Three of the nine curs which composed the train remained on the embankment, having crossed the bridge in safety, but they were wrenched from the rails and nearly demolished. The train was one of the largest and heaviest on the morning list, and, as usual, it was heavily loaded with people going to their work in the city. It is a wonder that any escaped alive, and, as it is, tho names of the dead will number at least twenty-five, and perhaps more. It is impossible to obtain an absolutely correct account of the number injured, hut it will reach 114 or more. Of these at least nine are fatally and twenty-five quite badly hurt, and the remainder received only slight bruises. Some of the injured were at once conveyed to their homes, others were taken to hospitals, while others still found temporary shelter in the residences in the immediate neighborhood. Some of the dead—a majority of them, m fact —were brought to the city hospital morgue, but there were others taken to the depots of Roslindale, Forest Hill, and Canterbury. v onductcr Tilden was in the third car, which remained on top of the embankment, and on the ground directly underneath where he was standing when killed is a pool of blood, while half of tho debris of that coach is spattered with blood. That the horror of fire was not added to the terrible disaster was due to the promptness with which relief was sent. The chemical engine from Roslindale was at the scene within twenty minutes after the wreck occurred, brought by a letter-carrier who gave an alarm of fire upon observing flames issuing from the debris. The flames were soon extinguished, and the firemen then did excellent work in rescuing the injured. The stoves in all the cars were securely fastened to the floors by iron bolts and the doors of the stoves were locked In only one car did the stoves upset, although in one instance a stove was smashed clear through the roof of the car. Tho scene directly after the accident was heartrending. Tho shrieks of the injured were so loud that they were heard in the residences in the vicinity. The bodies of the killed were ho.ribly mangled, in some instances their heads being entirely severed from their bodies, and many of tho bodies were crushed almost beyond recognition. In one place seven bodies taken out of the wreck weve placed in a row. Rescue <>i the Wounded. The engine remained on the track and the engineer, not stop]) ng to learn the extent of the disaster, proceeded to Forest Hill station, whence he sent an alarm by telephone to the city. In a short time a corps of rescuers and surgeons from the city were at the scene. The only person known to have been an eyewitness of tne disaster who was not on the train was J. H. Lennon, a. fish dealer, whose stable# was on tha hill just above the brldee. Lennon was honxr-stricken when he saw the train take its awful plunge through the bridge. For a moment, Lennon sayß, there was perfect quiet, and then the cries of tho injured were heard issuing from the debris. Seizing an ax from the barn Lennon started for the wreck, which he reached in a moment. He climbed into the window of one of the coaches and set to work to release those persons who had been pinned down by the nroktn timbers. Lennon with his ax released four meu who were badly hurt and handed them out of tho window to other men who had come to the rescue. He also handed out the dead bodies of two women, one of whom was nearly decapitated and had both arms severed from her body. During all this time, Lennon says, the shrieks of the wounded and the groans of the dying made a pandemonium around him teat was nothing short of horrible. In the meantime passengers from tho coaches who had remained on to,> of the embankment, a d who had escaped serious injury, had joined in the work of rescue. As the dead were removed they were laid in rows on the stone wall, while the wounded were laid on cushions, which were hastily gathered together. Arrangements were instantly made for the disposal of both the ki led and injured. Ambulances and hacks had been sent from the city within half an hour after the disaster had occurred, and as these conveyances reached the scene they were at once started back to the city, laden with dead. A large number of the injured were taken to residences in the vicinity to be cared for, while others were sent to the depots at Forest Hill and Roslindale. Scene of the Wreck. The wreck as it lies makes a more appalling ruin than that of any recent disaster. At Deerfield, White River Junction, and other scenes of horror fire wiped out all the ruins that were not indestructible, but not so this time. There lies the great trough nearly filled with tom, twisted, crushed, and splintered railroad property. An adequate description of the shapeless mass is simply impossible. Of tho nine cars which formed the train six are in the cut. The first—No. 520 —lies minus its trucks near the track, about four hundred feet from the nearest bridge abutment. It was the rear truck of this car that went wrong first, but the occupants were not hurt, being only shaken up. Just back of this car is No. 18, the second car of the train. The car was swept from its trucks and its rear was crushed in by the car following. Car No 26, the third one of the train, is on tho embankment, badly demoralized, but retains its general shape. The passengers in this car were badly shaken up, but there were no serious casualties among them. This car lies partly cn its side about 100 feet from the chasm. Next came car No. 87. It is doubtful if any one escaped from this car alive. The bridge entirely gave way before It reached the inward site, but the momentum of the train and the strength of the couplings carried it nearly over the chasm. It dropped jmt before it reached the abutment and the body of the car dashed against the solid stone wall. The force of the shock shot the roof forwa d so that it cleared the chasm and slid along the rails itself full length. The body of the car was literally ground to pieces, and the bits of wood, iron, and human bodies were strewn on the road beneath, forming the foundation of the wreck. Those who examined the wreck could find no distinct trace in the ruins of this car which could be identified. The only proof that it had existed was the fact that there were plainly nine car roofs at different points, and it followed, of coarse, that nine cars had been wrecked, though it was possible to trace but eight. The cars which lie in the chasm form a pile of wreckage 400 feet long by 100 feet wide. Th© road beneath crosses at such a sharp angle that all the cars were diverted on striking the opposite abutment into a general position parallel with the sireet and the abutments. Most of tho casualties were in cars 87, 80, and 54, respectively, the fourth, fifth, and sixth on the train, and the first, second, aud third of those which went into the chasm. Car No. 54 lies in a heap of splinters, with side and roof broken in. The stovo did not break its fastenings, but was broken above the grate. The fire, however, was extinguished. Car No. 80 lies parallel to car 5, unroofed, and with every seat gone. Several of the killed and •founded persons were taken from this car. Tho stove of this car remained firmly fixed and no fire escaped. Car 81 is partially demolished, while No. 82 lies almost intact upon the ruins. Many persons were injured in these cars and but. few were killed. Back of them is the upturned wreck of the smoker, only a corner of which remains. The car whirled upside down as it half fell from the embankment. Scarcely any of its occupants escaped injury, and Policeman Bailor and one or two others were killed.