THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR COOTAMUNDRA.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 3251, 26 February 1885, Page 8

THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR COOTAMUNDRA.

turtheb pabticulabß. [By Telegbaph.] Wellington, Feb. S5. The following fuller particulars of the railway accident are to hand by steamer : — Stdnet, Jan. 27. On Sunday night at a late hour rumors reached the city of a terrible railway accident to the Melbourne mail 'train at the southern ■ line, which were afterwards confirmed, but fortunately proved to be not of so serious a I character ,-n was at first reported, when it was stated that seventy out of a hundred passengers had been killed and wounded. On Monday morning the papers were only able to publish meagre accounts owing to the locality of the accident being some distance from Cootamundra through bush country, and the night being dark with torrents of rain falling. On Soturday it commenced raining heavily. Soon the low-lying lands were Hooded. In 36 hours the rainfall had reached tho enormous quantity of eieht inches. At a point called Salt Creek the Hood waters came down m great volume, and soon left a channel about fifty yards wide and about nine feet deep, and into this, about half -past seven o'clock on the Sunday evening the whole train plunged. The ordinary muil train from Melbourne contained but few passengers,- but a number of bookmakers at the invitation of " Joe Thompson " chartered a special train m order to be present at Rand wick on Monday. This special came up with the ordinary at Albury, and the passengers were thereupon transferred. On the way from Albury, a good many changes were made, and it is estimated that the train contained about fifty persons. The night was pitch dark ; a stiff breeze swept from tho southward, and pelting rain fell. At the time of the accident many passengers were sleeping, whilst others were conversing and playing cards. The train was travelling at the rate of thirty miles an hour, when a kind of motion like a volcanic j shock was felt ; then followed a crash, and the train lay m a ruined mass m the bed of the creek, with the water pouring over it m a fierce torrent. Then arose sounds and shrieks and cries of men and women for help. When those inside the last sleeping carriage j thought they were about to be smothered the roof of the carriage was crushed j off by telescoping with the uindmost car, and j this enabled the imprisoned passengers or i some of them to ;?et out, and to Bwim' against the current for shire. How so many escaped inßt ant death is a marvel. Others were killed , and some carried- down m the flood waters. As soon as possible assistance was sent for to Oootamundra, aboiit four miles distant, and m the meanwhile all possible assistance vras rendered by those who had escaped to those injured. Fires were lighted with the debrix of the train. Everything was over m a marvellously short space of time. 8o soon as possible medical assistance was ' rendered, and overything done for tb« sufferers. Of the bookmakers,' Joe Thompson, Jacqui,' Zuioker, Bergin, Barnard, Cohen, 1 Levy, and others ,we»e more or less iujured. There have been six bodies recovered, and it is feared that the miaiber'may be increased. There were two wash-aways on the Hue, one of which was known, and a man was sent for to stop this train, but it reached this wash-away, or gap, which was not known, and plunged into it before any warning could bo received. The wires were down, and there were no means of communication beyond sending a man along the line to warn the approaching train. PULLEB PABTIOULABS. The following account of the recent railway accident near Sydney is abridged from the Sydney papers. 'The scene of the accident is j on a tributary of the Cootamundra, a creek known as Salt Clay Creek. It is situated j about 31 miles south of the station. When approaching the breach the breaks were put down. A moment after, a crash occurred and the train jumped into the creek. Screams and cries for help, and groans of the wounded were heard, followed by a scene of wild confusion and intense excitement. The engine seems to have crossed the rails reaching to the Cootamundra side, when the bridge gave way, precipitating the train into the creek. The engine fell m front, standing m its own proper course and.nearly upright. Then a secondclass carriage and the mail van fell alongside, and higher up the stream came a sleeping-car, which was telescoped by a first-class carriage splitting the sides and the roof, with the exception of one side, which was left standing, while the break-van fell at the ' end, lying up and down stream and forming a letter Tin shape. It was at this time that the fatalities occurred, and there were many narrow escapes. The sleeping car was plunged into the middle of the Btream • the water surged into it, and the occupants must have been drowned had not a large first-class carriage telescoped it, breaking off the roof and freeing the people. Several of them | were badly injured. Cohen was jammed under the water, and not being ablo to swim, he tried to beat the water away with his hands, and m doing so he raised them above water, which were seen and seized, and he waa pulled out; In doing so his right thigh waa broken. Four bodies, were recovered from the debris. The bodies of a woman and a child were found about a mile down the creek near Hurley's. The carriages were piled up m inextricable confusion. The timbers were rent and the iron twisted and bent as if they had been toys. Mr Priddle, though much, hurt, walked a mile and gave the alarm, as did others independently of each other. Bergin, who was badly hurt, told the rescuers to leave him alone and save his nephew, Hade, but the lad was drowned. From accounts given by different passengers m the train it seems some were sleeping and others reading, while the bookmakers were engaged chiefly m their favorite travelling pastime. Some of them remember the brakes having been put on as the train rushed down the incline, whilst all seem to have a perfect recollection of the 1 >rrible sensation which waa felt as tho train went over the bank. All agree as to a sudden crash, a sudden flash of light, followed by dense darkness, m which the cries and shrieks of the wounded, calls for help, und the hissing of steam and the roaring of the torrent were confusedly mingled. , Some marvellous escapes occurred, and perhaps one of tho most interesting of these is that of Mr Patterson, who signalled to Hawk to 'go and fetch medical help. Mr Patterson m his narrative . says :— Strange to relate, though the carriage was smashed to piecos, none of its inmates oxcopt the conductor was killed. Of course, some of them were seriously hurt. I was not m the least hurt, being as sound now as ever. Messrs Cohen, Snider, Jocobsen, and Barnard were seriously injured. On scrambling from the debris and looking round, I noticed that the fire-boxes of the engines were m "the water, and, that the brake van was. sticking up into the air., I proceeded towards .Cootamundra, which is about three miles from the Bconeof theaccident, m order to obtain assistance, when I met a' man, whom I took to be the engine-driver. I asked him, whether the boiler was ssfe. He replied . " Yes," adding ' that he was scalded. I then went on to a bridge crossing about 300 yards from the scene of the accident, and when there I observed a lot of timber lying, across the line. It had evidently been washed there. I noticed that the earthwork of the bridge hod disappeared except rails which ran across from bank to bank without any support beneath. I attempted to crawl acrooa this line, but was too nervous to do so. I then observed a red light approaching from the direction of Cootamundra. The light was hold by a man, and I told him to go back and get assistance. He ran back toward* Cootamundra, nnd I returned to the scene of tho disaster and did what I could to help the wounded. This happened about four minutes after the occurrence of the accident. The man with ; the red light told me that he was about to warn the train against proceeding towards Cootamuudra, as the lino had been rendered dangerous by water. . I broke up' some timber and lit a fire, for some of the wounded passengers were shivering. . An Hour and a-half; elapsed before assistance reached us, «jd/ then a single bottle of brandy was

, brought. Immediately tho crash took place the train became partly submerged, most of tho passengers being up to their necks m water. About three-quarters of an hour after the accident a stranger, who had come to assist, rescued two men from what appeared to be threatened watery graves, as only their beards were above water, and they seemed to be on the point of drowning. Walton was killed almost instantaneously. The experience of Mr G. McDonald was that while he was conversing with another passenger at about 8 o'clock he felt something strike him at the back of his head. He says ; — The carriage then turned over on its side, and a flood of water entered the windows. I soon found myself floundering m the » ater. Mr Bisby, my partner, who beside two other passengers waß also m tho carriage with me, caught me by the hand and pulled me towards the window, and I got out, Mr Risby having entered before. I do not know what became of the other two passengers. The bottom part of the carriage was m the water, but the top was not. I was not hurt. The shrieks heard on all sides were fearful. I B aw a man at this time partly under water. I held him up until further assistance came, and he was ultimately taken out and saved. Having heard the sound of a woman's voice issuing from another compartment of my carriage, I rendered assistance and got the woman out and placed her on the bank. I then swam round to the guard's van, which had shifted. I gob into it and jumped out just as it turned over. I did not notice any officials about. One of the injured men says that the repairer who was sent out to give warning, to which, reference has already boen mode, went only as far as the first bridge, when he might, with, no great difficulty, have proceeded across three separate portions of the stream. Had he done this m time, and liad he given warn ing, the frightful catastrophe which has taken place would no doubt have been averted. These statements are, however, obtained only from conversation which, the passengers have bad with the residents. The following is a list of those killed :— Joseph Campy, a railway employee, married ; Robert Crawford, a carpenter's laborer; Alfred Wilson, railway conductor-, Mrs Hodgson, wife of Mr Hodgson, of Wagga ; John Hyde, of Carcoar ; John O'Dwyer, mail guardj married (leaves a widow and six children), and Warner Smith, of Wagga. The following are particulars as to tho other passengers who were m the train : — Mr Smith, ribs broken and much cut j Mrs Smith, spine hurt, and her child unhurt ; Mr Laurence Zuicker, severely bruised and hurt internally ; Mr T. O'Brien frightfully injured ; Mr and Mrs Fawcett, both very much bruised ; Mr Jacobson, severely bruised aud internally injured ; Mr Israel Barnard, fractured arm, injuries to the kidneys and severely bruised; Mr W. W. Piiddle, conoußsion of the Bpine and general shock to the syßtem • Mr J. McDara, slightly bruised and cut ; Mr A. Schnider, ribs broken ; Mr John Cohep, hip broken and seriously cut ; Mr Austin Sagni, fearfully bruised all over ;, Mr Joseph Thompson, ribs broken and legs cut-; Mr J. Levy; arm injured ; Mr Harper, slightly cut on the leg ; Mr R. H. , Beattie Hay,: severely bruised ; Mr A. Trigalone, slightly injured ; Mr John River, slightly injured j the engine-driver, Moody, scalded and internally injured, but not severely ; Mrs Dean, much hurt, her two girls being all right, but her boy has his left arm broken and is cnt m the forehead and face; Charles Jenkins, bruised; W. Stone, seriously injured.. The poor victims were laid out upon the bank exposed to pouring rain. One of Cobb's coaches started from Cootamundra, but the ground would not carry it aud it had to be left. Several light buggies reached the place after great perseverance, and the Tiotims were brought into town at a Lite hour. The passengers wero principally Melbourne people on their way to the Sydney races. A special report m the Sydney Evening News gives the following particulars : — At the spot where the accident occurred a strange spectacle meets the view. Here m a gap iv the embankment some 70 or 80 yards wide, and over 30 feet deep from the top of the embankment, lie the locomotive: and cara of the wrecked train. To think that the train could have been precipitated into thiß gulf, through which a roaring torrent was rushing at the time, and yet any of its passengers been preserved alive, at once Btrikes spectators as something most extraordinary, if not miraculous. The spot is about four miles from Cootamundra railway station following the track, and is not an incline, as has been mentioned, but at the entrance of a rocky cutting, where there was an incline. This incline the train never reached, because it is on the opposite side of the chasm into which the train was bodily precipitated. It appears that at the time the accident occurred the train was running at about 30 miles an hour, and although nothing certain is at present known, it is believed that the men on the engine became aware of their danger before the sad catastrophe actually took place, as the brakes were found to have been put on hard. Strange to say, the locomotive has received the least damage of all ; m fact it haa received comparatively slight injuries, while the cars have been totally wrecked. A first-class coach was telescoped into the sleeping car, which latter has heeled over on to its side across the broken brickwork of the culvert. The scene, as witnessed by those who were on the spot directly after the occurrence, is said to have been appalling m the extreme. There lay the train m the midst of dashing water below, which rushed through the carriages without let or hindrance, and washed away to eertuin death by drowning several persons, who by the appearance of their bodies, had not received a - single scratch. The groans of the wounded and the dying, the heart-rending appeals for help from imprisoned passengers, and the shrieks of terrified women and children made up a scene of distress and suffering better to be imagined than described. The horror of the scene was enhanced by the torrents of rain which continued to fall and the rushing volume of flood which tore its wider way through the gap, and all tended to increase the actual danger, and to render succour all the more diffioult. In consequence of the telegraph posts having been washed away at this particular spot.all communication was stopped, and thus aid for sufferers -was not forthcoming so promptly. There can be no . doubt that it will be found by subsequent enquiry that no due provision had been made for carrying off flood water. The smallness of the culverts, whiolv rarely exceed five feet m diameter, is glaringly apparent. Instead of having been built m low viaducts, or over head bridges, ordinary embankments have been constructed m parts of Cootamundra Valley, -which, is peculiarly liable to become flooded m caso of heavy rains. The engincors must hare known that the embankment at the spot where the accident took place would be liable to have to sustain the pressure of an enormous volume of flood water, precipitated against it with great force and violence, io consequence of the conformation and direction of ■ the channels, which drained the adjacent hills. Yet m spite of this palpable fact the stability of the railway embankment at this and other similar places had been entrusted to a five or six foot culvert, which is expected to carry off thousands of tons of floodwater which hourly flow this way m rainy seasons. This is very much like Mrs Partington attempting to keep back the tide of ocean with a mop, and looks very much as if someone has blundered, and it has the appearanco of trifling with the lives of those who travel over the line. An enquiry into this matter should be insisted upon as to the means taken to prevent the accident. Wo can at present say no more than that it appears that the permanent way gangs were out on Saturday night and Sunday inspecting the road. On Sunday evening, shortly before the accident occurred, they are reported to hare discovered two gaps, but found it impossible to get across the second gap, m consequence of the torrent which was flowing through, and which it was dangerous to attempt, to swim. They did not, therefore, go further up the line m order to ascertuin whether there, were any more gaps, but contented themselves by placing lights on both sides of the embankment at the second gap m order to warn any approaching train, but this, course was of no use m. preventing the ap-* preaching train from falling into tile third and worst gap of al l , of the existence of which these men knew nothing.

'' - 4 ' Sydket, Jan. 30. There is little further m reference to the railway disaster. '" Search has been made for additional bodies, but none hare been recovered. ' 4 number of other persons wh.o

were m the train, and whose names were not published, have been removed from the scene, some to their own homes m Melbourne, and two, Sagni and Barnard, to the Tlelbourne Hospital.