English and American Mails.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 549, 13 October 1871, Page 2

English and American Mails.

AMEEICAN

THE WESTFIELD EXPLOSION

TERRIBLE RAILWAY AGCIDENT^ S

LNOTHER STEAMBOAT EXPLOSION.

New York, August 25.—The coroner's yin-y, in the case of the victims of the Westheld explosion, finds a verdict that the boiler vvhich exploded was defective in the original construction and worn out by use, and invited the catastrophe with which it met; that Jacob If. Vanderbilt, President of said Staten Island Railroad Company ; John 11. Mathew, United States Inspector; Joseph 11. Braisted, Superintendent of said Staten Island Railroad Company ; and Henry Robinson, Engineer of said company, are responsible for the use of said defective boiler and the consequences of its use, and should be held accountable for the deaths of the aforesaid persons.

Coroner Whitehill will cause the arrest of the parties whom the jury have held responsible for the accident.

Bcston, August 27. —A frightful accident ocevrred last night on the Eastern Railroad, ,it Revere, seven miles from Boston. The 'accommodation truin started behind time, and wiile stopping at the station at Revere, the I'ortland Li^htninsr Exnrnoo «•».—• -"'"""' „„ a ,B, KiuiTig Iwenty-one passengers 'ouiriuht, of whom three were women, anil wmnding forty or fifty more. The cars took fi-e, and were consumed. Most of the wounded vere scalded, and their limbs fractured. The tilled and wounded belonged mostly to Lynn md Salem.

Uoston, August 27.—Tho appalling railroad lisaster at Revere last night caused an ineiioe excitement to day. Large crowds have visited the scene. At the time of the collision i,lie at'coniniodation train for Beverly had it;red signal hoi-ted at the mast-head ol the signal post for the Express to hold up, which it did it Everett, but subsequently proceeded, and was under full headway when near Kevere station, (he engineer evidently not being aware of the proximity of the Beverly train until perhaps within sixty rods.. He then whistled, "Down, breaks," but not soon enough' to avoid tho calamity. Somo passengers in tlw rear part of the accommodation train iieaid the ominous whistle, but too late to .•sei-'po. On came tho express train at great ,-ebcity, and the engine struck the rearmost •a,- full in tho centre, and forced its way in telescopic manner two-thirds tho length of the iiir, The sino!:e-stack was instantly knocked uf, and the boiler penetrated all the distance into the rear car, the rear part of the latter icing smashed into a thousand splinters, and throwing debris out on the side of the tender. Ot the rear I alf of the car not a fragment as v)ig as a house window could be found. The tore part of the engine is utterly demolished, the pistons bent and tho rods broken. The car was crowded with people, every seat being iccupied, and many standing in the aisle. Tn ihiong these the locomotive rushed as "quick .is flash, just as tho Beverly train had started, mangling and killing in a most frightful manner. But this was nob the only, and "perhaps, not the worst visitor the unfortunate passengers had. Simultaneous with the co lision,. lie head cap of the boiler broke, and in an instant the wretched, sufferers, shrouded in ■louds of hissing steam and deluged with boiling water, which brought' instant death to many of th« woundofl, achiff .vill prove fatal to others who had, probably, not been otherwise seriously injured. The lamps spilled their con tenJJ, )Ut the fire, if any, was undoubtedly extinguished by water and steam. Although thi3 ileverly train was just moving • when tin* collision took place. Its motion did no: prevent., injury to the cars in .'front. The coupling between tho two rear car|» broke, and the .platforms, of -all ojf them were jammed up together; with the sm-king-car overlapping the baggage car,1 Spri rods and timber inextricably mixed and'interwoven. Fortunately the entanglement was not so groat but that the passengers succeeded in getting out quito speedily. .Happily for them they did so, for the kerosens tamps were upset and their contenfs spilled upon the upholstery, and instantly the smokingcar was in a blaze. . .:''■•'" The fUnu-s travelled with great speed frohi one car to another, until three of them wero embraced in the fiery folds. . These subsequently moved up the. track, half a dozen t-ods, and were allowed to burn until nothing was left. At, effort at first was made to pu ;. out the fire, but this was prevented, and tin* dames were useful In lighting up the dreadful scene in the rear, and facilitated the services for the wounded.

Tho work of rescuing the victims was a once commenced, assistance being sOon finished from Chelsea, Charlestown, and at a later hour from Boston, including surgeons md physicians. ; Dozens of poor creatures were jammed with the wood apJ iron-work md could not get out. An a*owas, wielded vigorously, aud'sodn a rope *£* applied to the ddesoftho care, and all we. remaining fame work was pulled usurer... The dead and wounded were tak'**> Out carefully, and speedily | laced on •> platform or in the depot. Some w.-re piniv'd with. Bp inters, some had arms and lev** broken, ; while other Ywert mingled be,-" ,)11d.r.'-cogiii.tion. Many, iiufact the maji-'^J'.: ,of ibo dead were apparently li-co lr"'n bruises, but. the pealing; skin and deatM'y palo(-,.whi6h overspread the. face and .fjVii told pluimy that the steam and -a*daldirig 'j_\%av had boen a frightful and effective agent of death. • i •-.. sit i-s *»_ '■' -''•

:: At the scene of the awful disaster there i°j little to.be seen. I ; n the (Utchatf .tie- aidc.jof the rbad still smoke 1 lie embers*of theTjurhe-* cars j but this is almost all**! that tells of the) disaster. In the Town liall.-of Re.ve.---e still lie) half a dozen bodies ' They ai-e horrible to look. at -J bloody 'foam ']ios upon thtni- blaok' swollen lips, thriii- eyes protmidir from tho sockets, discolored patches of,-flesh hang ioosey from tliefr cheeks* and groat, flaps of boiled skin dingle from their | hands; • They. : have, -bee" crushed, cooked,' and tortured ; and deeper thahftlhmero'physical disfigurements, one sees something' still more' n"wfuito: look-ujion'in their faces, ,a haunting, look.of unspeakable

agony. . ~,*** t \<j t .i; nod „sbo ik.h. | . [The officers of the roiidwero almost .crazed, by •tTO J%Me-fcj J'&ual'sßem'eu' riot to know what to do. Tho killed and wounded are nearly aU-Bpiton, _ah. Mii,, and Lynn people.; IMoBIiE, August 28—The steamer, Qceim .Wave left this city oil Sunday inOriiihg with 200 persons, for :an!excursion !td irisfli-RiVer-, about twenty miles from .the,city; -O-i 'the return trip the boat reached Point Clear, af.o pin , and made fast. The baud and, fl&rb of the passengers went ashore, and after the lapse of lialf-an hour the whistle'wiis blown,'mid all returned to the boat. They had just gib' on board when the boiler exploded 'with:great force, followed by a rumbling bissmg,sound. Prajmenth of timbers of the boat and tho metal of the b_*or were bloivn'in everydu-ec-tion, the forward part of the cabin was'„A«r~_d away, the chimney fell on the A. utter deck* aim. Brdshed it. Tho boiijt , almost .immedJ.pl'e.l.yj sank, and her bow is now. submerged. About, i sixty-or. seventy; persons* weiioijkilled.Y pud; injured by..the explosion. So far, the.,bodies \i! i Y-'"'* •<""** •<">•- *

->f nineteen of the dead, tight of whom were laa», > } mve *jj een r ecovired. Twenty-five wouncw| were brought to the city ; one o! them, a gl .i f lias since d i ed y Ihe scene - a3 appalling and* heartrending.Wilder grief has. < , ldom beenwitiiessed. Many of the passengers w-e. o hildren. |X" *': " _ Captain /William -*3\ lton st fr ft m.for some time,with both..-legs broki^ Tbe boat reaclttd him just too late, and he vv jj own .,; ?1. Two pilots were killed. •', x „ firemen wete :*lli killed, and tlie engineer . n( \ jya wh.* injured. ' .;.-.,-..-" \.Tt is impossible to correctly estimate the loss of life; by some it is supposed Jmt at least 30 or 40 persons are still buried j ? the debris of the wreck or at the bottom ot the bay. A diver has gone to the scene. Tlie disaster has cast a gloom over, tn, whole city, and universal sadness prevails. The street are crowded with people and the excitement and feeling are intense: -. -The Ocean Wave has been for some Uffle considered an unsafe boat, and has » wnys been unlucky. Tht appearance ; ot the boiler indicated that it had yielded through rottenness, as it had been f.ornßparb m a long seam Had'if exploded with greater violence the destruction of life would have been more general. The force of the explosion was directed upward and forward.