Fearful Railway Accident.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 177, 27 July 1881, Page 2

Fearful Railway Accident.

A Train on Fire.—SOO Lives ; Lost. Aii Ocean Tragedy < A Ship Blown up by a Madman. A Chicago Times' special from the City of Mexico, dated 27th June, says:— "The accident on the Morele3 tall way late on Friday evening loses none of its horror through the receipt of more accurate advices. The scene of the catastrophe was on the river San Antonio near the village. of Mailpois. For some time past this section of the country has been swept by heavy stormsj STTelliDg creeks into torrent^, and laying waste many lertile fields.' Included: in the general wreck was a bridge spanning the river at the point mentioned. Although known to be unsafe, it was still in use when the fated train bearing a battalion ; of soldiers attempted its passage. The: result was a crash; the undermined supports gave way, and the engine and cars' we're hurled headloag down the dhaam. Scarcely had the magnitude of the tragedy become apparent, when a new horror was added. In the freight vans, comprising a portion of the train was a consignment of alcohol. This took fire, and a subsequent explosion contributed muah' to the los 9 of life. Those who escaped uninjured at once applied themselves to the rescue, of their less fortunate comrades, bat it waa some hours before the exact extent of the tragedy grew appaernt.: It is now known that 17 officers and 197 privates were either killed outright by the fall or, roasted to death, while others sustained hurts of a more or less serious character. 1 When information of the sad accident the city the excitement was unbounded j crowds thronged all the news .centres, anxiously awaiting particulars, .Never in the history of the Republic has ao frightful a casualty been chronicled, and its occurrence, it is feared, may still furtheriprejudice; the popular mipd against railway enterprises. The Morelea road is a narrow-gauge line, built by s Government subvention, and is entirely the work of Mexican engineers. Only 60 persona in all were saved; alire, and of theae 40 were more or less injured. For a moment after the plunge of the cars from the bridge all waa darknesa. Suddenly one hundred barrels of brandy, loaded on two of the vans, caught fire ; and the burning fluid covered the mas* of passengers struggling in the ruins. Only a few, not disabled' or hopelessly wedged iv the timber, escaped. Dead and living were wrapped in a sheet of flame, and slowly burned before the eyes "of the survivors, who were unable to cave them." A later despatch to the same journal says : — "The reports have been meagre regarding the Moreles accident, as the telegraph, was destroyed by the managers for the purpose of suppressing the, details. The official announcement of the dead was, 192 soldiers and 13 officers; wounded 28; later reports are expected to somewhat increase this number. By order of the War Secretary, the third battalion of soldiers took; train from Cuantla to come to the city of Mexico. The road had been' inaugurated before by President Gonzalez, and the third battalion was one of the regiments which had taken part in the inauguration. The train passed Malpois, and two miles bayond. where, the bridge was .washed away, the train at full speed plunged into the chasm. The enginedriver and fireman were killed instantly. A large cargo of whisky and alcohol on board immediately caught fire, and the car contain- . icg the_ thirteen officers fell beneath the load of blazing spirits and was burnt with its con-' tents. The car containing th 6 soldiers was partially bnrned. A heavy flood was, rushing through the chasm and many, wece drowned, others^ being burned beyond recognition. The night was dark and misty and no help coald be obtained. It appears that the engina-driyej remonstrated against proceeding, the night being so dark and stormy, but the officer being fearful of the soldiers escaping, compelled him at the mouth of the pistol to go on." :::.;,, . Details are to hand of the nrarder of Captain Horrisby, of the ill-fated, Eustace, and:the destruction 'of that schooner. The facts of the tragedy, as related by the mate, are as follows :— On the morning of the 13th Juroj while midway between Gape Selucas and Mazatlan, the [Chinese cook,^Tom Hay, ; began to act in an eccentric marine?, exhibiting signs of insanity, and laboring under the impression that someone tvbs gbihg''.td take fyis life. As he, was . not violent he was allowed to remain at large. After staying in his quarters from 9 a.m till .2 p.m, he went to work apparently all right. A little after 7 p.m.- he went below, f arid was supposed to retire to rest at 1 8 o'clock; While conversing with the mate, the captain re-, marked that he would go below #nd light a cigar. Almost immediately, he returnedwith a cry of pain, and, holding bis ■ hands over his abdomen, called out, ••* Catch him, catch him I" The mate, rushed; aft, and met the captain at , the cabin-door, '.when the latter cried, . "Poll this knife out," and the mate then saw a' murderous-looking butcher's knife protruding: from the captain's stomach. He tried to pull it out, but was unable to dp so.; .with the assistance of the: man at the wheel, howeverj he afterwards succeeded, 1 and the captain, 1 giving two oi three gasps.ifell back and expired, to the ; horror and consternation of th^: crew. ;- : . r Th.eman at the' wheel saw the insane murderer, ru9h to a .'locker in the cabin, in wbich the' . axes and ; weapons of the ship Were kept>and 5 ; blow outotb« cabin light.- The men were: called aft, and laid the Captain's body on the; quarter-deck and covered it up. .The .cabin, door was ih en closed, the men all going forward except the mate, who remained at. the:: wheeV armed: with a belaying pin Shortly afterwards the. cook came to the door, but the mate prevented him from coming ont, and again called the crew aft As the cook deoli ied to come out^ the dtior was again closed and made fast, as the crew were afraid of the ; cook a? all the firearms were in the cabin. As soon as the men had gone forward again, the cook came to the door ani told the mate that if be molested him he would kill him and then fire the ship: As thera was 2QOO kegs of powder on board, the ccea were afraid of this, and desired to leave the ship immediately. ' The ""male.'dissuadf d, them, but had a boat prepared: with water and provisions. Nothing. of moment transpired until the next day, when the cook offered to pass out to the men any provisions they might require, but the offer was declined. About 2 p.m. ao alarm of. fire was given, and smoke was seen proceeding from the cabin skylight. The long boat was im- ! mediately launched, but was capsized, and the crew went into a small boat as fast as possible. In ten minutes the lee side of the quarter-deck was a sheet of flanie, and in five or ten minafcss more a terrific explosion took place. This waa followed in a few seconds by a second explosion. The mate and crew then pulled for shore, and made land about fifty miles north of Mazatlam. Here they were well cared for by a wealthy Spaniard, and sent 1o Lota. EUROPEAN ITEMS; Considerable interest has been excited in the clubs by the reappearance in London of E!!2?S^ ValentiQ e Baker, iormerly of the 10th Hussars, and there is much comment on the fact that he was at once taken up by Wie Pnnce of Wales; after his return from Turkey, and invited to dinner ; a cirenm-

stance which is regarded as intended to pave the way to his readmission into this Army and" SavyGlub^ the required numberof fifty

members having .signed a paper expressing their opinion that the " cause of his quitting the service does not affect his standing as a gentleman." The Beaconsfield Memorial Fund makes slow progress. William Perm's relatives in England will not permit the removal of his remains to I Pennsylvania, as proposed by the Americans. The New York Herald puts forth, as a solution of the Irish-problem, the establishment of a Grand Imperial Parliament, including representatives from Australia, Canada, the Cape, and Ireland and Scotland. The Gr at Eastern steamship will ba offered by public auction ou the Ist of October next. _ The postal andtelegrabh employes, numbering 1200 in London, called a national conference of telegraph clerks at Liverpool, but it did not take place. General dissatisfactian among the operators wa3 the original cause of the trouble, together wita low wages and unpaid overtime. The New York World has the following details of the recent census in Ireland: —ln Borne districts in Connaught and Minister, whola villages are almost depopulated, and in all the population is terribly thinned out. In West Cork, on the vast estates of the Countess of Kingstown, two hamlets have been absolutely deserted. The little village of Knock,_ County Mayo, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared, contained 600 souls in 1871. To-day, exclusive of pilgrims, there are only 30 all told. Limerick returns tell a similar story. In the baronies in the West and South, nearly all the young men and women have gone to America. The treasury of the Land Leaguers is banlrupt, and strong appeals for funds are made*, especially to the; Irish in the United States. ' '.' ' Henry Bangtnan, Henry Street, and Edwin Street, known as betting men, have been arraignettin the Lord Mayor's Court, Lond»n, ion a charge of passing a number of forged cheques. They are stated to have been = accomplices in the notorious Bidwell forgeries on the Bank of England, and in the great turf frauds. They were remanded. AMERICAN ITEMS. The New York Times publishes a story ttat the remains of William Morgan, the nian who 55 y^ra ago disclosed the secrets of Freemagcmry, and was made away with, as it is said, have been discovered at Batavia in that State. Several attempts have been made to have the French, and also thg'Spanish, Legation in dismissed for taking advantage of a young lady high in social position. , They met her at a high-toned party, aiid cnampagned her into a reckless condition.' ; Tbe Princess Louisa will exhibit at the Art-Exhibition at Halifax, Nova Scotia, three pictures from her own easel. Detroit is laying pipes for the electric light. Professor King intends making a balloon trip from' Ireland to the Atlantic seaboard expeHmental as to air currents. Jefferson Davis'a " History of the Rebellion " has fallen very flat in England. In reviewing it, a dreary style and erode literary incapacity are spoken of. Dwight Kidder, a prominent democratic politician, of Massachusetts, was Bhot and failed by his half-brother for expressing a wish that their father might die, ao that he cpald inherit his life insurance, ■ Kallocn, the Sandlot Mayor of San 3?ran - Cisco, is now on a visit to His native state, Maine, where he is lecturing in justification of hi 3 moral and political career. - ' Olive Hersee, a brother of Rose, and a member of the Soldene Opera Troupe, committed suicide at Denver. He was a young Englishman, "married, and his wife was a member of the same company.. The cause was jealousy. . ' _ It is reported that Grant intends establishing a large printing-house in the City of Mexico, and issuing a daily paper, in English and Spanish, for circulation all over the world in the interests of the railroads. A new idea among criminal classes is a systematic invasion of cemetery vaults in search of any articles of jewellery that ma y have been buried with the dead. Bret Harte's neice. Miss Greswold, made a successful debut as Ophelia, in •' Hamlet," at the Grand Opera House, Paris. The shutting down of hydraulic mines in various parts of California, by order of the Courts, has caused great depression in business, and should the injunction be continued the mining region will be depopulated A waterspout broke in Littia Valley, in Barry County, Missouri recently, and swept away an entire village. Auditor-General French has been convicted of huge stock-jobbing operations in railroads, &c, and dismissed from effice. Anoth r Tichborne claimant has turned up in San Fraaci?co, where he made a long statement as to his connection with the family, and averred he wa3 the missing Sir Roger. His statement was submitted to the Duke of Sutherland and Dr. RusselF, at that tirrifi in the city, who promised to give it attention. A laborer in the hospital at Winnipeg, Manitoba, fatally injured on the Canada Pacific railway, also claims to be the lost Sir Roger Tichborne. The Canada Pacific Railroad Company sold 200,000 acre 3 to a French Agricultural Society at 125d018. per acre. A race in lap-streak boats has been arranged between Wise of Riverside, and Edward Hanlan, to come off in the middle of July, for lOOOdols. a-side, ovir a course of 5 miles in Toronto Bay with a turn. Charles Gitean, the man who attempted to assassinate the President, has been more or les3 known in Chicago for the past ten years. He was a disreputable lawyer, and generally considered half insane. He went to New York seven or eight years ago ; and upon his return, in 1876, professed to be converted, and delivered several lecturrs under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association. He next appeared at the head of a scheme to buy the Chicago Intf rocean, and ran it on the plan of the "New York Herald ;" but as he had neither capital nor backers, the matter was soon dropped by him. The Duke of Athole is making a tour of California. War has broken out between the Sioux and Cree Indi ms, and a bloody battle took place near Woody Mountains, Winnipeg, Manitoba, in which twenty-eight Sioux were killed. The Crees object to the Sioux coming further west. The Arctic exploring vessel Roger?, Captain Berry, sailed from San Francisco for Lady Franklin Sound on the 16th June. In her fitting ou.t the rascality of the contractor in the case of tbeFranklia expedition was repeated. It was found at the last moment that the whole car-load of curried provisions (ten tons) shipped from the East were unfit for human food, and the ship was delayed until the supply had been made up from the local market. Important emigration movements have been set on foot for taking colonists from the United States to ChUmatua, in Northern Mexico, there to build up one or more large co-operative cities. Emigrants will leave simultaneously from the Eastern States and California. No filibustering is intended, and the laws of Mexico will be obeyed.' A scheme is afloat in the West to consolidate several large iron companies having a joint capital of 8,600,000d015. Thi3 would make the output of the new company the largest in the world. Father Larocco, General of the Dnmicican Order for the entire world, has arrived at' New accompanied by Lieut-General Carburey, of the Chinese Government, and established a school of telegnphy at Har-: ford, Conn., where forty young Chinamen, arfj now at school. They will be instructed in the connection and operation of lines with winch it is steaded to connect the principal Chinese cities. * * . ,_ Lorillard'B colt Iroquois.the Derby winner «lso won the Prince of Wales' Stakes at Ascot, on tbe 14th. The colt started as fevorite in the betting, and at five to f.mr against him, winning a good race by half a length before Geologist. Archer was a^ain the rider of Iroquois for the St. James's Palace Stakes. Jroquois beat Leon. The only two mentioned ran. Iroquois won in a canter. •> - -'- - -•• : 1 -Ai sensation bas been caused arnongj Mtroconfers by the announced appearance; in. the north-western heavens of a large comet., It is * stranger, and this is said to be Its fret appearance. ]