A Human Holocaust

One of the most appalling railroad disasters ever known occurred noar Woodstock, Vt., about one o'clook on tho j ing of tho 5th inst. At that hour four passengercoaches of the Montreal express heavily freighted with pleasure seekers lound for scènes of carnival and fun. were hurled from the edge of an open Howe bridge, 600 feet in length, and while the rain was running at full speed, were precipitated with the bridge itself down one of the wildestgorges of the Green Mountain state seventy feet on the icy surf ace of the White river. and they were burned to ashes, cremating over forty human belngs, killing: a dozen more and seiiously. il notfatally, burning and mainingascoreof others. AU the cars were weil tilled, the Springfield anfl Boston sleepers being filleu with people bound for the winter sports at Monired. The weather wftfl clear but cold.. The engineer knew his ground thorouglily, and as the train ras ovnr an hour late, he was determined to m-ike up lost time. Over the four mile straight away stretch west of the station the train sped long at the rate of forty miles an hour, and all on b O;ird had settled down to a nap. "whully uncouscious of the terrible death awaitine; tbem n. few rods ahead. Siuldenly the train dashed around a curve and up a slight grade totho longwooden deck llowe bridge which crosses the White Kiver, seventy feet above its rashing waters. The river at this point passes through a deep, rocky gorge, the jagged edge of the : preclpice on eitlier sitie, with its perpendicular siiles bordered by stunted pines, ' making a wildly romantic scène. At this j point the train suddenly ended its jour ney . A broken rail '200 f eet trom the bridge is nll rhat is left to teil the cause. Whether 1 tho train broke the frosty rail. throwing the cars from the track, whether tbe rail was i broken before the train arrived, or wnother i some wheel gave way and snapped the : rail is not kuown, and may never be known. In an instant tliero was a jar, a bumping of trucks over the railroad ties; ] the coupliug hetween the forward sleeper and the four following cars broke, the enj gino, baggage and smoking cnrs passed on i to the bridge and over in safety, but tlie other four cars jumped along over the ties to the end of the bridge, knocked out ' the heavy timbers whirh rested on the abutment-. and then toppled over bridge, cars and human freight, fully eighty souls, all told. falling with a tremendous crash down the jagged precipice .-eventy feet. striking upon the frozen mrface of the river. Tben followed a scène which beg: gars all power of human description. The i splintered wreek took fire and tho dark ! gorgo was soon lighted up by the glare of burning coaches and briilge timber. The detached portion of the train was stopped and ran back to the scène as soon as possible. Those on board sprang into the i deep snow and made their way 1 as best they could down the steep bank i to assist any in tho wreek wbo were alive. ! Here and there a man or woman had succeeded in gettiug exlricated from the debris nnd wero bravoly rendering all the asoistance in their power to rescue their less lortunatecompanions, but the reseuers were pei loutly helpless beoause of the lntenc heat of the burning cars nnd bridge. Many oí the unfortunates were pinned beneatli huge timbers beyond all human aid. The groans of the half ei nscious dying, the screams of the burning, mingled with ! the hoarse shouts oc' the trainmen and a few farmers who had arrived on the scène. ! Very little could be done to aid thu injured nnd absolutely nothing towards quencblng the flamea. The ico on the river was three feet thick and no water could be procured. The sickening stench of burning human flesh soon aróse from the seething mass. The cries of those enduring the martyrdom of being burned alive grew fainter and fainter. The injured who hutj been extricated froin the ruins ware oon conveyetl to the neighboring larin houses or stowed away in the smoking or baggage cars, and when the relief train arrived froiD Wliite Kiver Juuction the reek had been entirely consumed. At least forty persqns.aud probably nearer 00, were killed outright or burned to death, and in only a few instances is identiticatiou possible. Some of the passengere, as the remains show, were instantly killed in the (all and crash. Many witn broken limbs and bodies wore jammed in between seats l and other portions of the wreek, vainly j calling for succor and release. Some oniy slightly injured, were unable to move because of the weight upon them aud,others not hurt at all bevond a few bruces contrived to escape through win dows and the broken sides of the cars. In the sleepers nearly all had luid uside their dress, exeept underclothing, and those ot them'as were so fortúnate f ound themsel ves on the snow and ice with this scanty covering and the mercury marking 20 degrees below zero, and lrozen feet and liuibs, many of tbem so badiy frozen as to necessitate amputation. add to the casuaities The nuraber of wounded is very large and some will undoubteuly prove fatal, and the death roll be increased. Most of the bodies recovcred were takon to the village of Hartford and placed in an undertaker's establishment. Forty bodies in all have been taken out of the wreek, and only live of this number are in any manner recognizable. It will be iinpossible to teil how manv were on the j train as the conductor liad only begun taking uptiekets afterleavingWIntoRiver Junction. Many bodies have probably gone into the river and under the ice. State Institution Bnrned. Fire broke out in thosteam laundry connected with the femalo department of the state industrial school iu Kochester, N. Y., tho other mornine. and spread throughout the building, whiuh is a íine structure four stoiies in hight. The inmutes were all rescued. The loss is estimated at $1UO,IOJ; no insurance. Steps wiil probably be taken to rebuild at ouce. Une woman perished in the Hanies. Srowned Emi jrants! Dispatches just received from Kio Janeiro report that that the steamship Kapimd i. from London for Australia,vith a liirt;e number of emigrunts on board, collided with the Ada Meimore near the coast of Bruzil and sank alrnost instantly. Three hundred of those on board the Kapanda wero drowned. The remaiuder were landed at liahia, A Pe.emptory OrderA pastoral from the Bishop of Huron, Ont., wa read in the Episcopal churches of the Huron diocese on a recent Sunday, prohiblting raising oí money for ecc-lcsiitieal or parochiu purpoaea by ratlling, throwing of dice, games of chance or Sambling of any kind, and all theatrical, ramatic or impersonating exhibitions, whethor public or private. Xhe Fa'e of Four Youus GlrlThe school house at St. Monique, near Montreal, was destroyed by h're the other niht. and four youDg girli who were in it "nshed in tli.1 llames. Three sisters, aged 10, 11 and 12 rospectively, daughters ot' -Mr. Ambrose, and another young girl, daughter of Mr. Joseph Korget, slepc iu the place during tho niglit. The schoolmistress was absent. The origiu of the lire is unknown. Hanging Fostponed. The supremo court at Jefferson Citjr, Mo., has granted a stay of execution until April 1 next. to H. M. Brooks, alias W. H. Maxwell, and the Chine.-e high-binders, pending an appeal for a new trial. The execution was to have taken place Feb. 3d. Tough on Dead Hcads: By advice of coun-el the Union Pacific railroad company ims decided to cense the issue of all oomplimentary passes as soon as the interstate commerce law goes into efffeet. The decisión applies to eyery species of freo travel. UnconstitutionaL The suprenie court of Wyoming Territory lias deolded tbat the bill gr. uiting BUÜrago lo wonieu is unconstitutional. The act was passed by the legislature in 1S.S5 and woMiKii have beon voting in the territor.y ever sime. Beleased by Death. William Comstock, the oldest convict in Auburn, N. Y., penitentiary, died on the 4th inst. He was received at the prl on in ÏSKi on alifesentence. He killed his father and mother and cut out their hearts aud ate them.