Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1845-12-05
Terrible Railroad accidena.-COl-
lisIOn OF the Observation-Disclosures
and reckless Conduct Of :Ihe. Ela-

and reckless CoHtls.ct Of the. E.a-
G1neerSD =. <s.:si,, 80.
1t is our duty, rs public journalist, TO record
one of the, most culpabie and reckless pieces of
business which has come under our notice for a
long while. At IL O'Clock, on Wednesday last,
in broad day light, the two trains of the one
going, North, and the other coming South, came
in Direct collision, thereby endangerng the lives Of
large number of passengers, in both tFaius Hap
PLY, no one was seriously injured. This,will APP
pear the most extraordinary par: Of the affair when
W. stat. the ciccumstanccs i is q rule when The
Grains meet between two turn outs that that
-gs2ich Eas crossed ltc halfway line sh fi make
s!4 7thsy run asrs e the TIA ION which it has last
2et. On W -tEssaay asst. both the up aid down
GAINS were ratner late they came in sight Of
pscu other ct point, some e niles from Whining
COZ the aff-way line nearly equi-tiistant from
...h. 10Th Engineers crowding on all stcalr.,
as ,.e phrase goes. each endeaSoring to reach she
hsIfsy ~ line irst in order to make the other run
I,zci Cav ard both Of them few for the ccntcs-
ted point at terrific speed. Each thinking, we
AuSIJ0Sc,
able to stop his engine. Onward they cane, at
the rate Of solnea twenty hve miles an hoHT rs
they approached one another. both Engineers gave
eheir engines the action but alas: too late
The engines would not recede. An awful COLI
son ensued, by which both engines were almost
stove 70 rieces. The Engineers. themselves. and
the Ma1lAcenss when they saw that the meeting
was inevitable. jumped overheard and escaped liz
Jury. There we're large number Of passengers
ON both traans aud it is really miraculous that they
were act seriously injured. The uP-goins En-
Gine, the Henry Clay. one of the most powerful
Swned,by the Company. broke the down coming
one. the New Hanover, almost into pieces. The
names ofa3aese reckless men, who thus risked the
Lives Ct 4Aeir .feiOw-beings, are, John Britt who
had charge of the Henry Clay, and Thomas Sur"
lee, who conducted the New Hanover. No sx:
euse can be pleaded in paliation Of this reckless
conducts These fool hardy men saw each other
for miles 1H1 It Is no good excuse to say that they
thought Gley could hack their Engines. They
Luckily there VAS another Engine some miles a.
bo~e. which brought the passengers to town again,
where they arrived about o'clock. P. NJ.
The mails both ways are thus detained day.
The lives Of nearly . hundEed people have been
placed in imminent perl-two Engines have heen
almost destroyed, and al through the unPardOna-
BILE recklessness of these tw" Engineers. Britt and
Sarlee We hope that the board Of Directors will
adopt the most atrngent means in their power to
sward them adequate punishmens for this swfully
criminal conduct.
Since the above was written. We have re-
ceived the following note ftOoI one Of the Di-
Tectors:
MIR. FvLrox-If you should make any re-
marks in your paper Of tomorrow, Of the late
acciden. on our Road. will you be so kind as
to state that the Directors Of the Road held a
meeting this morning, and discharged both
engineers from the service Of the Company.
Yours truly.