The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1869-09-28
Terrible Disaster.

The Charleston Is. c. news of the 22d
inst. relates the sad circumstances of n
terrible railroad disaster on the South
Carolina railrord as follows:
An accident by which the lives ofSeb-
ron Hargrove and James Gilbert were
lost, and considerable amount of prop
erty destroyed, occurred near Kingville
to the night express train of the South
Carolina Railroad about 4 o'clock Satur-
day morning. The train consisting of the
locomotive 4" W. G. Dukes tender, ten
loaded and two empty freight cars, bag
gage and conductors cars and two pas
senger coaches, was on its way to Column
bia, and, having crossed the Congaree
River, was moving slowly across the tres
tie over the Congaree Swamp, when sud-
denly the engine plunged down into gap
in the trestle, the tender and the twelve
freight cars followed land all in moment
lay mass of ruins. The conductor, Mr..
W. H. Evans, who was in his car just in
front of the passenger coaches, felt the
shock caused by the fall of the engine,
and immediately sung out to the brakes
men to put the brakes on, which they
did, and thus saved the passenger and
conductors cars from going over, the
front one of these stopping within few
inches of the break.
TIE KILLED AND WOUNDED.
All this occurred in moment. Be-
fora that ,>ort;op of tho tro;,, loct ,,,,ar A. -
track was stopped, the cries ofthe wound
ed were heard. Those who were unhurt
jumped from the trestle down into the
swamp, which owing to the recent day
weather, was comparatively dry, and pro-
ceeded in the direction of the cries. The
first man they met was Mr.. Charles H.
Burns. one of the fremen, who was sit
ting on log to which he had crawled
after falling He had received severe
cut across the forehead, and was severely
bruised in other portions of the body. He
was put in chair to which a rope was
attached, and hauled upon the trestle and
attended to as well as the circumstances
would permit. While this was being
done, others were endeavoring to aid the
engineer, Mr.. Sebron Hargrove, whom
they found lying ON his side, jammed in
among some of the machinery of the loco.
motive, which, however, might have been
easily removed had it not been for the
weight of the debris ofa freight car which
had fallen uponit. Messrs. I. II. Symmes,
express messenger, Mr. Seyles and James
Mcguire, train hands, and others, first at
tempted to remove the wreck of iron and
wood by which the man was being crushed
the pressure being upon his loins. This
was futile, and an effort was made to break
the iron with an ak, but it also failed
Nothing daunted, however, the workers
seized some spades which were among the
freight, and endeavored to dig the dirt
from under him. hoping by this method
to get him out, but the wood and iron
appeared to have enveloped the lower
portion Of his body prevented them from
doing this plan. After they had work
ed for several minutes, with the result
above stated, the cry of fire was raised,
and the assemblage was Mortified to see
the flames rising from the wreck of the
ears. The fire in a moment communicated
to some kerosene oif and whiskey barrels,
and they commenced TO explode with a
loud noise. Some of the passengers, at
the request of the conductor, who feared
for the safety of the cars on the trestle,
wentwith him s.d showed them out ofrsach