Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-02-13

ON the Nashville and northwestern.
The Cars Tumble Down an Embanlk-
me0t.
Several Persons wounded.

About 6 O'Clock yesterday morning the
Memphis bound train that left here at A.
M. on the Nashville and Northwestern Rail-
road. when five miles this side of Waverly,
Humphreys county, was thrown from the
track BY a rail breaking under the sleeping
coach "City OF Nashville" When the
sleeping coach was thrown from the track,
il pulled the first and second class coaches,
numbered respectively Ii and Is, with the
baggage car, from the track. The coaches
turned over twice and were left
on their sides, the sleeping car being thirty
feet from the track. The place Of the accident
was on high embankment, down which the
cars were all precipitated by the weight of
the sleeping coach. The engine did not
leave the track, and suffered no damage.
The coaches were shattered in some parts,
though the trucks, with the exception Of
two pedestals and the king bolts belonging
to them, can be run In. AS
soon as the accident occurred, and
after rendering all possible assistance, the
engineer ran the engine down to Waverly,
the nearest station and dispatched to Super
intendent ]. w. Thomas in this city. A
train under charge of conductor VIM. Davis
was started promptly for the scene Of the
accident to afford the relief needed and to
bring back the passengers. A dispatch
from Capt. Davis gives the following list of
wounded, none of whom he says in the
opinion of the Doctor are seriously in
iured: ]. M. Gardner, Louisville, KY,
wounded inwardly; Mart Bates, brakeman,
wounded about the head; VIM. +. Reed,
wounded internally; E. w. Miller, injured
in the back; 7. j. Rigsley, Cincinnati, injured
internally. Mr.. Freeman, whose home is
st. Louis, but at the time in the employ as
piano tuner of Dorman & Co., Of this city,
injured it is thought quite severely. Harry
White, of this city, the Messenger of the
Southern Express Company, also sustained
some injury, but to what extent or Of what
| character is not known. Capt. Thatcher,
ofthe Express Company, received telegram
! from him stating that he was badly
wounded. He forthwith telegraphed to
learn something more definite but
received a reply that he was
not badly hurt. In addition to the
! above list seven or eight carpenters, resd-
! ing in this city and on their way to john
! sonville to work on the Tennessee river
| bridge improvements were slightly wound
| ed. An accident like this may occur at
| any time, and of course no blame can be at
! tached to the officers of the road. There
| is all the difference in the world between a
railroad collision and an accident resulting
| from the breaking of rail. The one may
be from carelessness, but the other is I'M
! foreseen.
! The train due here at p. NJ. was delayed
! in consequence of the wreck until II
o'clock last night. The wounded and also
| the bedding and cushions of the sleeping
coach were brought in. Mart Bates, the
! brakeman had the skin on his forehead
peeled of, besides a cash or two in the face
| and on the nose. Mr.. Freeman it is thought
had his head fractured, there being kind Of
| indentation made. He and Bates received
| the severest injuries, the full extent of which
we were unable to learn. Harry White
made narrow escape. At the time of the
accident he was reading in the baggage car,
| which turned over and threw him under a
box weighing 375 pounds, on which young
man was caught by other boxes and both held
! fast. Whites overcoat was thrown across
his shoulders and caught fire from the stove.
| Being unable to move, he told the young
man above him to shout for help. This he
! did, which soon brought to their assistance
| engineer Sheets and the fireman, who with
an axe bursted through the car and extri-
Gated both White and the young man from
| their perilous position, which soon would
have proved dreadful death.
Bates jumped off the platform as the CT
turned over, and, being struck by the brake
beam, was thrown with great violence
against rail, and landed on stump. An
old lady, name unknown, was badly burned
| by the stove. She lives at or near
Mckenzie, and had been to carry her
daughter to school at some point
between this Iplace and Wayerly.
Conductor Miles received a slight
bruise and a jostle of the right leg. This
however did not prevent him giving all as
sistance possible to the less fortunate
beings. W. S. Andrews, news agent was
bruised on the head and arms. Mr.. Full
Ter, conductor of the sleeping coach, who at
the time of the accident was asleep was cut
in the left knee by piece of broken glass.
Mr.. J. NJ. Gardner, of Louisville, Kentucky,
| is but slightly bruised and came back to this
city last night. A negro named Hugh
Smith, of Murfreesboro, received a painful
sprain on the right leg. Every passenger
received bruises or scratches, though it is
not thought any will die. Fortunately
there was no one except Mr.. Fuller in the
sIeepHlS Coa'h "IllCi was ~
to be used on the return trip. The inside
was torn all to pieces.
! Physicians were summoned from Waverly
and arrived at u O'Clock. The wounded
were placed on cushions and beds until the
train left for thi. city yesterday at P. NJ
The wounds were dressed snd everything
possible done by the officers for the com
fort of the wounded. As it is, all on the train
are fortunate in escaping as they did.