Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-09-11
DEATH OF r. 8. BENNETT.
A Lamentable Accident.
From the Cincinuah Gazett, Aug. so.]

IOm IIlt SluCHuhll oa1Vtsp <Reo'
Mr.. r. S. Bennett, a general store.
keeper at Beaufort, s. G., has been for
two weeks past visiting with his wife,
his brother, Mr.. A. A. Bennett, Of the
firm of B. Kittredge & Co., the well
known dealers in guns, pistols. and
ammunition, on Main street, near Fourth
A few days ago Mrs. R. s. Bennett went
on to New York to visit some relatives
and friends, and she was to have return
ed by the Short Line Express train,
which should have arrived last evening
at 5 o'clock. Mr.. Bennett, impatient to
see his wife, and anxious to know that
she had made the long journey from New
York, unattended as she was, in safety,
was down to the Plum Street Depot with
his brothers carriage at least half an
hour before it was time for the train to
arrive. He was noticed by several per-
sons to pace the platform impatiently as
the minutes went slowly by. The train
was delayed till a few minutes after 6
o o'clock. When Mr.. Bennett heard the
whistle he rushed out to meet the train
and board it, and find his wife and assist
her to disembark. Having passed just
outside the arch of the Central avenue
bridge, it is believed that he sprang onto
the platform Of the palace car in which
Mrs. Bennett would be, but as the train
was rolling swiftly into the depot, he did
not have time to swing himself fully in
between the cars, but the arch Of the
bridge struck his projecting body, knock
ing it from the train onto the ground,
where it rolled under the wheels Of the
Sandusky baggage car, which immediate
ly followed the palace Car Of the Short
Line train proper. The wheels were
braked hard and pushed the body along
the track bruBing and cutting it in a
figh;fll manner
For a minute or two the body was
undiscovered, but a baggageman event,
ually saw it as it lay under the wheels,
and as speedily as possible it was ex-
tricated. Mr.. Bennett lived a moment
or so after he was discovered, but did
not speak. He expired just as he was
lifted from the track.
The young man in charge Of the car
riage, wondering at last why Mr.. and
| Mrs. Bennett did not appear, entered
the depot, and at once recognized the
body, and told tho bystanders who it was,
but apparently no credence was given to
he statement. He Immediately drove to
East Walnut Hills to the residence Of
MIR. A. A. Bennett, and informed that
family of the sad occurrence.
Meantime a jury was impaneled and
testimony taken which led the jury to
believe that the deceased was working
man who was in the habit of going to
and from his work on the railroad track,
but none of the real facts were elected,
and no attention was paid to the report
that the body had been Unidentified by
the young man before mentioned. The
jury returned q verdict that the deceased,
name unknown, came to his death from
injuries received by the cars on the
Dayton Short Line track, under the
Central avenue bridge. No blame can
be attached to the railroad company, as
the man must have jumped'off while the
train was coming in the depot.
After the inquest the body was taken
to the undertaking rooms ofW. II. Sord<
& Bro, 176 West Sixth street, where at
4ate hour last evening it was visited by
Mr.. and Mrs. A. A. Bennett, and such
temporary arrangements as were practl'
cable were made for its-care.. Until the
arrival of Mrs. Bennett, who was not on
the train, no definite arrangements will
be made for the interment or removal OF
the body. Mr.. Bennett was "a years OF
age, and was engaged in q successful
business in Beaufort.
The event seems doubly sad and when
| it is considered that Mrs. Bennett, MOI
knowing Of her widowhood, is now on hel
way to meet her husband at this place,
to return with him to their home in the
South. Not until she reaches this city
will she learn Of her unexpected and
overwhelming Bereavement
Coal.