The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1877-03-30

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March 9oz- Some your readaIs- have NOT
forgotten what faNsfal weather Va. bad lest
olght, The .slemelts sweBe verify at wary
Dark and angry clouds shut out. all light
from the armament above, rendering The
I,Hight dark in the extreme. The Wind was
blowing perfect gale, and the rain wa,
pouring in torrents. Amid such such sex scene, n
and with such surroundings as these. the
train bound to Chariestctf d moved out frcots
Florence, something over an hour behind
|'the regular schedule time AS sho rushed
rapidly forward through tho blackness Of
the night, occasionally a sensation Of dread
or horror would come over your corsespon-
dent, ndniany of the terrible railroad dis
asters of tho past would come vividly before
his mind. There seemed also 10 be 'afeel-
ing of unrest; OF uneasiness, pervading tho
Sssasai- -sxpreeurd -the,.;i -. -
Ffna decfded terms as to whether or not we
would bo permitted to make q safe trip
down to the 'City by the Sea." These
gloomy forebodings of ours were, not with
out foundation in reality. roWe, we.e run
ming between Lanes aud Salters at or about
place called Dixie" when an accidont oc.
CURED. The train was moving ut, the rate
of twenty or twenty-five miles an hour, SO
said the engineer. Suddenly aud alarming
ly there was violent shock aud ,tremen- :
dous crash, and then for two or three min
utes succession of jolts aud Jars which
came near dashing the passengers from
their seats. There was little or no con-
sternation among those on board, but the
writer must admit that his feelings were any
other than pleasant, for either from inagi-
nation or from fear, the coach seemed to be
gradually sinking, and he did not know
what moment would find the entire train
complete wreck down among the timbers of
some fallen tr stlc 1t Was nnt lnas, A..Ra
ever, before tho train was motionlcss and
then there was general rush to ascertain
the cause of our coming so suddenly to a
halt. The voice of the polite and courteous
conductor, Capt. Cain, was heard sounding
out among the disturbed clements, inquir-
Ing if any one suffered injury He seemed
to be like any good conductor ought to be,
under such circumstances, extremely solici-
tous concerning those under his charge
From the engineer, Mr. Wm. Jackson, the
writer obtained the following points in con-
ncction with the cause and event of the
disaster: Lie was running as stated above,
at the rate of twenty or twenty-fir miles
an hour. The fireman was throwing wood
into the furnace, and light thcrefTom pre-
vented him (the chginecr) from seeing dis.
tinctiy any object ahead. He saw an OBJ
ject, however, and took it TO be white horse
on the track Did not worry himself much,
thinkina that he could .cnaily leaal- -hi---.af
Great was his surprise and dlsmay, however,
when the engine ran into a pine tree, which
had fallen directly across tho track. So
great was the momentum of the train that
the body of the tree, being about ten inches
in diameter, was cut off aud tho huge trag-
meut was carried forward by the engine;
not very far, however, before she leaped
wildly over it, tearing way her trucks and
burying herself i'll the embankmcnt. The
engine was completely demolished. The
express and baggage Car followed closely on
behind The car rushed upon the log, and
and it was thrown upon it's side on the op-
posite bank from the engine. The express
agent was lying upon table, and was thrown
on the fioor, sustaining no other injury but
a simple scratch Oh his face The other
cars did not leave the track, and it is thought
that the prompt use of tho air breaks preven-
ted them from bccoraing complete wreck.
When we consider tho extent OF the air-
aster and the imminent peril in which all
were placed, it is really miraculous that no
one was hurt. The engineer escaped as by
tho breadth of a hair. He did not leave
his box, but when the engine stopped, step
ped OUT from the very jaws of death. The
fireman and wood passer were thrown off,
but were not injured. AS we left, Capt.
Corrie, with large number of hands was
clearing the track. Trains will probably
pass through this aftornoon.-JUvENIs,
IN Ncws and Courier.