Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-12-14

The Nashville American of Tues
day gives the following account of
an accident which happened on the
Chattanooga railroad Sunday morn
ing:
II there Is any place on the Chattanooga
railroad more than another, where men on
freight trains are particular, it is the i've mile
grade south OF the tunnel, on Cumberland
mountain. Here every conductor and brake
man is ex pected to be at his post, ami the
trains must be let down with the greatest
possible care. AS q rule, the brakes are APP
piled Immediately on the descent of the
grade, which commence at the tunnel and
is five miles in length. The moment it Is
perceived that the train is gaining too much
momentum, every brake II required, Is put
on. On account of the precautions used, II
is very rare thing that RUNAWAY" occ
ours Aside from the strict injunction of
General Superintendent Thomas, to be care
full going down the mountain grade, every
one connected with a freight train realizes
the situation and don't care TO have the train
go down any faster than at a jog, as IT We're.
On Sunday morning, while a freight train
was passing through The tunnel, eleven cars
broke loose from the nine cars that We're
with the engine, the train consisting OF
/ twenty cars in all, not counting the locomo-
| tive. Conductor Haley and brakeman
Searcy applied the brakes, which, however,
| did not hold as well as could have been de-
| sired. The engineer did not miss the cars
| from the train until he got some distance
| from the grade, when, it Is supposed, he
! checked up his speed, though it is said he
/ was running then at the rate of about
/ eighteen miles an hour, thinking ct that rate
| of speed he would be able to keep out of the
way Conductor Haley held the rear section
| for three miles, but they ran away the last
/ two miles. They came down the last two
/ miles so fast that when they struck the front
/ section they knocked fourteen cars of the
| track, the trucks remaining on the track,
/ and the cars shooting off of them as if dis
/ charged out of a cannon, over stone RETAIN
/ ing wall fifty feet in height, flying Assistance
! of fifty feet. One car turned upon its top
and fell into Rush creek. -Four coal cars
/ were spun around as if they were tops. The
cars that went over the wall were heavily
/ loaded and were crushed. All kinds of mer-
| chandise were mixed up in an tnd1scriml-
nate mass. Six cars and an engine remain
| ed on the track. Only two of the eleven
| cars stood upon the ralls--the cabOose and
| the one next to II.
| Conductor Haley stuck to his post and was
/ badly bruised by the conclusion. He was
| taken to Wartrace yesterday. Searcy,
| the brakemen, chung to the top OF the cars
| that went flying over the retaining wall,
| and had his callaT bone broken, but was not
! otherwise much injured.
| The morning train out of Chattanooga
| and that from Nashville were discon-
| tinued, on account Of the wreck, and the
! difficulty which would have attended max
| inga transfer was thus avoided.
! General Superintendent Thomas went
| down to the scene of the accident and SUI
| perintended the work of restoring the cars
| to the track, completing IL by p. m, sun
/ day, after which the night passenger trains
passed through each way. The freightS were
! were picked up yesterday.