Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1881-03-31
INTO THE BRANDYWIHE.



Engine No. SO, drawing the south
bound fast mail due here at 7.5j a. M,
ran into the Brandywint creek Saturday
at the railroad bridge. The tug Fat
coH Captain Heauock, was drawing
canal boat through at the time, and the
engine fell directly OH the latter. The
train consisted Of a postal car, baggage
car and two passenger coaches, the latter
with from 20 to 80 passengers each; and
On the canal boat were the captain and
his wife, while the engine and postal ear
had their full complement OF hands, but
by good fortune, little short of miraeu-
lous, not II soul was seriously hurt.
Captain lIeacock says he was going up
stream with his tow and at Bowers, Dure
& Co. IS works he saw the danger signal
up, showing that the draw was '.of. He
went on and was actually passing through
the draw, when his fireman eXclaimed
"'rhere comes the fast mail" The
Captain put ON steam and got his
tug through, but before he could get the
tow past the engine fell into the draw
and on top the canal boat. The captains
wife screamed for help and for an instant
it looked as if no one in the boat could
possibly escape. The barge loated for 10
E
| lying across her amidships, and the cap
tain and his wife were taken off unhurt.
While this was going on in the water,
an equally exciting scene was i'll progress
ON the bridge above. On the engine were
Engineer Evans C.. Hemphill, and his fire
man and brother-in-law, Edgar A. Cornell
ius. In the postal car were postal clerks
A. L. Hoover, Thomas Berry, c. w. Wor-
| rail and ypiUlpr L. Harrison
The engineer says that the "distance
signal some hundred yards above the
bridge seemed to him all right, but at
Brandywine station he had steam off and
brakes on. He did not See the danger
signal at the bridge because of the SNOW,
but when the trackman waved the danger
flag, the engineer reversed his engine. 1t
was too late, however, and the engine
broke its couplings and toppled over with
a crash into the canal boat, leaving the
postal car standing within foot of the
draw. only the prompt action ofthe auto
matte brakes Saved the whole train from
plunging into the stream.
On seeing that the engine must go the
fireman and engineer jumped off, alight-
ing on the bridge unhurt, except for a
few scratches. Postal clerks Berry and
Worrall, seeing the fireman on the track,
also jumped ont OF the side door, but the
other clerks could not get out and We're
forced to wait until the train stopped.
Comparatively little comnotion was
caused in the pass4ng4r cars. the shock
not being Violently felt. The general i'm
preston, gathered from number of
passpngers. was that the train was run
ming about 30 miles an hour, until within
n moment or two of the accident. and
several said thew did not notice that
the brakes were'put ON. but the fact that
no one felt the shock violently indicates
that this is a wrong impression. The
women looked scared and n little red
about the ewes when the train was
boarded a few minutes after the occur-
renee. but ON the whole everyone seems to
have takeutle thing coolly.
James w. Johnson. assistant bridge
tender. who was on duty this morning
and who seems 10 be a very honest fellow
shows that if the signals are in proper
working order it is impossible to turn off
the bridge without pnttinp on the DANCER
signals. not only on the bridge itself but
also the distance SIGNALS above and below
the bridge. The southern distance SIGNAL
was ali RIGHT after the accident and the
northern distance signal which is partly
hidden by r,rs on tie trocl, was right ns
l