The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-01-26
4 FATAL RAILROAD CRASH.
Two Men Killed and Several Others So
rloIsly Injured.

A frightful accident occurred oIl the
Charleston aud Savannah Railroad on
Saturday morning last at Z! O'Clock by
the colliding Of two fast mail trains, near
Adams Run, about y miles from
Charleston, in dense fog. The North.
ward bound train, No. 43, WAS on sched-
ulc time and had stopped fifteen minutes,
the usual time of waiting for delayed
trains, at Adams Run. The Southern
bound train, No. 40, was behind time.
Tclcgrams had been sent TO both trains
to meet and pass Mt Adams Run. II.
a. Fox, chief postal clerk, and Bradley
| Scott, coored, fireman, were killed. w.
II. Burbridge, assistant clerk in the Rail
| way mail service, was fearfully mangled,
and Messrs. Mansfield, Osborne and
| Craft were painfully hurt The passcn-
gers all escaped
The conductors, in charge of each of
| the colliding trains bad received instruc.
tions TO meet and pass each other ut
| Adams Run, and the terrible catastrophe
| was owing 10 misunderstanding Of the
| instructions by Mr.. II. l.. Pnckney, con.
ductor of No. i3, who has furnished the
Ne,rs and Courier statement concerning
his connection with the matter. He says
| the instructions were not sufficiently
plain, and throws the responsibility for
| the accident on the Superintendent, Mr..
| @. S. Gadsden. Mr. Pinckney acknowl-
| edges the receipt Of the message from the
| Superintendent to "a:ee. and pass &c al
Adams Run" and explains
ut should be fully understood that
| there is very great difference between
| simple telegraphic message handed mo
by the operator and n train order sent to
for i,,l T.. a
OF train order am required to sign
receipt for it with the statement that I
understand it intelligently. The opera.
tor is also required to give duplicate to
the engineer and to keep one for himself.
In this instance there was no flag out to
show that there was n train order for me,
and the operator simply handed me the
slip of paper, telling me to meet and pass
40 Mt Adams Run, which was the usual
passing point, and considered the tele-
gram only q repetition of the general
order to meet and pass 40 at Adams Run,
subject to the we'll understood rule that
whenever 40 was more than fifteen min
utes behind time shonld have the right
of way and pass her ut Ravene's."
Upon reaching Adams Run, he went
into the turnout and waited fifteen min.
utes rs usual. There being no signs of
40, he hauled out of the turnout and
proceeded towards RayenePs Us usual,
ignorant of the fact that 40 had been
ordered to run against his time. He
says:
"If the office wanted me to wait at
Adams Run, in my judgment the tele.
gram should have been so worded as TO
acquaint me with the fact that 80 had
been ordered to run against my time, or
it should have been q train order dis
tiDctly telling ME TO wait at Adams Run
for 40. II this had been done there
could not possibly have been collision.
OF course, 1t is very easy for the public
now, with both kilograms in its posses.
sion, to say, why didn't Pinckncy obey
tho telegram he received, but such tele.
grams were often received, and it was
always understood that after waiting at
Adams Run for fifteen minutes, 43
should push on and pass 40 at the next
station, which il Ravenels. My train
being the Northward bound train had the
precedence anyway, and in my judgment
the telegram | received was not such
one as to make it my duty TO wait for 40
beyond the usual time. Tho telegram
might have been sufficiently explicit if
tho trains hHI been oil schedule or had
ooen hieSuiaI tialhs. !ne NoEtnWaru
bound train has fast and close schedule
TO make with the Northeastern Railroad,
and for this reason always has the right
of way after waiting fifteen minutes"
Superintendent Gadsden says that he
sent the kilograms to the two conductors
as stated, end that he does not think they
could bear any but one Interpretation.
The dispatches were carefully worded
and promptly delivered. Upon arriving
at the scene Of the disaster he asked
Conductor Pinckney how hc happened to
go on in spite of Instructions, and he re.
piled that he thought he waited the usual
fifteen minutes and went on.
The cause of the accident is TO be in-
yestigated by the State Railroad Com
missioner and the U. S. Postal authori-
tiec