The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-04-24

tonight states that at the Alabama fur
mace, On the Admission and Atlanta rail
way, the bridge gave way while two mer
were standing on it, and both wer
drowned. Along Choccolocco creek tht
destruction by wind and water is yer!
great. The track on the East Tennessee
railroad at Weavers and other stations il
completely submerged. Railroad trave
is entirely suspended.
ROME UNDER WATER.
ROME, Ga, April l5.-The details O.
last nights storm are coming in. 1t wa
very severe in all portions of the County
A large number of barns and out house!
were blown down and vast amount O
fencing destroyed. Numbers of mule:
and horses were killed and many injured
In several instances barns were struck BY
lightning and totally or partially destroy
ed. No care of loss of life or injury tc
persons is yet reported.
The Etowah and OoStanaula Rivers
rose at tremendous rate last night
The Oostanaula rose fourteen feet, and
is now being backed up by the Etowah
The danger of the freshet here is very
great. At this hour the rivers are still
rising rapidly. The merchants are NOV
ing their goods and the prospects now
are that Broad Street will be navigable
with bateau tomorrow. All railroad
connection is cut off and no mails have
been received to-day. Advices received
state that at Calhoun the Oostanaula is
rising Is inches an hour, and is nearing
the high water mark of 1881. The
bridges have been swept away in all di-
rections, and the damage is very serious
The Atlanta Constitution says of the
storm and its consequences:
The storm of Monday night may be
recorded as bringing the heavies rain
ever known in Atlanta. 1t was tropical
in it's ferceness. The lightning was
binding and the thunder almost contin-
uous; hail and wind added to the steady
roar of the rain fall. For two hours the
scene was fearful one, and many fami.
lies crept from their beds, dressed and
gathered in some central room. The
storm reached its height about 2 o'clock.
By seven o'clock there was perfect
calm. The sun sbone brightly and
brought surprising warmth. The city
was as clean as dairy having been swept
by the whirling torrents. No casualties
are reported in the city. The trains on
most of the railroads are delayed, and
heavy washouts are reported, with 8
dreadful accident on the Western and
Atlantic railroad. The details of the
storm will be found below.
THE FIRST WRECK.
The Western and Atlantic railroad
was the victim of two horrible and death
dealing accidents as the result of the
storm of the night.
The two accidents were productive of
three instant and horrible deaths aud an
enormous loss to property. They hap.
pened within fifteen minutes OF the same
time and were only four miles apart, but
neither knew of the others disaster un-
til Atlanta was teeming with sensational
exaggerated rumors concerning it, The
first accident occurred just two miles
South of Big Shanty on big fill which
is twenty.seYen miles from Atlanta. By
it two men were dashed into eternity and
thousands of dollars worth of property
was destroyed. The other accident hap
pened nearly two miles North of Big
Shanty and resulted in the horrible death
of young Albanian and the total de.
struction of passenger train and hun.
dreds of pounds of mail matter.
The heavy rains which fell Tuesday
morning was the direct cause of the ac-
cidents and when the trains made their
last leap the rain was falling in torrents,
the skies were covered with heavy clouds
and the darkness was intense while the
resting, whistling winds made the night
hideous.
At 1:5O o'clock Tuesday morning sec
ton A of freight train No. left Big
Shanty for Atlanta. The engine was
under the control of Mr.. S. A. McDon-
aid, an engineer of ability and worth,
who had for his fireman Mr.. Ed McCul-
loch, while the train was under the COM
mand of Conductor Theodore Corrie.
When the train passed away from Big
Shanty the rain was pouring down but
the trains crew was happy fora few more
hours only were required to put them
home and give them rest. So thought
the crew, and when Conductor Corrie
waved his lantern Engineer Mcdonald
placed his hand upon the throttle of his
engine and in an instant started on his
last run, little dreaming then of the ter.
rible death that was in store for him and
his fireman, with whom he was chatting
pleasantly.
From Big Shanty to Marietta the road
is 2 series of cuts and fills which have
been in constant use for thirty years
during which time the heaviest storms
have played against them without effect.
Two miles South of Big Shanty there
is a deep fill about one hundred yards
long. At some points the fill is fully
thirty feet, and at the middle there is q
large stone culvert, made for the passage
of small rivulet. The heavy rain
Tuesday morning produced more water
than the culvert could carry away, and
the result was that about fifty feet of the
fill was washed out. AS the engine rolled
on to the fill or embankment the engi-
neer gave bis engine full sway, and like
lightning it dashed onward. The night
was dark and the headlight was of little
service, owing to the heavy rain, and
THE YAwING ABYSS INTO WHICH THE
ENGINE PLUNGED
was not seen by the engineer. The open
ing was fully fifty feet wide, aud when
the engine reached the edge it gave a
plunge which carried it nearly over. The
tender and freight cars followed, but
their weight drew the engine from its
slight hold upon the opposite bank and
in an instant engine, tender and cars
went down. The fall was terrible one
and the rattling of the breaking irons
and timbers were heard above the noise
of ,he storm, telling the terrible story of
death and destruction. When the engine
went down the engineer and his fireman
were at their posts and were buried be-
meath the mass of iron and timbers. The
.zu;,,o ,uoe nullinp siYtann frpirht cars