The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1886-06-10
HURRIED INTO ETERNITY.
AN APPALLING ACCIDENT ON THE
NORTHEASTERN RAILROAD. =.


Six Young People Killed and Thirteen In
iured-A Train Thrown into the Santee
Swamp--List of the Dead and Wounded
Heartrendeing Scenes.
ST. STEPHENS, June 1.-The north
bound passenger tram No. 43 on the
Northeastern Railroad met with terri
bic accident at 2.22 this evening while
1T was crossing the Santee River trestle
at point two and half miles from this
place. The trestle suddenly gave away
and the train, with the exception of the:
engine and the last sleeper, plunged
headlong into the canal helow. The,
scene that followed battles description.
Hours were spent in eXtricating the;
dead and wounded from the wreck.
DR.. G. 6. Kinloch, VIM. inglesby,
Capt. J. l.. Cole, Miss Hannah Wilson,
Miss Flora McIver, Of Charleston, and
Miss Nella McWhite: Of Marion, were
instantly killed..
The list of wounded comprises thir-
teen and is as follows: B. e. Mazyck,
conductor, seriously injured; +. W.,
Rennecker, mail agent. dangerously in-
iured; Henry Husbands, baggage master'
Seriously injured; Warren Burges. color
ed wood passer, painfully injured; James
Gouldman, news agent, slightly injured;
W. &. Chandler. of Sumter, slightly in
iured: Miss Marion tMcWhite, Of Marion
County, slightly injured; w. B. Barnes,
Lynchburg, Va, painfully but not dam
gcrously injured; Henry Henry. colored,
Slightly in iurcd: Express Messengers
West and Price, both seriously injured;
r. Smith, slceping-car porter, seriously
injured; John Wright, Wilmington, y.
c., seriously injured.
The cause of the accident is partly
ascrlbed TO the recent freshct, which has
materially injured the trcstle, the high
water thus far having precluded a
thorough examination of. the same.
1t was impossible owing to the late
hour at which the relief train bearing
the dead and wounded arrived IN the city,
to obtain anything like detailed state
ment of the wreck or its cause or causes.
Most of those who survived the disaster
were of course, after the fatigue and
terrible experiences of the day, unwilling
and unable to relate their experiences
and made all possible haste to return to
their hotels or homes in the city. BY
far the greater number Of those who
were seriously injured were absolutely
iusuch condition rs to need all their at
tention and that Of their immediate
friends. One Of the uniortunates. how
ever, made statement last night to q
Reporter who accompanied him in the
carriage in which he was taken from the
station to bis clearinghouse in Society
street. This >gelltl tlen1efs is named Mr..
W. f. Chandler, and is a clerk ut Nc
Cures furniture establishment on King
street. He took the train yesterday at
l2 on his way to Sumter, whittier he had
been summoned by telegraph to be pre-
sent at the bedside Of his dying mother.
He made his statement with the utmost
difficulty, as he was suffering from a
confusion on the right side of hls head.
His right foot had also been badly
bruised. His escape was a most
miraculous one. In. answer to qucs-
ton as to the cause OF the disaster and
the manner in which it had occurred, lie
said: IL don't know how l am alive to
tell about my escape, and even now
nearly everybody is disagrccdas to what
caused the crash.
The fact is that those who got off
with their lives were too much concern
ed in thinking of other things. and those
who were entirely saved found too much
work in helping the helpless to waste
any useless time in investigating the
causes of the wreck. All l know is that
I was sitting in the second-class car near
the end next to the first-class passenger
coach. Ahead Of me were the mail car
and tho baggage car. The only occu-
pants Of the car in which l was were
two persons. colorcd man and a color
ed boy, whose names l have forgotten.
I remember distinclY that we had enter
Ell upon the trestle, and were running,
I should Judge, at the rate OF between
twenty-five and thirty miles an hour.
l don't know how far we had gone on
Inc IteSIlc, poSoluiy q At'it ii'to, ."iN'A
the crash came. 1t is, of couse, impos-
sible to describe ones sensations under
the frightful circumstances, but L am
sure that every one on the car who
knows any thing about impending dan.
ger must have felt premonition that
there was something wrong just an in
slant or so before we were sent whlrlng
through the air to the ground below.
The first intimation l received of the
coming disaster was the ominous sound
of the brakes being instantancously and
forclbly put down. At such place, Oh
a trcstlc so elevated above the ground,
or rather the water below, felt that
the danger, if danger 1t was. would be
nothing less than fatal one. | there
fore almost inscnsibly threw myself
forward and clung tightly to the forward
seat. and at the same instant | could
hear above the rush and roar Of the
tram the noise Of the cars Ahead. which
were plunyiny down the trcstle.