The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-09-08
A Thrilling Experience.
augusta Chronicle.

Probably one Of the most strange and thrill
ing railroad accidents that has ever happened
in this part of the country was one that &C
CURED at Horse creek, on the South Carolina
The wreck, and q most complete one II, was.
resulted not from collision or collapse, but was
caused by mighty volume OF water that struck
the doomed train with the force OF n tornado.
Passengers who were aboard say 1t was one OF
the most peculiarS as we'll as thorough, In the
annals Of railroad wrecks. Hearing that Mr.:
d. S. Henderson, of Aiken, with his family
was numbered among. the passengers, Cf1oa.
and, finding Mr.. Henderson, requested an In
terview., which was very cordially and kindly
accorded.
"Mr. Henderson, you were aboard the wreck
ed train; please give me an account OF the dis
"Well, sir, will do 1t to the best of my abil.
ity. AS you probably know, the e, outward
and contained quite large number Of pas
sengers including many ladies and children:
We OF course. experienced the first shock Of
the earthquake, but anticipated no trouble
whatever. After passing Horse creek, with
every one seemingly happy, and with th'
train making about ten miles an hour, TERRI
bic roar was suddenly heard above the din OF
the cars, causing the faces OF all TO tnrn pale
and their hearts to almost stop beating, with
fear. Tic sensation was horrible and was
enough to make the bravest Of men quail.
Before thought could be ventured as TO the
was brought 10 an ALMOST abrupt standstill.
l rushed back to the sleeper, where my wife
and children were, and, after seeing them
safe, stepped TO the back door In order to learn
track to the rear of tho train was perfectly
clear, but In less than two minutes..to my dis
may, II was within several feet OF water"
"How do you account for the delQge?"
."In this way: The shock of the earthquake
caused the mill dams above to give wnY, and
the large volume OF water contained In Bath
and Langley pGnds was peicaseo, sr G rnSnang Ssnng
of the creek and overflowing all the country
in the neighborhood. The mad waters made
a short cut through the swamp, struck the ell
gine and first two or three freight cars with
fearful force. hurting them into the swamp
and causing u terrible wreck"
what was the results"
"The engine and freight cars were COM
pletely smashed, the fireman, SIMMONS, be-
ing killed, and the engineer, Reynolds, receiv-
Ing serious injuries. But, strnngest of al. was
The fact lhnt the two coaches remained un-
harmed on the track, while the! rails and
cross-tics. for one and quarter miles to the
front, and thrce-quarters Of a mile 10 the rear
were torn up and dashed into the morass. Tho
coaches were untouched. although they had
but Il few yards Of track to spare 1T either
end. Two cars containing horses were smash
cd, and several of the animals killed, while
the others were tloundcring about in the wa
ter. &C.: 90
"Thc waters rose from III until, 2 q. m and
came within a few inches OF tering the
coaches. shortly after O'Clock they began
subsiding and soon recedcd from the track"
"And your rcScuP?' =. =. -.
We'll. that is the most pleasant part to re-.
late. and it was accomplished about daybreal:
this morning by Capt. Little of the railroad'
service. He threw bridge of planks across
the creek, ard We were brought back to the
city on his train.'
''rhc ladies and children, suppose; were
greatly frightened?'
Very much So. At times thought some of
them would go into commissions, but all the
gentlemen aboard acted splcndidly and final-
ly convinced them that they were perfectly
safe. Altogether it. is one OF the most thrill
ing incidents OF my life. Good day.