The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-22

cleared the abutment on the eastern side,
then the stern brought M in the marsh, aud
found she was solid. / left the pilot house
and went ON deck" The captain then de-
tailed how, with the crew, the injured were
removed from the wreck. repairs we're
made to the rudder, and the return was
made 10 the city, after which he said: Il
saw the conductor when he came aboard
the steamer. and asked him If he saw the
accident He replied no; that he was about
at Fort Barlow. The night was a dark
one, and, with the crowd we had on board,
it was impossible for them to get out
o. the way after l ccaNed to them. IL was
about an hour before low water, but there
was freshet in the river. When / got In
the mouth of the creek / saw some one
on the western side waving a white light,
which is sometimes done when the bridge is
left open. That is 10 let US know that the
bridge is open. l am positive about the
two lights.
HEARD THE wATCHMAN SHOUTING.
Il was at the wheel myself and heard the
Waterman 'halloo' after / started to back
1t Is hard to see the bridge, as it is painted
DARK and the trees make a background.
Some boats could be stopped in 300 yards,
but not the st. Nicholas. We cannot stop
our boat aud go through the creek. II we
stop we are sure to strike the BRIDGE
The draw, Capt. Boulineau thought,
could be opened in three minutes. "If the
train has the right of way" he said, 1--WE
back out and wait on her. Then l have
had the train wait on me- When | see the
lights es | saw them last night, l suppose
the bridge is open. | have before gotten
within 300 yards and backed out, but struck
the bridge all the same. and then the bridge
was open. struck the bridge with the
Pope Catlin on one occasion. Had the
hFsi6OQ haaO Last uf1hf I mould ha VA
gone through clear.n
Capt NJ. P. Usina, purser and business
manager of the st. Nicholas, testified that
when the steamer neare1 the bridge he
vent out on the hurricane deck and saw
that he was approaching the draw, and no.
ticed that it was closed. 81 ran TO the pilot
house, he said, land halloed to Capt.
b ulineau TO back her full speed. saw
that a collision was inevitable, and in few
minutes we colided. | had shouted several
times TO the people to go aft before we
struck. When l reached the pilot house the
boat was being backed. / did not go in the
pilot house. Capt Boulineau and the
wheelsmen we're both there. The night was
very dark, and did not notice the lights
on the bridge. l saw some lights, but in
the confusion did not notice how they were
setn
HURRIED TO THE PILOT HOUSE.
Capt. UsinR says that he was on his way
to the pilot house, from force of habit, as
he always goes there when nearing the
bridge, but on this occasion he did not
reach the pilot house until just before the
collision. II asked Capt. Boulineau, after
the collision he explained, ''about the
lights. He said they were set as usual, and
there was no train at the bridge when the
accident occurred. We are provided for
600 passengers, but don't know how many
We're on the boat LAST night"
The last witness called was John South
mayd, the mate Of the St. Nicholas He
testified that he saw lights on the bridge,
but in the crowd and confusion he could
tell nothing about them. He was amidships
when he heard the bells to stop and back.
He started to go forward to see what was
the trouble, but the crowd was 50 dense
that he couldn't see much except that the
boat was going into the bridge and he hur-
ried back aud told the engineer, and by that
time the boat struck.
Southmayd testified that when about
the Instructions the signal whistle was
blown as usual, and when st. Augustine
creek was reached the boat struck ground,
but went over all right. and at the mouth
of the creek signals were again blown for
the bridge.
This closed the testimony, and the room
was cleared for the jury to make up the
verdict, which was brought in in about ten
minutes.
TRAINS CROSS THE BRIDGE ALL RIGHT.
The damage to the drawbridge by the
collision was not such as to interrupt travel
The bridge was twisted, but the rails were
changed so as to straighten the track, and
trains ran over all right. The bridge can
not be opened, however, and vessels cannot
pass through. The steamer David Clark,
bound for Savannah from DareR, came up
to the bridge in the afternoon but was
turned back, and went through Freeman's
cut to Lazaretto creek, arriving at her
wharf at 10 o'clock last night The Clark
struck the La2aretto creek bridge III passing
through. but was not damaged.
The passengers who came up from Tybee
as far as the bridge on Saturday nights
train and returned to the island, were
brought up yesterday morning and crossed
the bridge. All trains during the day went
out on time. The Augusta special excur-
sion brought down over 900 passengers who
spent the day at the beach and returned to
Augusta last night The afternoon trains
to the island were crowded and the last
train up last night was packed with people.
SuDt. Cobb made an inspection of the
bridge yesterday morning and again last
night to get at the extent of the damage,
and as soon as possible it will be repaired.
1t will be done, however, without inter
rupting travel.