The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1891-09-03
HURLED TO ETERNITY.
a TRAIN AT THE BOTTOM OF
AN S5-FOOT ABYSS.
Tho Catastrophe the Worst In tho His
tory of Nort!, CaroIina-1he Numb of
Deal Rcache< Ovcr n Sccrc-Fromi-
nchCe OF the Victims.
NreCt OF the East Mali,


One of the most disastrous railway
wrecks kns wn in the annals of North
Carolina occurred aboGt > o'clock a. III.
al Boston Bridge, two mics west of
Statcsvil c, on the Western North caro-
Ina Eoad.
Passenger No. Q. known as the fast
mai. was made up at "a isbury. a i
lu!'cd out on time il a m.l. loaded with
passe gers. 1t was composed of a tag
gaze d rail car, second aud first class
coach"N. Il Pullman sleeper, and SUI cr
intcndent Bird q private car Da sy.
Th" sleeper, which was from Colds boro,
usually contains good number 0 pas
scngcrs from Northern points, and that
night was well filled.
The run to StatcSvillc was made on
time, distance Of twenty tva miles, but
Just after leaving Statcsvlilc there s Il
high stone bridge spanning Third Creek,
and down into this creek plunged the
entire train. :; distance uf ut least eighty
five fc"i, carrying dea h and destruction
with it.
Twenty passengers were killed out
7 ght, nine seriously injured, and abolt
tw"l:ty badly bruised and shaken up
The night was dismal, and to add to
the horror o! the situation the wat in
the creek was up 1t was only through
the most heroic 'tforts of those who had
hurried to the see e of the wreck that
the IN jured were not drowned
The accident was caused by the
spreading Of the rails The killed aud
injured were a | re ,idcnts of the South,
most Of them mcmj e.s of prominent
families who had been at the seaside.
An eye witness who appeared at the
scene Just At daylight says 10 use his
own words: "Thc scene appalled, me.
The great h Oh bridge apparently le-
manned intacr, but Tie IaiiS were torn
up and the edges OF the stone were
knocked off where the falling cars had
come IN contact with il. II was
early morning. \ mist filled the va ley.
News of the accident had : arcclv got
ten abroad. Iut alreaiy 100 willing peo-
pc from the surrounding farms were
helping t. remove the wr2ckag" and
draw out the bodies of the dead. 1t was
a terrible scene. The debris Of the ears
was piled mountain high. it seemed. in
the utmost confusion III the fall the
Pullman ear Lad leaprd over all the 9th
er>, whiilinG through the air and Strik
ing the ground with terrible effect, away
in front of where the engine lay. 1t
was mashed a, one would crush an
:
We got out Engineer West in peceI
His fireman, Fry. of Hickory. was al>c
badly mutt atcd. From The debris OF the
Passenger cars people were brought ont.
mang ed in a sorts Of ways, only two
or three bodies being brought ont intact
The bodl wee ranged in row on the
hillside. and they were ready to be sent
to WatnryiIlc when | let. and wOrkmcn
were there digging in the wreck for
other bodies The conductor was badly
hurt, hut he hubbEed to Sta.esvillc and
gave news Of the wreck"
Three ladies In the first class car were
killed. and cEcry passenger III the sleep
ing car met death not iiv NJ soul cS-
Gaping ! he trdce was not II atcrialy
in ure /. and trains were 20 II running on
regular schedule me
tm ng those killed was Miss Ophelia
Moore o lic Ia, Ara, and her mother
was seriously injured The MCo-"s a.e
prominent in sociai and lite AIRY circles in
the south. Another no:ed vi tim
was the Rev. !. VI. Skies. gradu-
ate of the Southwestern Presbyterian
University OF Clarksvillc. Tenn. pr.
Skies had Just been assigned to mission
AIRY work in China. and was to have left
for that country Sept O. He was mar
ried.
1t is believed by some that malicious
re: sons spread III" rails So that the train
won d lea the track and dash into the
vadu"t. An east bound train had pass
ed over The Niaduct only an hour and a
half previously.
The Western Nor h arc ina Railroad
extends from Salisbury TO Point Rock,
and is owned an operated by the Rich.
mond and nanv.,lc