The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-27
THE WRECK CLEARED AWAY
HAVE ABOUT $4,000 DAMAGES
TO PAY.

bones of n Negro Tramp Who was
burned in the wreck Found When
the Wreckage was Moved Away.
The Florida Central and Peninsu-
lar Trains Running on Schedule
Time-RensOn to Believe That the
Trestle was Fired by Incendiaries
With the Intention of Wrecking
the Night Express.
Trainmaster Williams Of the Florida
Central and Peninsular railroad returned
to the city yesterday at noon, having been
at the scene of the Pipemaker creek wreck
since Thursday night. The burned trestle
has been restored and trains were run
ming as usual last night
Mr.. Williams was seen at the Florida
Central and Peninsular Office. He was
looking remarkably fresh for a man who
had been hard at work for forty-eight
hours without a wink Of sleep. He said
that the wreck was one of the worst he
ever had to contend with.
The burning wreckage made a fearful
Dlaze, and II was several hours before II
could be approached near enough TO do
any effective work. While the wreck is a
costly one, the loss does not fall upon the
railroad, such loss being provided for in
its insurance policies, covering rolling
stock and freight in transit. The insur-
ance companies viii have between s25000
and $4,000 10 pay out on account of the
wreck. The nine cars Of cotton contained
422 bales, all of which was burned, with
the exception Of three bales, which We're
rescued IN damaged condition. This
means a loss of close on to $1,000. The
loss on the three car loads of lumber,
the car load OF grain and the car load of
"a rrHaH 60 not HW : "a
fourteen cars which were burned were
valued at $500 each, making total Of s., 100,
ana the tender of the engine which was
also burned, makes $3.50 more, making
total Of W, $50. 1t cost about $500 to restore
the tresue, but this falls on the railroad.
In clearing away the wreckage a little
OF the heap. The bones were burned
and crushed by the heavy wreekage, so
whether or not they were human bones
Trainmaster Williams is of that opinion.
however. He was informed by the crew
or the wrecked train that there was a
negro tramp who attempted to steal a
ride down from Columbia. He was put
on, the last time. al Rincon, but the
probability is that he boarded the train
again as it moved off and rode to his
death in the wreck
Mr.. Williams is satisfied that the wreck
was or tncendiary origin. The trestle
was new one of cypress timber, and
had been rebuilt in the last sixty days.
the stringers or cross pieces were of pine
stringers had been set fire to in three
different places, about seventy-five feet
apart The last train to pass over the
trestle previous to the wreck was at $50
p. m, and the wreck occurred about
20 p: m, five and a half hours later.
An old negro man and his wife living
near by were fishing in the creek that
night and stated that they were at the
trestle at 9 O'Clock, and there was no
fire there then. Mr.. Williams thinks the
object of the miscreants was to catch
the passenger train, due at the trestle at
l2:l0, with a view to robbing the dead
and wounded and rfiing the express and
baggage coaches. The trainmen report
ed that a crowd of negroes appeared on
the scene almost Instantly. The neigh
borhood is thickly populated with col
ored people, however, and their early
appearance on the scene could not be
taken as proof that they had any hand in
the villainy. The railroad detectives have
been put to work on the case, but no
clues have been developed and the pros
pect is not very bright for the detection
OF the incendiaries, if there We're such.
The physicians amputated the right leg
Of John Nelson. the eolored brakeman,
who was caught in the wreck. at the
Georgia Infrmary yesterday Sam
Broad, the colored boy tramp, also had
IA OFF