The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-08-05
A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT.
OMG HUNDRED PEOPLE KILLED AND
WOUNDED
Terrible Railroad Accident -Trn Excursion
Trains CDlnde-Au Awful and Sichantng E
seuger's Experience.

Sight at th, Scene of thu wreck-A Pas
seuser's ExpsIience.
ATLANTIC CITY. n. j.. Jaiy 80. i
railroad accident, horrible in its ds'
tails and sickening in its results, oc
CURED This evening just outside OF this
city. and as result about one hun,
dred persons are either killed Or IN,
iured. Tne Reading Railroad express,
which left Philadelphia at 40 o'clock
for Atlantic City, crashed iuto Penn
sylvania Railroad excursion train al
the second signal tower about fou!
miles out from here The Pennsylvania
train was returning to Brldgeton with
4 party of excursionists from that
place, Millville and neighborlne
towns. 1t was loaded with passeng.
ers. and rough estimate OF the killed
and injured at late hour places the
number at one hundred.
1t is hoped that this is an exaggera
ton, but the number is undoubtedly y
more than fifty. Atthe second signal
TO wer the tracks of the two roads dla.
sonally cross. The Reading train
was gived the signal, but it either failed
to work or the speed Of the express
was too great to stop. 1t caught the
excursion train bro4dslde aud
pioughed through, literally cieavlng ii
in twain. The engine of the Reading
train was shattered to pieces. Every
car was jammed to its fullest capacity.
AS soou as the news reached Atlan-
tic City the utmost CONSERVATION pre-.
vailed, but the authorities were equal
TO the emergency. Relief trains were
dispatched 10 the scene loaded with
cots and several surgeons. As quick
as the bodies were recovered they We're
carried into the local hospitals and un
dertaker shops. 4 general lire alarm
was sounded, and the department
promptly responded and aided IN the
heartrending work of digging for
the victims. Fear grew into despair
and horror as the vigorous work OF
the relief gangs revealed the awful ex-
tent of the disaster.
The first Reading relief trAio bore
into this city twenty seven mangled
corpses, men, women and children.
The next train not an hour later car
ried fifty manned and wounded, and
two of these died soon after reaching
the city. Train after train piled to the
scene of the wreck and tolled back
with its ghastly load. Tne Sanitarium
which does duty as the city hospital
quickly found It's capacity ogerlaXed.
Meanwhile Others of the dead and in
iured were being carried to the private
hospital at Ocean and Pacific avenues.
Edward Farr, engineer On the Read
ing, was killed outrig as was another
road man who rode on the engine with
him. This man, whose name has not
vet beeu learned, saw the collision
coming and leaped from the cab an
instant before the crash. Almost at
the same instant the engine cut It's way
through and caught HIM directly IL
its path. His body and that OF Farr
were found under q heap OF debris:
but the engineer lay in what remained
of the cab and his right hand still
cIasped the throttle. He had been
faithful unto death and met 1t at his
post. The fireman on the tram had
ieaped few seconds before and es.
caped with trifing injuries. Samuel
Thorn, baggagemaster Oh the Reading
train, is among the dead. James III
Eateman, Bridgeton undertaken, Is
known to be killed. He was in the
third car and his hat was found lying
among the mass of broken timber.
Richard Trenchard, a Bridgeton ma
chlnists, and his wife, are both dead.
AS time progressed it seems almost a
certainty that fully fifty persons were
killed. Conductor Kelly, OF the Penn,
sylyania train had both legs and
arms broken and was internally in
iured Albert j. Mosebach of Phlla:
delphia was oo the Reading train and
escaped unhurt.
The excursion train was made up OF
fifteen cars, the foremost OF which was
baggage car. This and the next
two coaches caught the full force OF
the crash and were easily demonllshed.
What rem aimed Of the third car was
tumbIed into ditch at the roadside.
! The responsibility for the accident
cannot now be fixed. Charles q.
Rynick of Bridgeton, who was in the
excursion party, WAS IN one OF the
rear cars. He escaped with severe
bruises, and so far as his agitation
would permit told the story of his ex'
perience. When we saw that col
lision was Unavoidable he said, the
scene in our car was terrific. Women
tainted and men rushed IN mad panic
for the door. Bat it came a most be-
fore we knew it. The third car was
cut right iu two and the lower portion
of it lifted bodily from the track and
tumbled over. Every car was crowd
ed and it is horrible TO think OF the
numbers who must be lying under
those ruins. The roof of one OF the
cars fell in as y mass and everybody
in that car was buried under 1t. il
, simply dropped in On tbs people.
knew Of many OF those aboard, but
will hope for the best. kno" posi-
.. tiyely of two in our car who were Kill
ed. They were Mr.. aud Mrs. FRANK
Bell of Bridgeton. Their daughter
was in another car farther back anc
was not hurt. don't know who is &c
blame. When we were about two
miles out from Atlantic City we came
l to a stop out in the meadows and
stayed there for several minutes bui
+: Ido not know why. Think there mus
+ have been fully eighty or a hundred
1 killed. The only person with me wa:
S my six-year old son and he was no
/ hurt, thank God. :"
D An Associated Press reporter was OF
: one of the hrst relief trains sent out by
the Pennsylvania railroad and he wa:
: the first newspaper representative or
: the scene. The train was in charge O
S d number of railroad officials ant
: Prosecutor Perry of Atlantic City, |
: drew up in the darkness few feet thu
r side of the fatal point.