Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-09-23
ROW ON THE TRAIN.

Nobody was seriously hurt. One man
was cut about the head by pieces of glass
splintered by pistol bullet, and the peo-
pie along the line Of the road being unable
to get at the exact facts, were wrought
up to high pitch of excitement. This,
so far as THE ENQUIRER has been able to
learn, is about all.
The trouble occurred on an o. r. & G.
excursion train that was run between
Marion, N. c., and Camden, s. c., last
Friday. The excursion was really for
the benefit of the Negroes living along
the line; but number of white people
also took advantage of the low rates, and
both races having ''liquored up'' some-
what at the Camden dispensary, on the
return trip they were inclined to thirst
for each others blood.
The first story that reached here was to
the effect that Mr.. Bob Truesdell of Ker-
shaw, had been badly shot in the head
with pistol in the hands of Negro,
and that several other men had been
more or less seriously wounded. But it
seems that the story has been somewhat
exaggerated. Tom Ballard, the we'll
known barber of Yorkville, was on the
train, and he has given THE ENQUIRER
as straight story, probably, as could be
told by any single witness. He said:
"Now, I'll try and start at the very be-
ginning. There was pretty good sprink-
ling of white people on the train, and as
we were going down, they were scattered
about in all the cars with the Negroes,
There was no liquor aboard and no trou-
BILE. A big crowd of whites got on the
train at Kershaw, and including those al
ready OH the train, there were about
enough to fill one car. 1t was not until
we were leaving Camden that the trouble
commenced.
"The whites had made up their minds
that they wanted the last car for them
selves. The Negroes began to crowd into
the car also. TIE whites and Negroes
began quarreling. One white man tried
to hold the door and Negro told him
that if he did not let the door loose he
would kill him. The whites and Negroes
both crowded around the door. All of
them or most all of them had knives and
pistols, and they cursed and quarreled at
each other until it looked like there was
going to somebody killed. The train
started about this time, and before it had
gotten very far heard a pistol 60 BAN,
BAN, BAN, five times, one shot right after
the other. This was about car and
half from me. Everybody was scared
almost to death. After little white man
came into the car where I was with his
head covered with blood. I asked him if
he was shot. He said he was just cut, and
I looked at his neck and found that sure
enough there was q cash in it. He was
not shot. 1 think this was Mr.. Truesdell.
Everybody was still excited and scared,
and the conductor asked me if could
not talk to the Negroes and get them
quiet. I said that 1 could not do any
thing with the Negroes; and then tried
to talk to the whites. I told them that l
was not surprised at these drunken Ne
groes; but WAS surprised at you white
folks, and then asked that everybody put
up their pistols and let the white men
have car to themselves, and let the Ne
groes get into another car. But it did not
do any good. A North Carolina Negro
pointed his pistol at me and said: Lis
ten at the way that big red niger talks.
Kill him, kill him. 1 said that did not
have any pistol and he could kill. me If
he wanted to, and then they seemed to|
get quieter.
"At Westville, somebody telegraphed
or telephoned ahead to Kershaw, and
when we got to Kershaw it seemed as If
the whole town was out with guns and
pistols. The people were also badly eA-
cited. They seemed to think that some
thing awful had happened without know
ing exactly what it was. The general
idea was that there had been fight be-
tween the Negroes and whites and they |
wanted to help the whites. They were in
q fighting humor, too, and 1 tell you it
looked scary. After while armed men
went through the train and took Bob
Adams of Yorkville, and John Crockett
of Hickory Grove. Just as they took
Adams off the train, somebody fired a