The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1896-12-28
VICTIMS ON WRECKERS.
Awful Work Of Fiends on an Ala
bama Railroad.
TWENTY PEOPLBPLUNGB TO DEATH


Hundred Feet to the Rocks BelOw-Onlg
Nine Escaped. IL
BIRMuNGHAN, Ala, Dec. 2s-Flobds
in human form wrecked Birmingham
Mineral passenger train No. 40 at CnhAba
river bridge, twonty-seven miles from
here, at 700 o'clock yesterday morning
and twenty lives were lost. That number
of bodies have been recovered from the
wreck and further search may swell the
list Of dead The wreck is regarded
as almost certainly accomplished by the
removal Of a rail on the middle span Of
the tressle. This derailed the train,
which caused it to fall down the two spans
and precipitated it into the river, 10 feet
below.
The wreck was the worst that ever oc-
CURED in the state, and the survivors are
so few and are so badly hurt that they are
unable to give any detailed description of
how it all happened. 1t is not known and
may never be ascortained just how many
passengers were on the train Most of
them were minors and residents of min
ing towns in this district, who had round
trip holiday tickets and were returning to
their homes along the line of the Birming-
ham Mineral railroad. Conductor A. p.
Connell, who probably knew better than
anybody else as to how many passengers
were aboard, is dead. 1t is thought, how
ever, that there were not exceeding twen-
ty-flve or thirty. Nine persons escaped
alive, but several of them will probably
die
The i'll fated train was local passenger
which left here at 630 a. m, and was
scheduled to make circuit of the Bir-
mingham Mineral, which is a branch Of
the Louisville and Nashville reaching all
the important mining towns in the dis
trict The train, consisting of an engine,
a baggage car and two coaches, left here
and went to Taccoa on the main line of
the Louisville and Nashville There it
switched off to the Birmingham Mineral
track and went to Gurnee, from Gurnee to
Blocton.
Six miles south Of Gurnee is the Cahaba
river, "a shallow mountain stream which
has depth at this time of only about
three or four feet. This river is spanned
by an iron bridge with wooden trestles
on each side. Its entire length is 800 feet,
and the length of the main span, where
the wreck occurred, is ITO feet. The
bridge was built only four years ago and
was regarded as very strong structure.
The main span and the span just beyond
it, both made of iron gave way and pre-
cipitated the train into the river.
The first news of the wreck was brought
to Hargrove, a telegraph station four
miles from the Cahaba river, by a farmer
who said that while passing near the place
he heard crash. Going nearer he saw
the two spans of the bridge broken out.
He then discovered the burning wrecllage
in the shallow water below. He could
hear the groans of the wounded and dying,
but without waiting to see further he rode
his horse rapidly to Hargrove, where the
operator telegraphed to Birmingham and
Blocton for relief. Meanwhile few
country people gathered at the scene to
render what aid they could, but it was too
late to do much.
When the relief train from Birmingham
arrived nothing was left of tho wreckage
but the smouldering ruins. Charred
corpses were packed in between the iron
frame work where the seats had been,
most of the bodies having been burned
beyond recognition. Some had their heads
burned off and of others nothing was left
but the mere skeleton. AS rapidly as pos
sible the remains were taken out aud laid
in row on the river bank. At o'clock
twenty bodies had been found and no
more were in sight, 1t is possible, how
ever, that there are others under the
wreckage, and also that some may be hid
under the water.
OF the survivors Sam Spencer was the
only one of the train crew that escaped
alive. He was the cOlored fireman. He
jumped from the engine while 1t was in
mid-air and landed in the water some dis
tance from where the engine fell. His
only injury was a broken arm. He left
the scene for BloctOn on foot almost inn
medlGtely after the wreck, apparently
cra2ed with right
q. tne ei sit other survivors three were
sh. rem, all of whom had their feet
burned and smashed, and lady who had
both feet crushed. The other three were
Henry Handberry, a conductor from Bir-
mingham, who was taking his wife and
two children out for ride around the cir
cult, and VIII Gardner and Andrew Bry-
son, miners from Blocton. Handberry
was on the same seat with his wife and
children when the crash came. The latter
three were killed and he was pinned down
and would have been burned alive had he
not been rescued by Bryson and Gardner.
These two men also saved the unknown
woman and three children, but by the
time they had rescued these five persons
the heat had become so intense that they
were compelled to desist in their work of
rescue.
1t is thought that fully three-fourths of
the dead were killed outright in the crash,
while the other five were plnioned down
and cremated. Gardner and Bryson were
both badly hurt, while Handberry will
probably die
DIR. Ray, Blooton physician, who at
tended Gardner, one of the injured sur
vivors, telegraphs the statement made by
Gardner as to the cause of the wreck.
Gardner says that when he felt the cars
leave the track he looked ont and saw
three savage looking men rushing from
hiding place down towards the waters
edge and that after tho wreck they went
through the wreckage, robbing the dead
and wounded, and then fed to the woods.
They did their work quickly, and offered
no assistance whatever in the way of
the imprisoned and Injured pas-