The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-10-21
Indicted Ior Murder.

IldllTOdO SOltII1SSIOH SOH e4OSSS ASo 49,
vestigation ioto the cause of the re
cent accident on the Florida Central
aod Peninsula system and announced
its decision as follows:
'sAfter full and thorough investi-
CATION into the cause. Of the collision
near Swansea on the Florida Central
and Peninsula, on the morning OF the
14th instant, this board is OF opinion
that the collision was occasioned by
the misreading of the order by Eogin-
eer s.. J. Petit, OF train No. 30, read
ing Sweden, Swansea. which resulted
in the death Of several people. ="
Chairman Evans, after reading this,
made this further announcement:
"Gentlemen:-This board feels that
it is its duty to 60 further aud make
an affidavit before trial justice and
have Mr.. Petit arrested and all the
witnesses bound over for their attend
ance at the next term OF court IN Lex
ington county to testify"
The warrant was issued before the
board announced its decision, the
charge being murder. Mr.. Petit was
in the Office Of the commission and re-
NAMED there awaiting the arrival Of
the constable to arrest him. During
the interim he held a conversation
with B. j. Abney, ESQ. who it isun.
de.sto ID will represent him.
The most important evidence was
that OF Engineer Petit on the south
bound train that caused all the trouble:
MIR. Il. j. Petit being sworn said: [
was engineer on train 35 on the morn
ing of the 14th. I received order No.
2 at Columbia and readit. I will just
give the body of it: No. SO, engine70.
will wait at Sweden until 3:i5 q. m.
for No. 35, engine SO, and will not
wait variations.
have not got the order. Host it in
the wreck. I had the same order as
Mr.. Taylor. I lost nothing else in the
wreck except my coat. l went to the
engine and read the same order to my
fireman and read it tatSweden. L3av:
ing Casey read the same order and
read it Sweden, told the fireman we
would 90 to North's for No. 36 and the
first thing I saw or heard after leaving
Swansea was No. 36's headlight, about
two miles south of Swansea. I applied
my brakes; reversed my engine; gave,
her steam and sand and jumped off.
blew the station signal and Iung the,
bell going through the town OF Swan.
an posftrve STew tre Sc
I applied the brakes and reversed be-.
cause I saw No. 36's headlight
heard no signal at all from the rear
coaches to stop. I went right back TO-
the wreck and Conductor Taylor and.
Fireman Dent were the first persons l.
saw.
didn't you stop the Swansea" I said.
Captain, my order reads Sweden. !"
He said, ''No, it DON'T" and I pulled
mine out and it read Swansea. I then
threw it away, or it got away in some
way. dropped it or at least I have
never seen it since. I heard some
man ''holler." q voice from the bag
gage car. I could not get to it. |
walked up to the wreck.
The trains were about one hundred
feet apart when I Jumped. We were
running at aubout fifteen miles an,
hour when we struck. We were run
ming at about forty or forty five miles;
an hour when we passed Swansea. I
stayed on the steps until I saw there
was no chance. They were just about.
to strike when the train was running
at about fifteen miles, know jump
ed and did not fall.
Mr.. Thomas: Did you not observe
that the rate of speed at which you
were running would not take you to
Sweden by3:152
I was going to North's and not
Sweden. had seventeen minutes to,
get there by my watch. Ths distance
from Swansea to Sweden is twenty
three miles.
Mr.. Evans: You proposed to VIC,
late orders aad stop at North's?
Answer: At 3.15 | had TO to take
side track, in other words could go
to 5:15 when time was up. Ii could
have made it | would have been all
right. If The order had read Sweden
il would not have been violation OF
Order. If the order had read Sweed-
en-, any station could have gotten to.
and cleared it would have been all
right. DID not notice my trim slowing
speed until applied brakcs myself.
I did not feel the air brakes iftae con-
ductor put them on.
The guage aud the train did not
show it at all. It would not have
been possible for the conductor to
have put on the brakes without the
engineer knowing it. Ny putting on.
the brakes and reversing the engine
put me at fifteen mile speed. The
conductor and could have put on the
brakes simultaneously. Did not see
any one at all try ing to get the men.
[ heard ':hollering" out OF the wreck.
L heard one voice calling. / heard
some cutting on the other side Of the
track from where l was. Ibid not re-
cognize the voice. lido rotknow if any
one was killed. I think Mr.. Lines,
Mr.. Thomas and Mr.. Ulmer were kill
ed, as I haven't seen them since the
wreck.
I discovered the error in realing
Swansea for Sweden after we hit.
ran my engine all the way from CO.
Iumbia. It is impossible for me to
say how l made the mistake in read
ing. It was as plain as day, as af
terWards saw. I read my order aloud.
The train dispatcher at COLUMBIA read
j. Sweden. No corrections were made
by the operator after I read it, which
the rules required.
Heart-rending Tragedy.
ATLANTA, Ga, Oct. Is A specialize
the Constitution from Villa ica, says:
Thomas Hensler, the young man who