The Oskaloosa herald., 1896-12-31
THROUGH A BRIDGE.
Terrible Railway Disaster Near
Birmingham. Ala
THE FRIGHTFUL PLUNGE OF 4 TRAIN
Etends Remove . Rail from = Trestls
and &c Fails Int = KiVer-Twenty-
Eight Persons KILLED and
Ten Injured.

miles south Of here Sunday morning
at 1880 o'clock, in which % persons
were killed outright and ten others in
jured, two of whom win die. The
Inflated train was q Louisville & Nash
Vile one, which runs from here to
Blockton, q distance OF 40 miles. The
train left here al $3.50 a m. in charge
Of Engineer Frank White and Con-
ductor A. p. Connell. Four miles north
Of Blocton the entire train, made up
of an engine, baggage and two passen-
ger coaches, crashed through q bridge
700 feet long and 12O feet high into the
Cahaba river.
Wreck Takes Fire.
II Il the belief that the wreck was
caused by iends for the purpose Of rob
berry. A rail had been removed from the
track, and when the engine struck this
800 feet of the bridge gave way and
went down with the train. Immediate
~ the wreck took fire, the water being
only about three feet deep, and before
sufficient help could be secured the IN
fortunate passengers and trainmen who
were pinioned under the debris were
burned to death In sight Of other un-
fortunate victims of the disaster. Some
Of the passengers not 50 badly hurt
managed to crawl out and do all they
could in assisting the others, but with
little avail. The dead are:
IA Victims.
Frank White, engineer, OF Birmingham;
George Carney. fireman, of Birmingham,
A. p. Connen, conductor, of Birmingham:
Tom Streeter, colored porter. Of Birming-
ham; Jordan Powell, wife and eight chill
cren. Of Blocton; Mrs. enry Hanberry and
two children. Of Birmingham: James Boil
ing, express messenger, Of Guthrie, KY;
L. W. Martin, Of Brookwood; Bruce
Phillips, Of Blocton: 8. W. Ttbbs and wife.
Of Campbelltown; Andrew Bryson. OF Bloc
ton; George Glendale, Helena; four others
unidentified.
The injured are: Ed Echols, slightly:
Henry Hamburg, ribs broken; Powell child,
feet badly burned: Mrs. Walker, OF Bloc
ton, internally. viii die; Mrs. Walkers
three children, slightly; Miss Booth. Bloc
ton, internally. win die; Stan Stewart, arm
broken.
The bridge was a pOnderous wooden
structure with an iron span of 200 feet
In the center, and just at the begin
ming Of the iron work train wreckers
had pulled the spikes and removed one
Of the rails. When the engineer discoV-
cred this, as was evident from the posi-
ton of his throttle and reverse lever,
he Immediately attempted to stop, but
was running at such a rate Of speed as
to carry down the bridge. Every evil
dence showed that train wreckers had
been at work.
The engine fell at right angles to
piled on top of it and around it. Engi-
neer White was found with his eharred
hand~stil grasping the throttle.
The Flreman's Escape.
The only of the train crew that
escaped with his life from the wreck
was the colored fireman, Sam Spencer.
He jumped from the engine while it was
in midair, and, falling into the river,
escaped almost by a miracle with only
a broken arm. Wild with fright, he
fed for the nearest station to give the
alarm, but ere he reached there a farm
er passing saw the condition of affairs
and went to a telegraph station with
his horse at full speed. Wires were sent
to Birmingham and a relief train went
to the scene, but ere it reached there
the flames had done all of their work.
As soon as the news was received here
both the Louisville e. Nashville and
Southern railways sent out relief trains
loaded with physicians and others, and
everything possible was done for those
who had been fortunate enough to get
away from the reach of the flames
which quickly consumed all of the
coaches and a part of the bridge. Many
of the dead were charred completely
beyond recognition. The exact number
who persisted will never be known, but
1t is believed It will reach 35. The train
contained men, women and children
living at the mines who had gone to
Birmingham to spend Christmas and
were returning home.