The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-07-08
A QUAKING RAILWAY
At FULL SPEED WITH THE TRACK
( CURLING UNDER THE TRAIN.

ku8SnoeT fuFn uesntss Ills experience nm
the Night of the Chsrieston Earthquake.
Running 1T Fifty Miles IN Hour when
Z ths shocks Began.
There nrc few locomotive engineers alIve
today who hive had more thrilling nd-
venture In u cab than the man who pulled
trninload OF passengers out Of Charleston
tn the night OF the memorable carthquake.
The throttle was wide open and the train
was dashiDg down q long, steep grade mt
the rate Of 90 miles an hour. The engi-
neer had to reach . small station % short
distance ahead and side track To allow an
excursion train for Charleston to pass
The locnl was behind time and the cngi-
peer knew that 500 lives depended on his
getting safely into the siding before tho
headlight Of tho other train hove I'm sight.
Suddenly tho earth shook, but tho rum
bling noise accompanying tho shock WAS
drowned IN the roar Of the speeding train.
without the least notice the track under
tho train began TO culver and move, while
the locomotive trembled like deer Mt bay.
The engineer thought that the engine had
Jumped tho trnck and was running along
over the crossties. The train tolled on for
half mile before being ditched. Engi-
neer Charles III. Burn was the only person
injured, and he would have escaped un-
hurt had he jumped. He remained at his
post, however, as II glued to the seat His
mind was so intent upon reaching the side
trnck that he could give little thought to
the earthquake. Mr.. Burn gave The Sun
correspondent his story.
"It was 9:25 on tho night of Aug. 81,
1886, I" he said "when mounted the train
In the railroad yards here and got orders
to pull out TO Summerville, 80 miles dis
tant. The weather Was hot, with Lot u
breath Of air stirring. My train started
on time, but soon afterward we were de-
Iayed few minutes. My orders read to
side track at Ten Mile for a down passon-
ger excursion train to pass. When / got
to point milo and half from the sta
ton, found that had only two minutes
to make tho run and have the switch clear
for the other train. The chances were,
too, that it would be on time, and real
lied that had race against death. The
track ahead Of me, however, was clear.
Every nerve In me was strained, for
knew what would be the consequences II
ran In half minute late. was In this
condition and flying over the final stretch,
with the throttle wide open, when the first
tremor of the earth was felt. My first i'm
preston was that the engine had jumped
tho rail and was shooting over the cross
ties. / looked back once and saw that the
coaches were following all right, but the
next instant knew 1t was an earthquake.
The track under me was jerked to one
side and then to the other. Hooked ahead,
and the bright glistening on the top of the
shiny rail could not be seen. A second
glance showed that the rails were moved
out of their original position and were In
the exact shape of a horseshoe. The engine
would twitch and squirm. but 1t held to
tho rail, and the movement Of the whole
train was very much like that of snake
crawling over the sand.
"When I saw how the rails had con-
tracted. 1 tried to stop the train. applied
the brakes, and Immediately the engine
jumped the track. 1t was like a whirl-
wind to mo. The cab on the engine was
broken of and the top of the cab was
thrown 30 feet, bottom upward. Arnold,
the colOred fireman, went with 1t and had
u close shave, but escaped unhurt.
"It Is almost impossible for me to CO.
scribe my feelings while on that rocking
engine, speeding over rough track at the
not slackensd by the winding of the track,
but the engine was flying to the right one
second and TO the left the next and get
ting over the ground so swiftly that it
took all my strength to keep myself In by
holding on to the lever. The engine
seemed to groan.
"Whcn we were ditched. was thrown
into tho soft mud and pinned down by
part of the engine. Another shock came
about this time. and it buried the engine
lower in the loose sand. This made it
harder for me. but fortunately was not
burned or scalded. The third shock
came, and down went the engine again in
the sand. could not move u limb, and
the heat from the furnace near me fairly
made my skin fall away. A lot of fright
enod negroes came rushing by the train,
running they knew not where, and l beg
god them to get me out
"' 'Tain't no use, white man, cried one
old fellow. Your time done up now, and
we is all gwino down togedder. Goodby.
"The earth continued to tremble during
the night, or at least until o'clock in the
morning, when I was taken out of the
wreck. I have been on the road for 80
years, but / never expect to go through
another such experience as on that night
Of the earthquake. Nothing but the mercy
Of God saved me and the train"
The wreck of Engineer Burns train oc-
Cured on the South Carolina and Georgia
railroad ten miles from Charleston. At
almost the same minute two other wrecks
took Fistce, and the only deaths were those
of the firemen on both trains. At Horse
Greek the heavy commotion Of the water
In pond close by the railroad caused the
pond to overflow and wash away the rail
road. The train stopped soon after getting
In. Engineer Reynolds swan out and
landed high In the branches Of tree. The
fireman In trying to reach limb was kill
ed.
The passenger train that left here early
In the afternoon for Augusta, Ca, met
with an accident between Graniteville and
Langley. A largo pond by the railroad
track broke away and submerged the road
under tho train. The engine left the track
In jiffy, and In the smashup the fireman
was killed. The train remained on the
track, and the passengers escaped without
a scratch. All along the road tho rails
were distorted into horseshoe shape but
the engine driven by Burn was the only