The Meeker herald., 1897-01-02
TRAIN WRECKED.
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u.m,a,Is Tenn, Dee. ia speda 10
the Commercial Appeal from
ham, Alabama. says:
r,epds In human form wrecked -
mInRham Mineral passenger tram 49,
At Cahaba river bridge. twenU
r,,,es from here, at 1:JO O'Clock -
morning, and twenty -one lives we1e F.
Thai number Of bodies have Deen
.-ad rrmn the wreck and further seeeh
NAV swell the list Of dead
The wreck Is regarded ~ aimo2
tainly accomplished by the removal ea
rail on the middle span Of the tres
deraIled the train. which causeo
fall down the two spans and preeap
1, into the river, no feet below.
wreck was the worst that has ever 81
nod In The state. and the swvis
.rs % few and are 80 badly hurt 7
they are unable to give any oeta
uriptIon Of how 1t happened. IL IT
known and may never he ascefa
,AA. ,,.,,, ,,,,v n.s-.~sn-s were %
train Most OF them were minen -
residents Of mining towns In this 0s-
trict. who had round-trip tickets ans were
returning 10 their homes along tae NE
OF the birmingham Mineral road
Conductor Connel. who probably knef
better than anybody else as to hsw mArf
passengers were aboard, b dead- 1t
thought, however, there wee not e3
ceedlng twenty-five or thirty But or
passenger purchased a ticket at Bfmin4
ham.
The train ronsistesl OF The engine, ba4
gage car and two coaches.
The engine landed on Its side almost 4
right angles with th track. The cay
piled upon each Other through the ma
span. The entire wreck took fre SOD
afterwards and was rapidly burned to tfff
waters edge. N.pe persons alone escapef
alive from all who went down, and set
eral Of them will probably die.
The first news of the wreck wa
brought by farmer TO Hargrove. foua
miles distant.
When the relief train fOm Birmins-
ham arrived there was little need for
the army OF physicians that had gone
along. The wounded had l,ecn at
tended to and then sent to BlOcton fOr
further attention.
The work of taking out the dead
was entered upon. Nothing was left
of the wreckage but the smOulderins
remains. which had burned to the wa
ter's edge. Chnrred corpses were
packed In between the iron framework
where the seats had been. Most Of
the bodies had been burned beyond
recognition. Some had their heads
burned on and Of others nothing was
left but the mere skeleton. As rapid
ont and laid in row on the river
bank.
DR.. Ray. Bl0ctOn physician. who
attended Gardner, telegraphs tonight
the statement made by Gardner - to
the cause of the wreck. Gardner says
he felt the cars leaving the track and
he saw three savage looking men
rushing from hiding place down to
wards the waters edge, mad TINT aftel
the wreck they went through tht
wreckage. robbing the dead and
wounded and then fed TO the woods
They did their work quickly and offer
ed no assistance whatever In rescuLnl
the imprisoned and injured passen
gers. This story. however, hns not yei
been corroborated, but other facts
tend to show 1t was the work OF train
wreckers.
An examination of the engine shows
that Engineer White had shut OF the
steam and reversed before 1t went
down. indicating that he saw danger
ahead as he approached the bridge
and tried to stop his train. His char
red body was found with his hand on
the throttle. The survivors all agree
that the train left the track and bump
ed along the ties and then. with a
crash. plunged through the bridge
Expert engineers say that there Is ev.
cry Indication that a rail was removed
which dcrailed the train and caused II
to pull down the bridge. The cross-
| ties show marks OF the wheels.
An unsuccessful attempt to wreck
train at the same place and In the
same manner was made five yeara
ago. The railroad company at . late
hour gave the number Of lives lost n