Griggs courier., 1897-01-01
A FATAL PLUNGE.
Terrible Railway Disaster Near
Birmingham, Ala.
Fiends Remove Rail from Trestle
and Train Falls Into River
Twenty-EiGht Persons Killed and
Ton Injured.

Ton Injured.
Birmingham, Ala, Dec. 2S.-One Of
the most disastrous wrecks in the his
tory Of southern railroads happened &c
miles south of here Sunday morning
at 1850 o'clock, in which % persons
were killed outright and ten others in.
jured, two of whom will die. The
ill-fated train was Louisville e. Nash
vile one, which runs from here to
Blockton. a distance of 40 miles. The
train left here at $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 bridge
700 feet long and 12o feet high into the
Cahaba river.
Wreck Takes Fire.
It is the belief that the wreck was
caused by fiends 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
ly the wreck took fire, the water being
only about three feet deep. and before
sufficient help could be secured the un-
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 so badly hurt
managed to crawl out and do all they
could in assisting the others, but with
little avail. The dead are:
The Victims.
Frank White. engineer. Of birmingham:
George Carney. fireman. Of birmingham:
A. p. Connell. conductor, of Birmingham:
Tom Streeter. colored porter. Of B!rminR-
ham: Jordan Powell. wife and eight chill
two children. Of Birmingham; James Boil
ing, express messenger. of Guthrie, KY:
L. w. Martin, of Rrookwood: Bruce
Phillips. of Blocton: 8. w. Tibbs and wife.
of Campbelltown: Andrew Bryson. of Bloc
ton: George Glendall. Helena; four others
unidentified.
The injured are: Ed Echols. slightly:
Henry Hanbury, ribs broken; Powell child,
feet badly burned; Mrs. Walker. Of Bloc
ton, internally. will die: Mrs. Walkers
three children. slightly: Miss Booth. Bloc
ton. internally. will die: Stan Stewart. arm
broken.
Relief Promptly Sent.
AS soon as the news was received here
both the Louisville & 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 part of the bridge. Many
of the dead were charred completely
beyond recognition. The exact number
who perished will never be known, but
it 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.
Robbed Dead and Wounded.
DIR. Ray, Blocton physician, who at
tended Gardner, one of the survivors,
telegraphs the statement made by Gard
ner as to the cause of the wreck. Gard
ner says when he fei. the cars leave the
track he looked out and saw three saw
age-looking men rushing from Il hiding
place down toward the waters edge,
and that after the wreck they went
through the wreckage, robbing the dead
and wounded, and then fled to the
woods. They did their work quickly,
and offered no assistance whatever in
the way of rescusing the imprisoned
and injured passengers. This story,
however, has not yet been corroborated,
but other facts tend TO show that it was
the work of train wreckers.