Birmingham state herald., 1897-04-23
TIME TO CALL A HALT.


 The news of yesterday morning hhat southbound train No. of the Louis- vile and Nashville that left here Wed nesday at D. m, had been wrecked at Wilcox Ca few miles from Evergreen, Conecuh county), brought heavy hearts to several Birmingham people, until word was received from the people from this city were unharmed. The facts as developed seem to be that some candi- date Cor caRdidates) for the penitentiary had drawn the spikes and removed the fish plates, admitting of the placing of the end the rail far enough out to de- 6erail the train, and which was done by spiking the rail about eight inches far ther out than it should have been to the tie. This, mind you, was done near the commencement of the trestle, causing No 3 to derail and strike upon the tres tie with full force, wrecking it com- rletely and throwing locomotive No. ', drawing the train. to the ground below, striking upon it's back and side, and fol- lowed by mail and baggage cars. Luck fly the cars containing passengers did not fall ever, or else teh dead and wounded would probably have been numbered by the score. But, the terrible and fatal scalding and otherwise injuring of the engineer ard fireman of the ill-fated train, aside rom injuries to the mail clerks, express messengers, baggage men, etc, is a sufficient calamity to war rant the judicial hanging of those who brought about this disaster. This dis aster following so clcseiy upon the hold up of the trainmen and express messen- ger upon a ncrthbound Louisville and Nashville train recently, and it so soon after the Cahaba bridge disaster, which followed So closely the attempted wreck ing of a passenger train upon high trestle. near Leeds came, that people who go about the country by rail ratu- rally want to know why it is that inno- cent people are killed by wholesale by train wreckeqs.
 The investiga tions of the Southern Ex- press company, it is claimed, dsmcn- strates that the ri-gleader in the hold-up near Calera of a Louisville and Nash vile train was former section hand or railway employe, intelligent enough to fully understand the enormity of the crime of train wrocking, and those par ties who changed the rail at Wilcox so as to wreck a passenger train there, knew full well that it meant the loss of human life, and that the engineer and fireman of that train would, in the pur- suit of their noble avoeation, probably be the first to suffer, and deprive their families and friends of their support and company. Mob law is uncalled for, as upon cur statute books are laws that, properly administered. will remove train wreckers to where they can do no in- jury. In view of the numerous attempts at train wreckipg and train robbine in the last few months in Alabama, we be- lieve it calls for the visitation upon con- victed train wreclzers and train robbers of the full penalty eff the law, that the crime may ta stamped out.
 We believe this train wrecking of Wednesday night will cause the senti- ment of the people to be against the ex- ercise of any and all judicial and exec utive clemency in behalf of convicted train robbers for a long psriod. For in- stanos,- suppose MT. w. F. Tyler, pur- chasing agent of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company and several other gentlemen of this city who were on board the derailed train had been killed, there. certainly would have been an intense feeling of resentment against the train wreckers pervading the minds of all our citizens, and it is not the fault of those train wreckers that the gentle men referred to were not killed, and on board the train, were citizens from all sections of Alabama. Of course the in- terferenca with the carrying of express matter, newspapers, mail etc., is no in- considerable crime against the people and good government, but it pales into ineignlficance alongside of death as caused by train wrecking, and the &C., ton of our legislature last session in the premises demonstrates what an enor- mous crime our lawmakers considered train wrecking to be.