The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-29
ASLEEP AT HIS POST
AN ENGINEER's sLUMBER COSTS
FIVE LIVES.
THOUGHT TRAIN HAD PASSED.
TERRIBLE ACCIDENT YESTERDAY
ON THE II. g. o.

MistooIS the First Section of Passing
Train for the Second Section and
Pulled out-Crnsh Came in a Cut
on Curve on Heavy Down
Gradc-The Dead Under the Wreck
and Only One Body Found-0ne
Man Is Thankful That the CnII Boy
Did Not Find Him.
Baltimore, Jan. ga special from
Parkersburg. w. Va. to the Morning
Herald says:
Five persons dead and one severely
wounded, two engines and ten loaded cars
wrecked, is the result OF the mistake of a
train crew this afternoon between Pc
troleum and Volcano Junction on the Bal
timore and Ohio Railroad. 1t was the
old story of the engineer being asleep at
his post. and mlstaklng the first section
of passing train for the second. Think
Ing both had passed he pulled his train
into the man track and sped onward to
what would seem to have necessarily been
his death.
The dead are:
J. b. Watkins. engineer train No. 9S,
from Grafton.
w. w. Cunningham, fireman on No. 9S,
recently from the Second division.
NJ. Courtney, of Parkersbulg 8, brake
man on No. 9s.
j. T. Bailey of Parkersburg. fireman on
No. 81.
j. G. Bailey. Kanawha. brakeman on
No. ST.
The injured
Ike Davidson OF Grafton. engineer on
No. ST. burned. cut and bruised
The scene was indescrl babe. All the
| five men pinned under the wreck were
dead, and only one of the bodies had been
found. He was ]. G. Bailey, whose body
was crushed so as to be unacceptable,
and could only be identified by his watch.
which stopped at 1906 p. m. The body
Will be he'd al Peti oeum until the trains
+ get through tomorrow.
The accident occurred In a cut on a
curve on q heavy down grade. and at the
end of a bridge. That anyone was saved
at all is almost a mil acle. The third sec
ticn of No. 81 was on the siding at Pc
troleum, with orders to wait there until
the second section Of No. 9S passed east
| Engineer Davidson, who escaped, with
slight INJURIES was the engineer on No.
81, and went to sleep on the siding.
When the nfSt s6ctiJn passed he
thought 1t was the second section and
started out cnto the main track. His
fireman and forward brakeman, both Of
whom were killed, must also have been
asleep for they allowed him to take the
train out. The conductor of first 9s af-
ter having passed. saw Davidson pulling
out and tried TO wave him to STOP but
failed The conductor of the fourth 81,
seeing the third section pull out, ran for
| wafd after ID as fast as possible, his en-
| gineer whistling down brakes. and the
conductor Of the wrecked train ran over
| the tops Of the cars till he reached the
| next car to the last one wrecked in his
attempt TO stop the engineer, but none
of them attracted his attention in time.
Conductor Lang managed to jump In
| time to save himself. All passengers on
the east and west-bound Accommodations
| were transferred al the wreck tonight,
| but the fast trains were sent around by
Moundsvilie and the Ohio River Rail-
road
Brakeman Leslie Davis. whose day It
was to go out on No. 9S, owes his life
| TO the coll boys failure to find him this
morning, and Courtney was substituted
and went to his death.