The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-09-18
'TH ! |l.1 81 ! & d II / WRECK
at Fishing gs sek Being Investigated
bYst GIG Commission.
/ WHAT % / ]; EE; OF THEM SAYS.
ttf - Iis.sre lssl@ ~ % 7Ill
snIr. Garris,s Trip to Scene Fails t,
Reward Him With Decision
as5sS Where Where tho
q : s !, -. I; ;ss@,., l SIne Ifcs. ,9

{.
+ aa3::S;Esi Ssssi : Ssrt'e' jEne Lies.
chairlnai, , irrisE Of the railroad
!, commissif'anlIi 'ali dnesday com pleted and
: gave out FOR bllcation his report on
J. the Fishing eFseiS5 disaster The report
e discovers ndt1 ling new as to the cause
e or the conss1 aences Of the wreck It
: self, but; ents5ssinto an elaborate de
: Tense of the Fsneralities of3tle statute
e giving ttieAh6ard authority in such
$ matters ana Ilaiculings the ieca that
: the boards ssihspect ctions of bridges can
: be regarde1 1.lSfdny sort Of a guarantee
. against. dany The report in full is
!" as. follows: lSssfst
!; ColumGfa S. G., Sept. 8, 1908.
: TO the BoariHoi RAILROAD Commission
5 ers, Columbiay S. Q.
GentlemefIf In accordance with Ia ~
). went tot Rhek Hill and thence to
;, Fishing creegto investigate the re.
= cent disastr1is wreck on the South
!. Carolina and tNseorgi Extension Rail.
!. !. road com npaAp IS tracks at that point.
0:ii found the wreck cleared away and
!, burned FtbmSthe the best informal
!, tion that LIQUID get (without Sctual
! measurement the trestle over FISH
: ing creek 81 sYass4 as4 Sc feet high. found
Z about 100 people engaged in the re.
: lplacementSJs5thei destroyed trcstle.
!. or course, ttRas quite impossible ft,r
p me to acquise; hny thing like accurate
y or detailedi iinformation after my ar.
= rival two: :dayssa ter the catastrophe
= but / feel that it Is due the board and
!. State as vol Et0i report just what ]
= found. BuEbefore / do SOL wish to
: refer to theS Sproyisions Of law which
I, requires tf1agsin accidents Of this kind
: the authorities report the facts to the
= commissionS9ithin 24 hours This was
: nos done. n. got my first information
= by what is is!eommonly known as hear.
:. . say on the eyehing OF September 4th
: A day elapsed before could reach the
scene SO tlatmy visit to the place OF
:, wreck wasEFdelaycd until Saturday
< SeptcmbeE 5tli
h MRS sagl!s kRsHIs s11l AT THE BRIDGE.
y The news ersreports Of this fear.
= full uccl. !, ney:SSWere;I found, in. the
e maine ifathat is to say from the
standk sofltass1alty. devoted my
Z entlrr t5tt1a!an exami-
y nnt. the remain.
s [ingt ,llsisy .g OF ab1u d5esfeet
n conts .nsound timber, but i did
i not find MORE than two consecutive
cross Ties to be worthless, or entirely
decayed. A part of4the under struc-
z tturc found in a condition of decay.
: The trcstle lies along tangent where
the spreading Of the rails is quite un-
q usual. And L examined all the track
{ wheels that I. saw and found them in
a tact save, one which was of the four
= under the front Of the engine, the
:, flangc on one Of these was broken
q Off for for about 20 inches and
+ 1t was pointed out to me by
:. the superintendent that the frae-
= mcnts Of this wheel were gathered uu
a about SO feet to the rear of the point
where the engine lay. The remainder
, Of the trestle with the cars, which
were q total wreck, were burned be.
!, fore. l reached the scene, therefore |
: had practically no opportunity to cx-
. anime the timbers in that part Of the
, trcstlc which went down. I cannot,
therefore, with the evidence before me
a say just what the prime cause Of the
! wreck was, but have no heSitancy in
, saying that If it is a fact that the
wreck occurred from broken nange,
that the treStle in it's condition OF
, partial Decay offered less resistance to
, a derailed engine than it would il it
!, had been sound.
l found that the people of Rock
Hill, Yorkville and the county Of
York generally in state OF intense
excitement, very natural conse-
a Quence Of such fearful disaster when
you remember that the victims we're
the friends and Kindred Of many of
the best people Of the county. met
, a great many OF the citizens OF the
county who had visited the wreck
earlier than l, and there was no ex-
cepton to the belief that the sole
cause of the disaster was directly
! traceablc to the unsound structure of
the bridge.
INSPECTIONS NATURALLY INEFFICIENT
While there is no law looking to
the punishment Of any transportation
r company by the commission for acci-
: dents OF this kind, yet there is clause
+ In the statu teS which reads: Sec.
! 1890. The commission shall have the
/ general supervision Of all railroads
5 and railways in this State operated
: by steam, and shall examine the same
and keep themselves informed as to
, their condition and the manner in
which they are operated, with refer
| c'ce TO the security and accommoda-
i tlon OF the public and the compliance
: Oi the several corporations with the
! provisions Of their charters and the
: laws of the State; and the provisions
| of ILLS cha MI chill u arrl.r 10