The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-06
WHITE BOY Did 1T
BERTHE RIVALS. YEARS OLD,
WRECKED sEABoARD TRAIN.
CONFESSED TURNING SWITCH.
TOLD EVERGREEN POSTMASTER
THAT HE MEANT TO DO 1T.

story Was Told Postmaster Halt
Hour Before Train Was Due, but
He Took No Notice of 1.-THE as
Well as Boy Has Confessed to $. "A.
L. Detectives-BOy in Their CustO-
dy-COI. POlIatt's story of the Ac-
and Wife of ROadmaster Newton
Now in Jacksonville - Engineer
May Recover.
Birdie Ryals, a white boy years
old, opened the switch at Evergreen
and caused the wreck of Seaboard Air
Line train No. "a, day before yester-
day. Thirty minutes before the ar
rival of the train the boy told Post
master A Herring of Evergreen that
he intended to open the switch but
the postmaster. though he lives with
in $50 feet of the switch, took no
notice of the boys threat. Both the
boy and Herring have confessed to
these facts.
Four passengers were injured in
the wreck, as has already been stated
III NliC NApllliAi6 ANCNSb COS AAOAAS 49,
iousIy. E. S. Pierce the engineer, is
likely to recover. The equipment of
the train was badly damaged but is
not beyond repair. Such is the in
formation that was received in Savan-
nah yesterday afternoon from an Of
fetal source at the wreck.
The Boy in Custody.
Acting Superintendent A. w. Tous-
ley of the fifth division, said that he
understood the boy was in the GUS
tody of officers of the road, though
where he has been taken. if anywhere,
he had not been informed.
Four of the passengers who were on
the train at the time of the accident
reached Savannah on train No. 66 and
spent the afternoon at the De Soto.
They are: Col. and Mrs. Pellatt, Mr..
Henry Pellatt and Mrs. H. E. Murphy
of Toronto, Can. Col. Pellatt was
slightly injured, his left arm having
been bruised, though he suffers but
a slight inconvenience.
Col. PeIlatt's Story.
In telling of the wreck Col Pellatt
said that had it occurred twenty min
uteS sooner many persons would have
been seriously hurt or killed, for at
that time the dining car was filled with
passengers and when the train was
wrecked this car was turned over and
in such a position that to get the two
passengers then in it out the windows
had to be broken in. In this rescue
work Mr.. Henry Pellatt helped.
What struck Col Pellatt strangely
was that though there were a. number
of negroes living within forty feet of
the scene of the accident they neither
came near the train nor in any way
offered any assistance, but simply stood
in the doorways and looked on.
DR.. L. A. Morris of New York, who
was also on the train, and who was
able to render a great deal of assist
ance to the injured persons, passed
through Savannah in the afternoon en-
route to New York, after spending the
night before in Jacksonville, where he
went with the injured DR.. Morris says
1t is little short of miracle that many
people were not killed.
Engineer PIerce's Family.
Mrs. Edward S. Pierce, the wife of
the injured engineer, and her two sons
went to Jacksonville early yesterday
morning as did also Mrs 1. B. New
ton, the wife of the roadmaster. Mr..
Newton is in ST. Lukes Hospital. Mr..
w. H. Bowling, the conductor, who
was only bruised, wired his wife yes
terday that he thought he'd be able
to make his regular run, bringing his
train out of Jacksonville last night.
The following dispatch was received
by the Morning News at 1 o'clock this
morning
Jacksonville, Fla, March 5.-Eugi-
neer Pierce is still alive at midnight,
but the physicians give no hope of his
recovery. An operation was perform
ed on his skull this afternoon.
George Hopkins the Pullman por-
ter. died early this morning
Buddy Ryals has not been placed I'M
der arrest, but was left in custody
of his mother. The officials are in
vestigating to see whether he had not
been induced by malicious persons to
tamper with the switch.
The train had been rocked at Ever
green previously, and suspicion points
to certain parties.