The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-09
FIVE DEAD IN
 TRAIN WRE11. Come Together Deep es', MAIL AND F SIGHT CRASH Crew of the Latter Over.
 looked Their Orders. A. c. S.. Passenger Going at 40 Miles an Hour and Local Freight of
 southern Collide at
 Kewanee; Miss.

Meridian. Miss. March a-(speciai. J.. One of the most horrible railroad catas- trophes that ever occurred in this State took place eighteen miles east of Meri- dian at o'clock this morning on the Alabama Great Southern Railroad. The fast mail No. 1, Cincinnati to New Or leans. and local Southern freight No. es came together near Kewanee station, and as result five men were killed, the bodies of three entirely cremated, the mangled forms of ths other two burned to crisp. four others more or less in- Jured. two mail cars. one baggage and express. half dozen freight cars. to- gether with their cargoes. consumed by fire. and two locomotive engines crushed into almost unrecognizable shapes.
 The Dead and Injured.
 The dead are-Pat Larlxin, engineer of Alabama Great Southern No. i, D. D. Nicholson. railway postal clerk; Robert Riggs, railway postal clerk; R. c. David son. United States mail weigher: John Acres. fireman of freight No. 66. x
 Injured-'Engineer Case of freight No 6e. severely bruised on different parts of the body, and gashed about the head and face, injuries not serious: Henry Banks. colored, fireman of No. 1, shoulder dIs- located. and badly bruised head and face; M. Brown. colored. brakeman on No. l, seriously cut and bruised on different parts of body, will recover; ]. B. Cape heart. back wrenched and bruised arm, injuries not serious, and able to take a train out this afternoon.
 The scene of this mornings disaster Is about midway between Meridian and York, Ala. From this point to York the Southern Railroad uses the Alabama Great Southern's track. and the tragedy was the result of negligence.
 Overlooked Bulletin.
 No. 1, from Cincinnati. due at Meridian 5 at 2:S0 a. m, was reported three hours late. Southern freight No, 6s. leaving here at { d. m.. overlooked the bulletin regarding the delayed passenger, which had the right of way, and departed on time, without securing meeting orders or setting a clearance. This train was in charge of Conductor Jacobs and Engineer Case. and at the door of those men is the fearful loss of life and property laid.
 Neither crew of the two trains knew of the approach of the other until the huge locomotives entered a deep cut simultaneously from opposite directions and running at full speed. Two shrieks from the whistles, an awful crash, jumbled mass of iron and steel. freight. mail, express and baggage cars fell In a heap wedged between fifteen foot enl- bankments, and imprisoned a half dozen men.
 Instantly there was a flash and a mass of flames went up from the wreckage. The cars of both trains fairly fell over each other and quickly caught fire Either end of the cut was blocked by an almost insurmountable mass of broken cars, It was not yet daylight and the more fortu- nate ones from the rear of the train could not reach the dying men.
 Unable to Render Aid.
 So rapidly did the timbers and contents of the cars burn that within a few moments the heat was so intense that the horror-stricken spectators were forced to retreat several yards away. Tn fact, 1t was near noon before the debris could be examined and the work of clearing away the wreckage we'll begun.
 The bodies of Engineer LarlIin. Postal Clerk Nicholson and Mall welgher Da. vidson were entirely consumed. while only a portion of that of Clerk Riggs and the skull of Fireman. Acres could be found.
 The escape of Henry Banks, fireman of No. l. was by jumping. He was the first to discover the impending danger. He gave his engineer warning and leaped Engineer Larkin jumped from his seat and tried to work his reverse lever when the crash came, and 1t Is believed he was thrown into the fire box of his engine.
 Engineer Case was caught beneath his engine. but in some manner extricated himself. climbed over the wreckage and saved himself though he has no recol- lection whatever of the accident, not even remembering seeing the other engine ap- preaching. His escape was miraculous, as 1t seems an impossibilIty for a man to have emerged from the very centre of the burning wreck without injury.
 While the five men were burned alive their agonies could not have been of long duration. as the cars beneath which they were pinioned were almost instantly en- veloped fin flames. The fixing of the blame for the disaster was not difficult, the engineer of the freight train admit. ting that 1t was his and Conductor Ja- cobs's fault. Conductor Jacobs left his train at the scene of the wreck. and when last seen Is said to have been going north on the railroad track. No arrests have yet been made.
 Relief Train Sent Out.
 The news of the wreck was received here this morning at an early hour, and caused much excitement. A relief train was quickly made up and sent out from here at g o'clock. which rendered all the aid possible. returning at il o'clock with the injured men and the passengers of the wrecked train.
 Conductor J. B. Capeheart of the pas- senger said We were running nearly three hours late at a rate of nearly forty miles an hour when we struck the freight I was knocked almost senseless and my back badly hurt. There was nothing we could do to save the poor fellows who were killed. They were pinned under a mass of wreckage and soon perished'
 Robert Riggs. one of the dead postal clerks. was 35 years of age. and resided at Chattanooga. He leaves a wife and two small children. He was a native of Selma, Ala. and a son of the late pr. J. M. Riggs of that place.
 Clerk Nicholson was widower without children. He was about 50 years of age. and made Meridian his headquarters. owning property here.
 Weigher Davidson was young man and resided in Chattanooga. He leaves no family.
 Engineer Larkin was about 6 years old,