The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-09-14
MANNING, C, WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER a. 1904.

day on the bank nearby with mourn
full eyes and muttering to himself
My God, what an ordeal for mai
to BEAR"
AHEAP OF JUNK.
The mass Of wreckage OF the twt
trains is like heap OF junk. Rail
road men said that they had neyel
seen such complete demolition OF ca
gines and coaches. They are lying
heaped and crushed together. Looking
at the conglcmeration, people wonder
that any one escaped. The wreckine
crew from the Seaboard shops at Alb
baville, S. c., arrived at about 1(
o'clock Friday morning and began tc
clear away debris 1t will take days tc
get the line in passable condition, al.
though the trains are scattered to the
side OF the track and in the ravins
into which the bridge fell.
George S. FitzWater. chief detective
Of the Seaboard, arrived on the scene
early in the morning and took charge
of the situation until organized help
arrived. He said Friday afternoon
that be had found some spikes and
bolts and two angle bars which had
been removed from the track with
claw bars, and he said be was conf
dent that dirty work had been done.
Mr.. FitZwater sent telegram to
Supt. E. Berkeley at Atlanta telling
him that he had discovered evidence
Of malice in this work and expressed
his telief that some one had discon.
nected the joints in the lower half OF
the bridge.
The stretch Of track in that vicinity
is clear, straight and apparently well
built one. The timbers Of the bridge
appear to have been Wrenched from
their fastenings and those that are
splintered are Of sound wood. There
was nothing to suggest that the foun-
dation Of the structure was under
mined by a Washout although the
ground was somewhat marShy Friday.
The dead bodies we're all taken
from the wreck about half past 10
o'clock. The woman who was so bad
" mutilated wore a simple gold ring
with the inscription, From Tom to
Anna. ,Oct. 20, 1885," inside. She
was probably 81 years old, medium
sized with dark auburn hair. She
had a purse containing 50 IS, return
trip ticket from Wilmington, n. c.,
to Atlanta and a baggage check No.
60359S.
G. S. Coleman Of Bon Air, Va, said
he was the only man in the smoking
car when the train was hurled over
the embaukment and he heard lots Of
shouting from the other coaches. In
a very few minutes, he said, the
freight train crashed into them and
tnen silence srttled over the scene for
several minutes when the groans Of
the injured as they began to regain
consciousness, pierc d the night air.
AN ND1sCRIBABLE MASS.
The entire crew being disabled, pas
sengers endeavored to flag train fol-
lowing, but were without lights and
powerless. A few. minutes later the
freight engine and car dashed down
upon the wrecked coaches.
The passenger train lies on it's side,
an indescribable mass OF splinters,
timber and iron, while upon the Ia
dies coach rests the freight engine
and on top Of that the caboose car
minus it's running gear.
The two ladies killed were sitting
opposite each other in the first class
coach. Mrs. Black was en- route for
Atlanta with her husband, q telegraph
operator, to attend court. Mr.. Black
escaped with few bruises. Mrs. Nc
Manus was crushed to pieces. a purse
containing small sum and key and
a baggage check were found and
though to be hers. A wedding ring
inscribed, From Tom to Anna, Oct.
20, 'S5" and a gold wire ring were tax
en- from her fingers. All Of the injur-
ed who could travel were sent on. The
bodies OF these killed we're taken to
Monroe.
Mrs. J. N. Clay Of Oakland, Tenn,
with small baby, was taken from the
Pullman, the baby uniDjursd. Mrs.
Clay, though hurt about the mouth
and blood streaming from her face,
was found sitting with the baby at
her breast. Probably more than a
Thousand people visited the wreck
during the day. Physicians from
Rock Hill and Monroe rendered all the
assistance possible.
At the request OF Coroner Louthian
Of York, Magistrate Beckham sum.
mons the following jury which vas
taken by special train to Monroe to
view the bodies there: ]. n. Nc
El9ee, n. NJ. Dunlap, NJ. F. Owens,
John B. Ferguson, J. W. O'Neal,
Cecil Reid, r. W. Patton, Robt.
Morrison, Walter Moore, J. b.
Witherspoon, J. A. Shillinglaw and
W. B. Byars. The jury examined a
number Of witnesses, including train
and bridge men. Its verdict did not
fix the blame. The horror Of the
wreck is indescribable. That any
escaped is regarded as marvellous.
The War News Lies.
Somebody in Berlin as taken the
trouble to tatulate and analyse the
statistics Of the war news since the
struggle between japan and Russia
opened. The result appears in the
Berlin issue Of Lloyed's OF recent
date. The compiler assumes that
every telegram told the truth. Here,
then, is the result, and figures don't
lie: Russia has lost 2S battleships
like the Retvizan, 80 of the Peropav-
lovsk type, 145 cruisers, All torpedo
boat destroyers, 1,4S7 torpedo boats,