Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1904-09-29
PASSENGER TRAINS COLLIDE on
THE SOUTHERN RAILROAD.
q DEATHS ARE ALREADY REPORTED
List OF Injured Runs Up to One Hun
dred and Twenty, Many Of Whom
Cannot Recover. while Others viii
Be Manned for Life-one Of the En-
eIneers plsobeyed His instructions,
Causing . Loss TO His Company Of
More Than q Million Dollars.

modern railroading, two trains on the (,
Southern railway, carrying heavy lists
Of passengers, came together In a
frightful head-on collision near Hodges. :
Tenn. today. sending 54 people to
death and injuring 120. several OF
hon will probably die. This appall-
Ing loss OF life and manning of the liv- !,
ing resulted apparently from tho dia-
regarding or orders given to the two ,
trains to meet at station which has /,
fer q l,ng time been their regular
meeting point. The claim OF failure to
see either the station or lignal cannot
set up by the engineer Of the west |,
bound train were he alive tc enter ,
plea Of defense, as the accident hep
pened In broad daylight, aad. accord
ing to the best Information obtainable,
he had the order In n little franc In
frtnt Of him as his monster of iron
and steel rushed by Newmarket and
soon after came full upon an eastbouni
passenger train making for Newman.
ket In compliance with instructions tc
meet the westbound train which car
ried the sleepers fron the East for
Knoxville. Chattanooga and other
Southern cities.
The possibility exists that the III.
fated engineer may have been asleep,
or that death had suddenly taken the
sight from his eyes before Newman
ket was reached. But nothing Is
known save that the orders we're not |
obeyed. The trains we're on time AMI
not making over thirty miles an hour.
yet the impact as they rounded a
curve and came suddenly upon each
other was frightful. Both engines and
the major portions Of both trains were
demolished. and why the orders wore
cisregarded or misinterpreted will
probably never be known. as the enld-
neers Of the two trains were crushed.
their bodies remaining for hours un-
lder the wrecka9e o. the monster loco
u,uss~ea <uh3e1 01t . ehoft ZINE oefof.
had leaped forward at the touch o
their strong hands upon the throttle.
One Day Later.
Knoxville. Tenn. Sept. 25.-Tonighl
the list of dead as result of the
fearful wreck on the Southern rood
near Newmarket. Saturday. has grown
TO sixty-two. and IL will probably ex.
ceed seventy before Tuesday. as many
of the injured are in n serious con
dition, and more deaths will occur
at the hospitals. Today there were
six deaths at that institution. the las.
one at s O'Clock. when A. NJ. Grant,
a prominent North Carolinan. residing
AT Shelby. N. C.. passed away. Others
who died today at the hospital were
| the two colored flremcn, two little
| girls and Nep Miller. colored. OF John.
son City, Tenn. To the list of dead
| there must be added an unknown Ia
FAINT found today at tho scene OF the
| wreck ana two other unidentified
bodies.
The injured number at least iec.
The Knoxville general hospital. which
10 one Of the largest in the South. IL
taxed to its utmost capacity. Many
others wounded are at private homes
and some were not even brought tn
this city, being sent to their homes
near the wreck or beyond. six have
eied at the city hospital today and
It is not yet known but that this list |
may ne lurlnpr husHltnttu
Several of the injured are reported |
in a precarious condition with faint |
chances for recovery.
In all the churches OF the city to- |
day ministers referred to the wreck |
in their sermons or prayers, the gen
eral sentiment being In keeping with
the cloud of gloom that has veiled
the entire community
The afternoon all the local Masonic
bodies held a joint meeting. at which /
a committee was named to look after
dead and injured members Of the Ma
sonic fraternity.
Several of those have been reported.
Upon one of the dead bodies the only |
means Of Identification Is the insignia
of the F. and A. Masonic order,
None of the pockets of this dead /
mans clothing revealed any papers.
books or other evidences of his identi |
ty
A number of kilograms were sent |
today by this Masonic committee max |
ing inquiries at places from which Il |
was thought the deceased might live. |
However, no positive replies have yet |
Eeen received
The debris was cleared this morn |
ing at o'clock sufficiently to permit |
passing of trains, and traffic was then |
regularly resumed. The first to come |
through was the fast westbound Sails |
bury Chattanooga train, due to arrive |
here last night at $40 O'Clock. All |
day today wreckers. have been demol |
ishing inflammable debris. and remov
Ing scrap iron piles and such portions
of the locomotive as may again be
available for service.
Conservative estimates place the
loss sustained by the railway company
a, from $750,000 to S1,000,000. includ
ing property and personal damages.
This Sunday Knoxvilles entire popI-
lation has manifested the utmost in
terest in the terrible catastrophe.
Groups Of people have been gathered
On all public thoroughfares and at
other congregating places discussing
the disaster. Stories of hundreds oil
varied experiences are heard, and
MANY thrilling narratives cause hear
ers to wonder that the loss of life was
not even greater.
Railroad officials are inclined to the
opinion that the wreck was due to the
| failure of the crew of the westbound
train No. IS to carry out its orders
10 meet eastbound train No. y at
Newmarket. Both trains. it is claimed,
had orders to pass at Newmarket, but
II Is further stated that Hodges is