The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-09-11
TRAIN DERAILED,
ENGINEER HURT
ACCIDENT ON THE CENTRAL
LOCOMOTIVE STRUCK SWITCH AND
LEFT TRACK WITH CARS.

NOL anu hEee OL
Them Accident Was Not known
None of Passengers Hurt Beyond
Shake-up.
Engineer ]. w. Hooks was injured
and several passengers were shaken up
| by the derailment of a Savannah
bound passenger train of the Central
at Rocky Ford yesterday morning.
Train No. 4, due here from Atlanta
at o'clock was derailed at Rocky
Ford shortly before o'clock. En-
| gineer Hooks was hurt by falling from
his cab as the engine lurched. just
before it came to a stop with it's
wheels plowed in the sand.
While some of the passengers were
shaken up no one was injured, with
the possible exception of one man who
struck his foot against a seat. The
engine, baggage car, mail and express
car and two coaches left the rails.
| The front trucks of the Atlanta sleeper
were off the track. The sleepers from
| Augusta, Macon and Birmingham were
not disturbed. some of the occupants
not being aware of anything unusual
for an hour after the derailment of
the front part of the train.
Cause Is Puzzle.
Just how the accident was caused is
a puzzle TO the railroad men. There
is a switch at the point where the
engine left the rails, and it is possible
that this was not tightly closed,
though this could not be determined
owing to the battered condition of the
frog after the accident
| The train was pulling into Rocky
| Ford and the engineer had given the
warning whistle and was about to
| apply the air brakes preparatory to
| coming to a stop. The switch was
| about a hundred yards from the sta
| ton and it is stated that the train
| could not have been running over fif-
! teen miles an hour.
Warned by the lurch of the engine
that the locomotive had left the track,
| Engineer Hook shut off steam and
| quickly applied the air brakes. Pluck
| lily staying at his post, he brought the
| train to a halt within fifty yards of
| the point where the engine left the
| rails. The track was on a Level
stretch and the slow speed of the train
did not provide sufficient momentum
/ LOI d 4OIlS rue over the lies
Cars Left the Track.
When the train was finally stopped
the engines wheels were nearly buried
! in the sand. The baggage car was on
| the ground with the trucks entirely
gone. The mail and express car was
| standing at right angles across the
| track, while the second class coach was
| resting at an angle across the rails.
| The first class coach was also derail-
| ed. The Atlanta sleeper was next and
the forward trucks of this car were de-
rallied. The three rear sleepers were
| left on the track and the passengers
knew nothing of the trouble until la
| ter.
AS the engine came to a halt it ca
reened slightly towards the main track,
throwing Engineer Hooks out of the
! cab window. He struck on one of the
rails and was pa lfully injured about
the chest. He was taken back to the
sleeper and placed in a BERTH Two
physicians were summoned and no Sc
rious injuries were discovered.
Among the trainmen, Baggagemaster
| Hall was slightly hurt by a trunk fall
| ing on him. Express Messenger ]. H.
Littleton was slightly hurt by con-
tact with packages in the car. None of
the passengers were injured.
Passengers Were Not Hurt.
Among the passengers on the At
| lanta sleeper was Assistant General
Passenger Agent F. j. Robinson, of
the Central of Georgia, who was awak-
ened by the jump of the cars over
| the rails. When he got outside he
found none of the passengers hurt.
With view to alleviating the situa-
! town for the trainmen and from the
town for the trianmen and from the
sleeper rbOuffet for the passengers.
| Considering the difficulties the time
was passed as pleasantly as possible.
Shortly after the accident the news
| of the derailment was sent to the
trainmaster's office and in a short
while a wrecl<er was on the way, fol-
| lowed by passenger train to bring
in the people and baggage. BY 8
| O'Clock the train was ready to return
to Savannah, arriving about II o'clock.
Exaggerated stories of the accident
were circulated on the streets and
| in order to provide the public with
full information a statement of the
nature of the accident was prepared
by General Superintendent Noise for
| the newspapers. 1t had been report
ed that fifteen were killed.
Passenger Praises Engineer.
Among the passengers in the smoker.
which was more roughly handled than
| the other day coach was Mr. ]. S.
| Parker of Lexington, Ky. In describ-
ing the accident, he said:
Il was asleep in the seat at the time.
heard the rumbling and felt the jarr-
! ing as the wheels struck the ties. In
| very short time the car stopped, and
l went outside. / was not hurt in any
way. 1 think the engineer deserves
! praise for the way in which he stuck
to the engine and brought the train to
stop so quickly. Two doctors came
| down pretty soon to look after the in
! jured. The engineer was the only one
hurt worth mentioning"
Mr.. w. II. Leahy division
passenger agent Of the Attain
! tic Coast Line, was one of
| the passengers on the train. coming
| from Atlanta. Mr. Chester. chief mas
ter mechanic of the Central, was also
on the train.
! Engineer Hooks was brought to the
city on the sleeper. which was brought
in by the Macon train. He was taken
TO his home, No. 122 Jones street, west.
His injuries are not serious.
The damage to the equipment Of the
road was not great, and all the cars
will be ready for service In a day or
two. The damage to the track was
| repaired about noon and through serv-
! ice resumed. Passenger service was
| delayed for several hours.
s-o-s-
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