The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-09-25
. Over OneHundredO Others
Injured. Several Of
Whom May Die.
ENGINEER FAILED
TO OBEY ORDERS
Possible That Death Had Al
ready Palsied the Hand
at the Throttle.
Ac IDENTs ON souTHERN's
TENNESSEE DIVISION
Both Engineers Were Killed and
Real Cause Of Tragedy Can I.
Never. Be Knowr1Ma jor M
Portions Of Trains De
rnolishe dS Story Of
Eye-Witnesse
ACCIDENT ON sOUTHERN's s8s
TENNESSEE DIVISION
=. u Is y Is.
.CBy Associated Press.

"a (ByG Associated Press.) ss
KNOXVILLE TENN, Sept. o. Runs
ming on a road bed In a SUPP edlys high III
condition kof maintenance and having
about them every safegua I'd known Ito q
modern railroadlng, two trains on tbs
East ennessee Division OF the Southern
Railway. carrying heavy lists Of pass
sengers, came together in q frightful4 s
head ION collision near Hodges, Tenn, to- =,
day, sending d fly four people to death
and injuring one hundred and twenty. "
sovetnl u whom will probably die.
This appalling loss OF n life and mains
Ing OF the living resulted apparently
from 4.ne disregarding Of orders given to S
the two trains to meet at a stall lon. whioh Ill
has for q long time been their regular "a
meeting points The claim OF q allure to III
see either the station or the signals
could not be set@up by the engineer Of ~
q the west bound train were lie alive to III
enter a plea Of defence, al tho accident
Unopened In broad day lig ut. According Il
[ to the y best infoEma ton btainnble the
4 man had the order in q little frame fir
iron #ofs him as his mons teri of iron and NJ
steel rushed by N CIV lIarket and soon
ger train making for New A1arltet In 4
compliance with instructions to meet the q
west-bound train. which carried a8S The II
I sleepers from the east ( or Knoxville
Chatham oga, d and other Southern cit ties. gSE5
Was He Asleep; or Dead h
Il The possibility exists that the; iii "a ted e
4 engineer may have been sleep. or that II
death had suddenly taken the sight 'front.'
his eyes before New Mark ct was reach
ed But nothing Is known save tina NJ
orders were not b5yed. 81 The trains were
I on time and not making over thlrty.f iye N
miles all hour, yet n the impact as they
rounded a curve; and came suddenly upon q:
each other was frigttful. 81 Both engines IN
and the major portions OF both trains
were demolished. Why the orders were IL
disregarded or misintcrpreted robablyHs
will never be- known as the engineers OF
tho two trains were crushed. their bodies S
remaining for hours under the wrecksge gg
of the monster locomotives, which but q
short time before had leaped forward at ri
the touch ofdther strong hands uponbthel5
sthrot tie. 3s ri: nj 5 NJ
Il Some OF the bodies havo not been re-
covered. and many remain unidentified
Died on Way to Relief,
The collision was between east bound 81
passenger train, No. is, and west bound n
passenger train, No. IL. from Bristol a
The greatest loss Of life occurred onlthe III
east-bound train, while In the vest n
bound train only the engine crew were ST
killed. 81 VT ~ III ii 5l.ES ;8
Relief trains were dispatched from
Knoxville within an hour. and NIL phys;-5
clans in the vicinity OF the wreck were "
doing what they could when the local 81
corps arrived. The first train arrived ags
here from the scene of the wreck at Il: ~ Il
o'clock, bringing about seventy OF the 44s
Injured. Six Of tho injured aboard had 8
died while IN route to the city. and af-
tor their bodies were tnken off the train, NJ
proceeded to point near the geeNral
hospital, where vehlcles were in waiting n
and Il large force OF pnyilcinns wero s
ready to receive the wounded. "a Tho nest s
train from the wreck arrived shorty at
ter o'clock. It brought the bodies of &;
forty three dead. $Ss
The Six Others, who died en- route.
brings the list up to forty-lline, and thera d
arc at least six more at the scane thu
wreck. none Of the bodies OF the trains
men having been vet recovered,
Story Of Eyc-Witnesses. 5
john w Brown o. Rogerssvll'e, Tenn
a newspaper editor, was III thu rear colcn
of the west-bound train, When the fear
fu. jolt came he said all the seats II, NJ
thee were torn loose and people anu sS
seats were hurled to the front end nf this fl
car. When he recovered from the shock Sf
he heard the screams and grpans Of the W.
Injured and dying In every direction, 538iA
~ left tho car said Mr.. Grown, t'as VI.
soon as Icoulds and walked to The main
part Of the wreck. 1t was the most hnr 5a8S
rble sight ever Witnessed. saw
woman pinioned by piece o split ttn;- ~
her. which had gone completely through
her body. a l..tle child. ailiye.ars y, M
Deaths agony. lay beneath the y'on,n sl,3s
I saw the child die, and within n few.
feet OF hsr lay a woman's head, while tho Il
decapltuted body was several fest aWls.
Another little girl whose body Was fear, $
fully mangled, was calling fl,' her molh-
3er.fI have since learned that she was
lucille Conner, of Knoxville, and that
both her parents were killed. heard one sS
woman. terribly mangled, praying Gal
inestly Ia be spared for her children, bn sY
death relieved her sutlsrings N few
minutes 4gs XII .s ;SS
10th engines and all of the coaches
Of No. is were literally demolished. the
smoker and baggags car cornpl etely De-
stroyed. the slaepers remalnin on tho @
track. undamagad Both engines lay ~ y
the north OF the track. ianlmed together II
into one mass Of iadescrilAble rutns,