Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1906-12-07
CARELESS AESS
OF OPERATOR
'AoohD EHE FATAL WRECK ON
" GTHERN RAILWAY.
)lO ,&O1 ASK CLEAR TRACK
al allowed two trains to run into
same block-operator has disap-
peared and detectives are securing
] the country. ..f@

~
Lynehearg, Waffle cause Of the
wreck near Lawyers depot in which
Presldent Samuel spencer and his
party lost their Ii $, lies absolutely
iat the door of c. B. Mattoax, the op-
orator who was In charge of the block
telegraph Station at Rangoon. Mat
'Ioax, y1o disappeared less than an
''aonr$after the wreck, has not been
'do9ldl despite the fact that the rail
iiEad detectives have secured the
country in the vicinity of the rail,
way and his home at Sandy Level.
forty miles from the scene of the ac-
cident. An official Of the Southern
Railway said, late this afternoon, that
the company is desirous of apprehend-
ing Mattox to secure a statement
that might throw some light on the
causes that led him to allow the two
trains In the same block at the same
time This official was not prepared
to state today whether or not the
company would take steps to prose
cute the missing operator, nor if he
2 could be prosecuted under the laws
Of the state of Virginia,
An examination of The teleoranb
sheets kept ait tie Rangoon and Law
yers block Office, discloses the fact
mat Msttr,ax allowed train 80, the
oacAsop lille express. upon the block
1ne v ain passing his station and get
: tlV a clear track from his at 6:O6
o'clock. The operator at Lawyers,
the next station ahead, claimed that
Mattoax did not ask him for "clear
track for No. 33, and he therefore
did not know that the train had pass
ed Rangoon. The block sheet at Law
yers bears out this claim.
Supt. w. S. Andrews, of the Dan,
vile division, explained that the re-
port that the engine of the forward
train had gone some distance ahead
of its train when it became detached,
was erroneous, and that the engine
was rot more than twenty. feet from
the train The trouble Which cans
ed the train to stop vas the breaking
of a knuckle of tbe drawhead ON the
front end of tie forward car. The
fralnmen were repairing this when
ahe collision occurred.
'Gensra al Superintendent E. A, Coap-
man states there is not the slightest
slo dbt but the fagman made every
possible effort to protest the rear of
the train, but he could not get around
sharp curve in time to prevent the
collision. As soon as Engineer Kinney
saw the signal he applied the emer-
gency brakes and remained at his
post to the last,
General Superintendent E. A. Coap-
man, of the company, gave out the
following statement to the represen-
tative of the Associated Press:
-" Investigation so far made and
the developments indicate that OPP
seratoF Mattoax at Rangoon let train
No. 33 into the block and, disregard
ing the rules, failed to notify the op-
orator at Lawyers depot of this fact.
When the first section of train No. 81,
the Washington and Southwestern
vestibuled limited, approached Ran
goon, Operator Mattoax asked the OPP
orator at Lawyers for the block on
No. 81. This was given by the op-
orator at Lawyers, who did not know
that No. SO had gone in on the block.
No. 33 broke down at the south
end of a curve and as soon as the
train stopped the nagman had pro-
ceeded about 600 yards when No. 81
was in view on the curve. Engineer
Kinney saw the signal and applied
the emergency brakes, but he did not
have time to leave his seat before the
collision took place,
can inspection Of the telegraph
sheets in each Of the block stations
substantiated this belief. The sheet
at Rangoon shows that No. 33 was
given the block by Operator Mattoax,
and the sheet at Lawyers shows that
Mattoax had not notified the opera
tor there that No. 33 was on the block
and entitled to it.
A fuller investigation will be
made as speedily as possible, but we
do not expect to develop additional
facts. The company has number of
DIR. Daniel of Austin, Tex, advo-