The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-12-04
Engine Ploughs Into Private
Ger.


Continued from Page One.)
the night trick at the block station At
Rangoon. which is four miles north If
the scene of the wreck, and the first
station north Of Lawyers depot.
Assistant General superintendent
T.. H. Coapman. of the Company this
morning gave out the following state
| ment to the representative Of the As
ISOLATED Press, which explains fully
the cause of the trouble.
investigation 50 far made Of the
accident develops the fact that
Operator Mattoax at Rangoon let train
No. SO into the block and disregardlnS
the rules, failed to notify the operator
at Lawyers depot of his fact When
the first section of train No. 81, the
Washington and Southwestern NestI-
buIed Limited. approached Rangoon,
Operator Mattoax asked the operator
at Lawyers for the block on No. 81.
This was given by the operator at
Lawyers. who did not know that NO.
, 33 had gone in upon the block.
NO SO broke down at the south
end of a curve, and as soon as the
train stopped the fagman ran back
to protect his train. As far as We
can learn, the fagman had proceeded
about 800 yards, when No. ). was III
view on the curve. Engineer h'h-
new saw the signal and applied the
emergency brake, out he did not have
time to leave his sea before the col
lision took place.
! AN inspection of the telegraph
sheets in each Of the block stations
~substantiates this belief. The sheet
at shows that No. 33 was
given the block by Operator Mattoax
and the sheet at Lawyers shows that
Mattoax had not notified the operator
there that No. SO was on h block
and entitled to it.
~ fuller investigation Will be
made as speedily as possible, but we
do not expect additional develop
ments.
The company has a number Of
men securing the country in the hope
Of locating Operaor Mattoax, but up
to a late hour this forenoon we have
! been able to ascctainc absolutely moth
! ing as to his whereabouts"
A prominent railroad official of the
southern said late today that he was
DESTROYS of experimenting MattoaX in
order to secure a statement from nm
that might throw some light on what
! il was that led him to allow two trains
in the same block at the same time.
This official was not prepared to state
today whether or not the company
would lake steps to prosecute the
missing operator, and he lie not then
know if he could be prosecuted under
! the laws of Virginia.
Simmered down, if Mattoax at Ram
COON had reported train No. 33 on
tl4e block to Lawyers. then there
would havc been no accident, because
the operator at Lawyers would have
held No. 81 at Rangoon until the
Jachbnv6lle train had cleared the
block at Lawyers.
Parting of Train Explained.
Supt. ". S. Andrews. Of the Dan
Vile division, today explained that
, the report that the engine of the for
ward train had gone some distance
ahead of its train When it became de-
tachcd WAS erroneous, the tact be
ing that the engine did not leave the
train more than twenty feet. the all
brakes applying Immediately on the
engine as Well as the train. The
trouble was the breaking of q knuckle
Of the draWhead on the front end Of
the forward car. The trainmen
were repairing his when the collision
occurred.
Assistant General superintendent f.
II. Coapman, says there is not the
slightest doubt but that the fiagmar
made every possible effort to protect
the rear of the train, but he could moi
get around a sharp curve in time tc
prevent the collision. As soon as
Engineer Kinney saw the signal he ap-
| piled the emergency brakes and stay.
| ed at his post to the last.
| superintendent Andrews. of thu
Danville division left late his evening
having been called 10 Washington. /
was Mr.. Andrews understanding tina
, the entire official family of the South
| ern Railway Company had been sum
moned to Washington to be present a
the funeral of President Spencer.
: h identification was made tni
I morning Of the negro who was kil1ec
and burned beyond recognition. III,
" victim was Benjamin Boswell. of To
edo ohio, a dining car man. who wa
taken aboard President Spencer's ca
for the trim.
- The death Of William Pollard. tn
=. negro porter n President Spencer
private car. and J. w. shaw. the ne
gro fireman. both of whom died j
the city hospital here last night. swell
:. ed the dead list to eight.
n, The latest word from the hospita
= iesarQlhg the injured indicated tina
= al OF them are doing nicely an
probably will recover. The escape :
III L a. Merrill. Of New York. priyat
secretary to Mr.. Spencer. the onI
survivor of the party in the privat
IL 80. ana the porter was miraculou
eli Inc injuries he sustained are not ser
II, Gus and he will be able to leave III
city hospital here by the first Of tt
Sc week. -
Old bachelors are men who h,
= gwen marriage a serious thought.