The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1906-12-06
HENDERSON. N c., THURSDAY, DECEMBER g. 19Ot.

Il i
mainder of the car strewn with tons
of baggage and colored passenger.
who were pushed back as the express
car was crushed in the combination
ear. How the eolore,l passengers in
this compartment escaped, none OF
| them being killed, is beyond explana-
ton.
ON CREST OF STEEP GRADE
The wreck occurred on the crest of
"A steep grade, when the Atlanta train
could not have been running more
than thirty miles an hour, if as fas IL
Had it been Il mile or two further
South the number of dead might
have been more frightful, as the train
was. about two hours behind it's
schedule, con'iitiole in the grade
there that would have meant speed
OF more than sixty miles an hour
The operator at RdngOOn, the
block telegraph station, four miles
North OF the scene Of the wreck, is
charged with the accident, rs he al
lowed the Atlanta train on the block
before the Jacksonville train had
cleared it.
The Jacksonville train became de-
tached on the crest OF steep grade,
one mile North OF Lawyers block
station, and the engineer proceeded
two miles before. he stopped to re-
turn to get his train, having passed
the block at Lawyers twice in doing
so. The detached train was struck
by the Atlanta train, and the big
locomotive ploughed through the
private coach OF President Spencer,
which was attached to the rear of the
beleaguered train.
Cutting its way through the private
coach for Il distanre OF $50 feet. with
the wreckage strewn on either side,
the splintered portions OF the coach
immediately took fire and were con-
sumed. Every particle of wO''d work
on the locomotive was burned, and
the monster stood on the track a
helpless mass of twisted and distorted
iron not worth carrying to the scrap
heap.
MOTHER AND CHILD'S ESCAPE.
The Jacksonville train was COM
posed of a postal car, a combination
baggage and passenger coach, an
ordinary day coach, two Pullman
sleepers and President Spencer's car.
The rear end of the rear sleeper to
which the private coach was attached
was crushed and split wide open
almost half the distance of its length.
In the drawing-room, in the rear end
of the Pullman, next to the private
coach, were lady, whose name could
not be learned, aud her 6-year-old
daughteren route with Il party OF six
to Aiken, S. G. That the mother and
child were not mangled beyond rec
ognitiOn seems past human cOmpre-
hension. When the rescuers among
the passengers reached them they
were covered with at least two feet of
debris. They were asleep when the
crash came, and they were thrown
out of their berths, butas far as they
know they were not injured in the
slightest, excepting IL soreness, that
resulted from the fall.
d. w. Davis, President Spencer's
private dispatcher. who WAS one of
the party in the private car, was still
alive when he was taken out of the
wreckuge. He was crushed about the
stomach and lower portion Of the
body, but he was conscious until the
end, his last request being that some
one advise his wife at Alexandria as
quickly as possible of his death. He
pleaded with the passenger who took
him from the wreckage to hold only
his finger on his mouth, telling him
that it felt good and eased his pain.
He begged this gentleman not to
leave him until the end came, which
he declared he knew could not be
long. He lived less than twenty min
4 utes after he was taken out.
HIS ESCAPE A MYSTERY.
| Aside from one OF the three porters,
who has a leg broken, Private Secre-
tary Merrill, who was always with
Mr.. Spencer on his trips, is the only
member OF the party in the Presi-
dents car who survived. How he es-
capped he does not know, excepting
that he was found alongside the
track. 1t is believed by other passen-
gers on the Jacksonville train that
the side of the coach was opened by
the impact near where he was when
the collision happened, and he was
thrown out far enough to escape with
his life. He has been brought to a
local hospital, where his injuries are
not thought to be SO serious that he
will lose his life.
+. NJ. Curtis. a furniture dealer. oi
Jamestown. N. Y, who was en- route
to High Point,t to purchase furniture
was the hero of the rescue work.
He was on the Jacksonville train.
His hands when seen after his work
was over were torn and swollen
His shirt was torn almost into shreds
by the sharp ends of protruding
splinters in portions OF the coaches,
through which he chopped his way
with an axe in the effort to liberate
two persons who were pinioned down
ami in danger of being consumed by
the fire.
When he came back to Lynchburg
on d relief train, he declared that the
blood which he exhibited on his hands
was from at least four of the dead O
the wreck. Curtis led the rescue work
throughout, losing all of his clothing
} and some Of the iewelry that he wore
VIII Interest Many.
I Every person should know that goot