The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-04


 this subjecting the burning coaches to
 the mercy of the flames.
 | Whether or not either train was de- l rallied in it's entirety Is not known in 1 Birmingham, although 1t is considered
 probable that several cars of the train were thrown to the ground. Both engines, 1 it is understood were completely wrecked,
 the passenger being one of the finest and | largest operating in the south. It is understood that this engine, completely l telescoped the freight, smashing 1t and
 splitting it in twain.
 The local officials of the road, while l grieving that the accident occurred, are l thankful that it was no more serious. 1 It is considered practical miracle that the deaths did not reach a score, as the I two trains, meeting as they did around a l curve. the great rumble of the one rem
 dering inaudible the approach of the other. were moving at terrific speed. 1 Remains of Wreck Reach City. 1 Last night, No. B. due in Birmingham yesterday morning at 10S5 o'clock,
 reached the city. minus it's regular en-
 zine. it's mail and baggage car and one- of the second class passenger 1 coaches.
 The other cars were noticeably bruis- l ed, scratch ed and dismantled. In sev- l eral seats were broken, window panes missing, and fixtures smashed and woe 1 fully disarranged
 There were very few passengers
 aboard, the great majority of those who | were in the smash up returning to 1 Chattanooga awaiting No. l. Conduc- 1 tor Stone was in charge, and he gave l evidence of having been in the wreck ] although he was not injured, save a | few bruises and a scratch or two The l conductor did not care to discuss the l wreck and immediately on arriving re-
 ported to headquarters. What he told
 there was not divulged last night. He
 did make the assertion that the wreck l occurred with the passengers expecting
 nothing unusual, and wholly without | warning.
 From questions propounded to the
 members of the crew, it was learned
 that the passenger was exactly in ac- cordance with orders.
 Passenger Tell How It Happened. J. H. Weller living near Bessemer was en route home on No. 3 when the 1 collision occurred. In reference to the l wreck, he made the following state ment to an Age Herald reporter last
 night:
 l q was eating breakfast. The train
 would judge, was going along at 1 perhaps sixty miles an hour. I re- member distinctly hearing several l shrill whistles, but in the moment be- fore the smash l thought that 'per- l haps a COW was crossing the track l Then the horrible noise, the hissing of steam, the crying of men. women and l children, the hurling of dishes Tn all directions. and the lifting and dropping | of passengers! It was all over in a 1 moment. I picke myself from under 1 a table. and found my body covered l with bruises. Everyone in the dining
 car was knocked to the floor. but no one sustained serious injury. 1 There followed just a moment of l silence. Everyone was wondering l what had happened. and if the affair l was so serious as indicated why l everyone was not~dead. Then, we heard l the cries of the men of the train, and l heard running feet on the outside. l dismounted from the diner with sev- l eral others. and ran to the head of the | train. Both engines were wrecke ed | There were some twenty wounded l men in great pain. two were dead, and 1 four were unconscious
 l "On account of the derailment of sev- i eral of the cars immediately following | the engine, it was impossible to ex- tricate the mail and baggage from the l cars that burned. The men in these | cars, though three were severely in-