The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1909-11-25
SEABOARD TRAIN WRECKED
TRAIN WRECKERS REMOVE TWO
RAILS FROM TRACK.
Colored Fireman and White Tramp
Killed-No Clue So Far
to Miscreants.

Again was a passenger train on
the Seaboard Air Line wrecked tn
this county last Thursday morning
about one o'clock, the wreck occurr-
ing only about two miles South of
Denmark. Mr.. NJ. w. Brabham, local
correspondent of the State went up
to the scene of the wreck Thursday
afternoon in an automobile, and the
following is his account, sent to the
daily papers:
Bamberg, Nov. 18.-The wreck of
passenger train No. 43, believed to be
caused by miscreants, on the Sea-
board Air Line railway this morning
just before o'clock, resulted in the
death of two and the serious injury
Of one and great loss of money to the
railway company.
The dead are: Charles Bell, col
ored fireman; a white tramp, be-
lieved to be one J. R. White. The
injured man is the engineer. Henry
Poteat, Of Savannah.
The injuries to the engineer are
believed to be quite serious, for In
addition to having his leg and nose
broken, it is feared that internal in
juries may be found. The presence
of mind of this man probably saved
his life and the life Of many Of the
large number of passengers aboard
the train. ..s..
The train left Denmark, going
south towards Savannah, just before
l o'clock and when it reached point
nearly two miles south, Engineer Po-
teat saw ahead Of him what appeared
to be a spread rail. Quick as fash
he closed the throttle and as the en-
CINE ran from the tracks he jumped,
trying to catch a telegraph pole.
This threw him out of the way Of the
wreck but caused his serious injuries.
Engine Turned Over.
The engine turned completely over
and was demolished, and there No.
64, one of the finest Of the engines on
the Seaboard, lies tonight a wreck.
From beneath her has been dug the
unfortunate fireman, who was doubt
less killed outright and whose body
was burned fearfully. In the same
condition was the body of the white
tramp was found; parts of his body
being burned to q crisp. From a
letter found on the body of the
tramp, he is believed to have been a
white man from Columbia, or at least
he had been making his headquarters
in that city. 1t was addressed in a
crude but legible hand to ]. R. White,
Columbia, in care of ]. H. Hamilton,
and was marked in pencil General
Delivery" He had s2.65 in money.
It is believed that there are perhaps
one or two other tramps buried be-
meath the boiler Of the engine, as the
engineer says that the dead man got
on the engine with him at Denmark
and that he thinks two other men
got on the tender just after leaving
Denmark. The engine will probably
not be moved before Saturday, as it
is the worst part Of the wreck.
This work is not believed to be the
work of fate but the elimination of
a series of diabolical attempts to
wreck this train. It will be recalled
that on April 10 of this year a SINH
lar wreck occurred just above Den
mark and the facts gave every indi-
cation of train-wreckers having Deen
at work. The present derailment is
even more clearly the work Of crimi-
nails. Just at the point where the
engine left the track this morning
were found wrench, kerosene can
and a crowbar and near by were the
taps and bolts which had been taken
from the steel rails and the spikes
which had been driven on the inside
of the rail. All of these facts point
unerringly to a crime that should be
ferreted out by the authorities not
only of the railroad company but of
the State and county as we'll.
The bloodhounds from the Bam-
berg county chain gang were carried
to the scene of the wreck early this
morning in charge Of R. O. kirkland.
They took the trail right at the loos-
ened rail and carried it through a
field for about a mile in the direc-
ton of Denmark and then went with