The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-10-29
TWO TRAINS Crash
PASSENGER bits HEAVY FREMHT
] NEAR COLUMBIA
TWELVE ARE INJURED

| : ,'srh,S r ~
Rounding Sharp Curve Seaboard En-
gines Meet in Head-on Collision
Engines Are Telescoped and Other
Cars Badly Damaged-Car Loaded
With Cotton Serves as Bumper.
Five members of train crews and
seven passengers were seriously in
jured in a head on collision between
a local north-bound passenger train
and a south-bound freight train, on
sharp curve between Dixiana and
Castor, about seven miles south Of
Columbia on the Seaboatd Air Line
Railroad Wednesday morning at 10:-
40 o'clock.
Seaboard local passenger train No.
20 carrying mail and express car,
combination baggage and negro
coach, and a white coach, was round
ing a sharp curve between Dixiana
and CASTOR when looming on the
track before it was second freight
No. 81 bearing down on them.
Engineer A. S. Bradford, Of the pas
senger and Engineer l.. A. Powell, Of
the freight, both blew the distress
signals, reversed their levers, slapped
on emergency brakes and followed
their firemen, who leaped for their
lives. The two engines met head-on,
the freight engine telescoping the
passenger engine, both being COM
pletely demolished.
The combination express and mail
car rode into the passenger engine,
breaking the car in two, and throw
ing Express Messenger W. A. Knight
! ly and Mail Clerk J. W. Cottingham
through the bottom of the car, they
rolling down the embankment and
being severely injured. The combi-
nation baggage and colored coach
and the car containing white passen-
gers were derailed but remained up
right. Baggage Master J. E. Ander-
son was thrown to the floor and
| trunks and other baggage piled up
around him, cutting his head and
face and bruising him severely. A ne
gro brakeman of the freight train, A.
Hall, who was riding o: the engine
jumped before the collision and sus-
tanned internal injuries.
Right next to the ~englre of the
freight train was>a Car load OF cotton
and this car was completely denol-
ished. The cotton ?iling up or the
track and acting as a bumper broke
the impact and kept the balance OF
the cars of the long freight train up
right on the track, this being shown
by the fact that just next to the cot
ton car was carload Of merchandise
and right behind that a carload OF
horses, and none Of these cars left
the track, or hardly felt the force OF
the impact. The tenders Of both en-
gines were thrown from the track,
torn from their trucks and deposited
down the embankment a heap OF
ruins.
Although badly wounded, Baggage
Master Anderson crawled from his
battered car, and walked back to
CASTOR, three miles, and reported the
wreck, wiring to Columbia for assis-
tance. Mr.. Anderson's head was cut
and blood was flowi-g freely from
his wounds, but he covered the three
miles in ar increditably short space
of time, and his heroic action thought
the news to Columbia.
AS soon as Baggage Master Ander-
son reached CASTOR and the news was
wired to Columbia, relief train with
physicians and carrying Railroad
Commissioners Richards and Hamp-
ton, and Secretary Darby, left for the
wreck. The train had crossed Conga-
rec Creek, five miles south Of Colum-
bia, when the eccentric strap on the
engine reversed the train and started
it running back towards Columbia.
Engineer L. c.. Seldom was pinned to
the cab, his jaw being broken. He was
also badly cut about the legs.
The train had got back about 100
yards and was on the trestle when
the fireman, who at once saw the
danger sprang to the throttle, and
brought the train to a stop. The en-
eineer was given medical attention
by physicians and a wrecking traln'
which was following right behind.
carried the relief train on to the
wreck, where the injured passengers
and trainmen were looked after
promptly.
All the passengers, those wound
ed and those unhurt, and the wound
ed trainmen were brought back to
Columbia. The accident at the Con-
garee trestle delayed the relief train
about an hour in reaching the wreck,
but in that time passengers and train
men, assisted it is said, by physi-
clan from the country nearby and an
other who happened to be On the
train had made the wounded as COM
Portable as possible.
The following is the list Of the In
jured:
L. C. Seldom. of Columbia. engi-
neer of relief train, jaw broken, cuts
about legs and face.
A. S. Radford. of Savannah. engi-
neer on passenger train, internal in
juries.
W. A. Knightly. Of Raleigh, N. c.,
express messenger, leg cut and
hrl1iSes