Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1918-02-27
TWELVE KILLED AND
THIRTY-EIGHT INJURED.
Fatal Rear-End Collision Near Coun1bia-Three
Prominent Oconeeans Among Injured.
H. Lee Ivester Killed

astr0us the Southern Railway has
had since 1904, when SO Or more per-
.sons were killed ut Newmarket,
Tenn, local officials claimed tonight,
1t Is by far the most serious from the
point Of fatalities that has ever oc-
CURED In South Carolina, they assert.
stopped for Repairs.
All the killed and vast ma ajority
OF the injured were riding IN train
No. Is, running from Greenville to
Columbia. Several Of the injured
occupied train AZ. which hit train 1S.
1t appears that something got wrong =
with the air pipe OF train is when
it got below Frost, and 1t was stopped
on the main line to repair the dam
age. Flagman II. Locklier was sent
out, it is said, to protect the rear Of
the train. When the trouble was dis
| covered and remedied the flagman
was signalled to come back to his
ira in, which had Just begun to get
| under way when the accident occur
red. Train AZ, In charge of Conduc-
tor w. II. Golston and Engineer F.B.
Long, running from Spartanburg to
Columbia, came around" the sharp
curve at this time {nd crashed into
| the rear coach Of train 8.
Wooden Coach Telescopcd.
The rear coach, which was Of steel
underframe, telescoped the middle
coach Of train 18, one Of the old
style wooden coaches. The coach was
! crushed from the rear end and tho
seats were smashed together in a
jumbled mass. The occupants OF the
coach, all men, were crushed between
the seats. 1t was in this coach that
the ten instant deaths occurred and 4
largo part Of the seriously injured
hurt The steel framed coach was
| practically uninjured, except the
ends, which were crushed in to some.
extent. The combination coach Of
train 18, occupied exclusively by me- !,
groes, was not injured and was used
| to bring tho dead to Columbia this at
I ternoon.
| Crashed on Curve.
The accident occurred at sharp.
| curve in the road. which at this point.
runs between Broad river on one side
probable that the engineer on tho
train 42 did not see the other train
until 1t was practically on 1t. The
force OF the collision justified this
conclusion.
AS soon as the accident happened
the members Of both train crews and
the uninjured Of the passengers began
to assist the hurt ones. Those who
were injured wore taken out of the
wrecked coaches and laid upon the
hillside until another train could
come from Columbia =, The hillside
had the appearance OF a battlefield.
| Many were lying down. othors were
| standing and many were Beated with
stricken looks on their faces.
Relief Train Starts.
AS soon as Columbia could be COM
municated with F. s. Collins, super
intendent Of the Columbia division,
equipped a relief train and started for
the scene OF the wreck shortly after
8 O'Clock. The train carried six doc
tors The injured and uninjured
were placed upon this train and i'm
mediately brought to Columbia, the
hurt being Immediately placed in the
three hospitals hore.
The middle coach OF train IS was
| such a mass Of debris that 1t was
some time before the number OF dead
could be ascertained. The injured
! and dead were taken OFT Of the aper-
lures and the windows OF this car
Five dead bodies were found in one
| spot under mass Of wreckage and
| another was hanging out Of tho win
dow of the coach. Some Of the dead
and a few Of the injured had to be
Dried from beneath the wreckage.
Both Trains Filled.
Both trains, said railroad officials
Tonight, were crowded with passen-
gers, but were not 30 filed that any
Of them were without seats. AS New
berry College had closed down be-
cause Of the meningitis situation in
Newberry, large number OF stu
dents from that institution was on
the train, mono Of them was killed,
but several were slightly injured.
AS soon as news Of the wreck was
learned In Columbia several hundred
automobiles went to the scene. 1t
was impossible to take the cars to
the wreck, but they were driven up
the Monticello road and the occu-
pants walked three or more miles to
where the accident happened. They
gave all aid possible to the injured
and assisted in extricating tho dead
from the wreck.
Train Is was manned by Conductor
J. A. Meredith, Engineer r.. Frank
Nicely, Flagman II. Locklier and
Baggaemaster J. Fl. Gaillard; and
train AZ by Conductor w. H. Gill
ston. Engineer r. II. Long, Fiagman
B. II. Harris and Baggagemaster j.
NJ. Lawson.
A ~