| The Raleigh State Journal |
| Daily Edition |
| Vol. 3 |
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| Wednesday, October 29, 1862 |
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| Frightful Accident on the Raleigh &
Gaston Railroad |
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| Four Killed and Sixteen Wounded |
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| List of Killed and Wounded |
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| A most frightful and fatal accident
occurred on the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad yesterday (Tuesday)
morning, resulting in the instantaneous death of three persons and
wounding of fifteen others, three of them it is feared, fatally, and
in the destruction of two engines and several cars. |
| From what we can learn, it
appears that after the morning mail train had left, an engine and two
gravel cars started out from Raleigh. On reaching Huntsville, the
engineer resolved to run through Forestville intending to make that
point at which to pass the accommodation train coming South, and
dashed on at a rapid pace. On nearing its destined point, and while
dashing round a short curve, it came upon the accommodation train,
running at a speed of about twenty miles an hour and down grade. |
| The collision was frightful.
The force was such that we are informed, the engine of the gravel
train was forced over the engine and tender of the accommodation
train, and into the first car of that train, dashing the passengers
violently to the back of the car and through its shattered sides and
windows. As we have stated, three persons instantly lost their life and
fifteen were wounded. The engines are a total wreck and the cars are
terribly smashed up. |
| Doctors McKee and Hill of this
city, on hearing of the accident immediately departed to the scene of
destruction with a special train. On their return we hope to obtain full
particulars. |
| We learn that the
accommodation train was a little behind time when the accident took
place, in consequence of having to wait up for the mail train. |
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| Additional Particulars |
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| Since the forgoing was put in
type, the dead and wounded have been brought to town, of whom the
following list has been furnished us by an unknown friend, himself, we believe a
passenger on the ill-fated train. The list reached us through Mr. W.
C. Upchurch, of this city. |
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| List of Killed and Wounded |
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| ___ Nesbitt, supposed to be from Concord,
NC |
| Lieut. Clarke, Newbern, NC |
| J. J. Berryhill, Charlotte, NC |
| Thomas Roland, Stanley County, NC |
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| Wounded |
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| Col. Robt. Mewman and son, Newberry, SC,
very slightly |
| W. D. Kivvin, Darlington District, SC,
slightly |
| Sergt. Hardy, 59th Regiment, Bertie county,
NC, breast bruised, not seriously |
| Wm G. Templeton, Iredell County, NC,
contusion face |
| Andrew J. Wright, Granville county, left
leg broken |
| Mrs. Jane Hayworth, Davidson county, NC |
| Mrs. Eva C. Roland, Stanley county, NC,
left leg broken |
| Mr. Roscoe Barras, Pollocksville, Jones
county, NC, breast bruised |
| William Moore, High Point, NC, arm
shattered |
| L. L. Conrad, Davidson county, NC, left
foot cut off |
| Albert Ellington, Henderson, Granville
county, NC, both legs broken below the knee |
| Belk. servant of Mr. White, Louisburg, NC,
hand broken |
| Henry, brakesman, servant of Maj. Vass,
Treasurer of the R&G RR Company, legs bruised |
| Several others slightly injured |
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| We saw the bodies of four dead men as
decently laid out as circumstances would allow and lying side by side in
one of the cars near the machine shop of Raleigh & Gaston Railroad
Company. Of the sad spectacle, there will suggest itself to the mind
of the reader than we can now say. |
| Lieut. Clark was a son of Col.
H. J. B. Clark of Craven county and was an officer in the 2nd Regt. of
NC Troops. |
| Mrs. Roland, who is mentioned
among the injured, presents a lamentable case. We learn that she left
home accompanied by her father-in-law, to visit her sick husband in an
army hospital, but found him dead. She was returning with his corpse,
and by this sad accident her father-in-law was killed and she herself
terribly mangled. Doctors Hill and McKee, of this city, put her under
the influence of chloroform and amputated one of her legs Tuesday
evening about 4 o'clock. Previous to the amputation she bore her pain
with more than human courage, howling, it is said, to the genuine
christian piety for which she has been distinguished. We were accidentally
passing the house where the operation was performed and more or less
than man would he have been, who could have withheld a tear, on
listening to one of her favorite hymns which she was then singing. She
felt happy under the influence of the magic drug and gave vent to her
feelings in her accustomed song. |
| We visited the Messrs. Barras
and Mr. Cunningham's hotel, in this city, and were glad to find them
getting up and conversing upon their providential escape. If not
internally injured, their wounds are not serious. |
| Charles Holleman, the engineer
on the wrecked train, is universally acquitted, as far as we cold hear
of all blame. By waiting for the mail train going North, at Wake
Forest, he was detained 15 minutes behind schedule, and as soon as the
train passed him, he started his train for Raleigh, not expecting that
any other train would be on the track. But Sidney Hinton, engineer of
a gravel train, started from Huntsville immediately after the mail
train, going North, which he passed Holleman's train at Wake Forest,
of course to reach that point before Holleman's train could switch off
on the track. But he was too late. |
| As he went round a curve about
a half to three quarters of a mile south of Wake Forest Station,
Holleman approaching him saw the white smoke of his engine and
immediately blew his whistle and reversed his engine. But before this
could be well done the engines were almost in the act of colliding,
and the engineers saved themselves by jumping off. The engines met and
plunged into each other with a fearful crash, where they remain so
fastened together that, some say, they can never be disentangled. |
| The tender of Hollman's train
was forced with a bound over the ladies car, passing over it in an
angular direction, and smashing everything to atoms. The terrible
suffering and loss of life which we have recorded is the deplorable
consequence. |
| We have only to add that we
heard it remarked by passengers, that if but one freight car had been
between the tender and ladies car, this awful catastrophe, in human
suffering and loss of life, would have been averted. |
| We saw Mr. Linday, late of
Norfolk, who saved his life by instantly falling down on the floor of
the coach, at the same time dragging a boy down with him, whose life
was also saved. We further learned that in consequence of a
consultation among surviving passengers about punishing Hinton, the
engineer, that gentleman has not since been seen. We can only say, in
behalf of the public, that as he was running out of time and, as it is
said, contrary to others, he has incurred an awful responsibility. |
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| P. S. We learned at 10 o'clock, last night,
that Mrs. Roland was doing as well as could be expected. Surgeon
General Warren assisted the other physicians mentioned in the
amputation of her leg. |
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