| From the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph |
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| August 12, 1861 |
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| Fatal Accidents |
| The remark of the poet that
"misfortune travels in a train" seemed to be verified on
last Saturday in this city. A small lad, some eight or ten years of
age, named William Ferrill, while attempting to jump off the 10
o'clock passenger train for Savannah, near the junction of Poplar
street and the Central {(of Georgia)} Rail
Road, fell beneath, or became so entangled, that the train passed over
his hip, crushing and mangling the little fellow quite horribly, and
also crushed one of his ankles. He lived some two hours. He felt no
pain, but rather wanted to go to sleep -- as he did, "the sleep
which knows no waking." The little boy states, and possibly
others, that the Conductor pushed or kicked him off. We are loath to
believe that such a fiend exists in human form as would have
perpetrated such an outrage. Several gentlemen, we believe, exonerate
the conductor, and state that the young lad was on the cowcatcher, and
in attempting to jump off at the crossing, as has been his custom,
became entangled, and mashed. One thing is certain, and that is that
boys have no business riding on the cars. They are too heedless and
unthoughted to be permitted such latitude. We think that parents and
guardians who allow, or will not prevent, their children or wards, to
loiter around the passenger depot and railroads, are morally culpable
in thus neglecting the safety of those under their charge. Large
crowds of children assemble every day at the Passenger Depot, and were
it not for the zeal and energy of Mr. Knight, who has charge of the
Depot, in protecting them, many would be killed or crippled every day.
Let the accident of Saturday be a warning to the boys in Macon, and
induce parents to keep their children at home, or at least away from
the Railroads. |
| Near about the same moment,
and a few hundred yards distant on the South-Western Railroad, near
the intersection of Pine street with the road, another sad and painful
accident occurred. A young man was standing on the track, engaged in
watching the Macon & Western passenger train going out, when the
passenger train on the South-western road was backing in. Several
gentlemen halloed to him to get off the track, but not heeding it, the
train came in contact with him, knocked him down, dragged him for
several yards, and his head striking the rail the wheels passed over
his neck and severed if from his body. After this, it is stated, his
body leaped about for several moments and his hands grasped the cars.
For some time, owing to the disfigurement of his face, it was
impossible to identify him, but a gentleman fully identified him by
his clothing as a Mr. Rowell Bates. He was a native of Twiggs County,
but had been residing with the overseer on Mr. Nelson's plantation
some eight miles from this city, and was about nineteen years of age. |
| The Coroner held an inquest in
both cases, and the Jury returned a verdict in accordance with the
facts. |
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