The Courier
Only SI.OO
Per Year
VOL IV—NO. 39.
FIVE ARE KILLED
WHEN SOUTHERN
FREIGHT WRECKS
Only One Man of Entire Crew
Survives When Freight
Train No. 68 Left Rails
Saturday
Gilkey, July s.—Three trainmen
were instantly killed, and two others
fatally injured when Southern freight
train No. 68, northbound, was wreck
ed about two miles from here, at 1:28
Saturday afternoon.
The dead are:
M. M. Kendrick, of Rock Hill, S.
C., engineer.
J. P. Eaker, Marion, conductor.
M. L. Weaver, Thermal City,
brakeman.
P. C. Ward, Vein Mountain, brake
man.
Alf Lytle, Rock Hill, negro fire
man.
F. H. Penninger, flagman of Shel
by, is the sole survivor of the train
•crew.
Scalded to Death
Kendrick, Eaker and Lytle were
instantly killed when the engine and
12 cars of the freight leaped from
the rails to the ties, plowing up the
roadway before toppling over. Weav
er and Ward died Saturday after
noon in the Rutherford hospital. All
were victims of scalding steam re
leased by the impact
Riding in Engine
All of those killed were riding in
the engine at the time of the crash.
Penninger was riding in the caboose,
20 cars behind, which stopped on the
trestle. Rushing to the front of the
train, he succeeded in pulling one of
the dead men and the two injured
from the wreckage, and remained
there until help arrived some time
later. When the ambulances had left
the scene he remained at his post,
keeping watch up and down the track
to flag any other train which might
approach.
Cause of Wreck Unknown
Railroad officials are now probing
the cause of the wreck but have ar
rived at no conclusion. The only
theory so far expressed is that spread
ing rails precipitated the train from
the track. A total of fifteen loaded
and five empty cars were being car
ried. General opinion is that the train
was running in excess of its regular
speed to make the grade with this
heavy load,'beyond the trestle, and
when the engine hit the slight curve
beyond the trestle the tracks spread.
Twelve cars and the engine left the
track, leaving eight cars and the cab
on the track.
A wrecking crew left Rock Hill
immediately after the news of the
wreck had been received there. Traf
fic over the road was resumed Sun
day.
A span of track more than two
hundred yards long was torn up. The
work of the wrecking crew was made
all the more difficult on account of
the wet, soggy ground, and the fact
that the wreck occurred on a fill.
Loyalty of Penninger
Seldom is such loyalty and heroism
shown as was displayed by Fred Pen
ninger, flagman and sole survivor of
the crew. After the crash he picked
himself up from the floor of the cab,
rushed over the top of the cars and
wreckage to the engine and unaided
and unassisted began in what way
he could to rescue his fellow work
men. First removing Ward and Weav
er from the tangled mass of steel,
and finding them alive attempted the
rescue of the other three. He stood
by until all bodies were removed and
then made the report of the wreck
and turned in to the Agent at Ruth,
Mr. C. T. Hamrick, the way-bills for
the entire list of freight carried on
No. 68.
Crack Train Crew
The crew on No. 68 was the crack
train crew of the Shelby-Marion line.
All of the members were old, experi
enced railroad men, all having been
on their respective jobs almost since
boyhood. "Pete" Eaker, one of the
line's most popular freight conduc
tors had spent about thirty five years
with the Southern, while Kendrick
had a record almost as long, and
FOREST CITY COURIER
SURVIVOR TELLS
DEATH SCENE AT
TRAIN DISASTER
Fred Penninger, Shelby Boy t
Only One Living of Six
Who Rode The Death
Train
"I was in the caboose writing when
suddenly and without warning, I was
hurled across the cab by a jolt and
shock. The impact came so quickly
and so hard that I could not tell for
a moment where, or what had hap
pened," that's how the crash felt
to the only living surviving member
of the train crew that rode to a ren
dezvous with Death shortly after noon
Saturday in Rutherford county.
The sole survivor of the crew of
six men is Fred H. Penninger, young
Shelby man, who was flagman on the
freight.
Penninger was riding in the ca
boose and the five others, including
two Shelby natives, were in the en
gine cab.
"It was horrible. I can't tell you
exact details of how things happen
ed or such as that," the young rail
roader told a member of The Star
staff after he had returned to his
home here late Saturday evening.
"I dashed out of the caboose, out
the end of the trestle, and up to
the debris of the engine and cars.
Steam was hissing everywhere and
water running about. It was a ter
rible scene. Just what I did or thought
for the next 10 or 15 minutes I do
not know. All I do know, is that I
worked and tugged to get them out.
I pulled Pete Eaker out, but he was
dead.
"Then I pulled out Ward and
Weaver. They say both of them were
living then but neither one of them
said a word. Until somebody came, I
was there by myself doing my best
to get them out. I couldn't get the
two others out. They were pinned
down by the locomotive or some
thing. •
"I kept working and trying to
straighten up things the best I could
until an ambulance got there and I
got Ward and Weaver in and sent off
to the hospital. Then we got the work
train back—we passed it at Gilkey—
and I turned the rest of it over to
that crew and came home."
Penninger, who has been in wrecks
before, was anxious about his mother.
He was afraid she would not believe
that he was safe until she .saw him,
and he came as quickly as he could
leave the task of caring for his dead
and dying friends.
Penninger lives on East Sumter
street and is married. He is a son
of Mrs. T. R. Penninger, who lives
in the same house and of the late
Policeman Penninger who was killed
years ago at Sharon, S. C., by Mills
Moore, recently captured in Arkan-
. Track Clear
Eiv.n amid the disaster and the
Weaver and Ward had a total of
more than twenty years service.
Funeral of P. C. Ward Sunday
Funeral services for Perry C.
Ward, brakeman, who was fatally in
jured Saturday in wreck of freight
No. 63, was held at Macedonia Bap
tist church, four miles north of Ther
mal City, Sunday afternoon at 2
o'clock, and were in charge of Revs.
Roland White and John Hodge.
Mr. Ward was thirty-two years of
age and had been a brakeman on the
Southern for sixteen years. He was a
native of Rutherford County and
made his home at Spindale until
about a year ago.
He was a member of tne Macedonia
Baptist church and was a regular at
tendant when his duties permitted.
He is survived by a wife, five chil
dren, seven brothers and two sisters.
It is said that the largest number
of people ever gathered at Macedonia
were present Sunday for the funeral
services.
Interment was in the Macedonia
cemetery.
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF FOR EST CITY AND RUTHERFOR
It Was Horrible
Nobody Spok6
Anxious About Mother
FOREST CITY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY JULY 7, 1927.
'' I ' ''f ' ! r *W k &
'.I > " *'& S»* &-. .
\ V&* 5 BK?' - 'H + > ?"^iiH
- il &ft§t* , j ll ; ' JK p fl 4;' I 1
A part of the throng that visit ed the scene of the wreck is shown standing back of the coal car. Be
cween it and the locomotive the bod yof the wreck victims was pinned. (Photo Courtesy Asheville Times.)
JOHN H. CALLAHAl 1
DIED WEDNESDAY
Ellenboro, July 6.—Funeral serv
ices for Mr. John H. Callahan were
held Wednesday afternoon at 4
o'clock at High Shoals Baptist church
in the presence of hundreds of sor
rowing friends and relatives gather
ed from Cleveland and Rutherford
Counties to pay their last respects to
one of the county's well-known citi
zens.
Mr. Callahan died at his home in
Ellenboro Tuesday afternoon at 5
o'clock at the age of sixty-six years.
He had been suffering from high
blood pressure and heart trouble and
had been confined to bed during the
last two weeks.
He was married twice, first to Miss
Ella Pope, of Rutherfordton. To
this union were born seven children,
all of whom survive and are as fol
lows: Miss Fannie Callahan, Henriet
ta; Mrs. Bruce Taylor, Ellenboro;
Messrs. Addie Callahan, Greenville, .S
C.; Ed of Ellenboro; Tom of Avon
dale; Will and Arthur of Buffalo,
S. C. His second wife was Miss Alice
Bailey, of Rutherfordton, who sur
vives him. He is also survived by five
brothers and one sister, Mr. Bob
Callahan, Rutherfordton, J. L., of
Alexander, Charles, of Lattimore;
Alfred and Res., of Cleveland Coun
ty, and Mrs. Lizzie Pope, of Cleve
land county.
PAPER CROWDED
Giving the force a noiiday Monday
has caused this week's paper to be
crowded, necessitating leaving *out
some news letters and other items.
Our faithful correspondents will re
ceive full credit for letters held over
to next week. Handling twelve pages,
with a late start, precludes publishing
an extra supplement.
dying groans of his fellow-workers
the code of the railroad flagman
stuck to the memory of Penninger
and just as soon as he could turn the
rescue work over to others he se
cured his flags and signals and with
the aid of a boy who lived near the
wreck placed warning signals south
on the track. He knew that his train
had the right-of-way ahead and that
no danger could be expected in that
direction soon, but he didn't know
about the track behind and he flag
ged it to prevent another disaster.
Despite the harrowing experiences
he had been through Penninger ex
hibited nerves of steel in telling brief
ly-of what happened. He was shaken,
of course, by the ordeal he had been
through and the death of his pals, but
not to the extreme of panicky nerves
or an excited demeanor. His relation
of the wreck incident was calmly giv
en.
Asked about what he thought caus
ed the wreck and the speed of the
train he asked not to be queried on
such a subject. "That's not for me
to say. The officials will determine
that and it's too serious a matter to
talk afcout."—Cleveland Star.
Scene at Fatal Wreck Near Gilkey
FUNERAL HELD FOR
M. LYNCH WEAVER
VICTIM OF WRECK
Hundreds Pay Last Respects to
Young Southern Railway
Employee at Ancestral
Home at Thermal
City
One of the largest crowds ever
seen at a funeral in that section of
the county attended the services held
for Mr. Lynch Weaver at the old
homestead at Thermal City Sunday
afternoon. The sudden and unex
pected death coming to this fine
young man of a splendid old family
came even more poignantly from the
fact that the scattered children were
coming home for a family reunion on
the Fourth, all having arrived, or
being on their way except one, Mr.
Mike Weaver, of Seattle, Wash., who
at present is on a business trip to
Alaska.
The beautiful lawn was crowded,
while the overflow crowd ran out
into the highway, when time for the
services arrived at 2:30 o'clock. The
body was tenderly brought out onto
the front porch, while the family,
the choir and the ministers were giv
en places upon the porch, surrounded
outside by tenderly sympathetic
friends and neighbors, gathered to
pay the last sad respects to a young
man known and loved by every one.
Officiating ministers were the Rev.
J. B. Tabor, pastor of the M. E.
Church at Gilkey and former pastor
of the church at Thermal City, de
stroyed by fire some time ago; Rev.
W. L. Latham, of Rutherfordton, pas
tor the Presbyterian church, and the
Rev. G. R. Gillespie, of Forest City.
Revs. Tabor and Latham read appro
priate scriptural passages while Rev.
Gillespie prayed in a most fervent
and touching manner.
The singing, pronounced by many
as most sympathetically beautiful,
was furnished by a choir consisting
of Misses Nell Young and Mayme
Martin, Forest City; Mrs. R. E. Big
gerstaff, Mrs. C. E. Alcock, Mrs. G.
R. Gillespie, Mr. G. V. Frye, Forest
City; Mrs. L. C. Cobb, Mr. Howard
Camnitz, Chimney Rock; Mr. G. A.
Hines and Mr. Douglas Crawford,
Rutherfordton. Songs selected were:
"Have Thine Own Way, Lord" and
"Safe in the Arms of Jesus."
After the services at the Home,
the funeral cortege wended its way
to the top of the knoll across the
highway, where the. family burial
grounds are situated. This is a beau
tiful setting for a burial ground, be
ing at the very top of a rounded
mountain, commanding a view of a
beautiful valley and other mountains
in the background and overlooking
the Weaver estate. This well kept
and sacred spot has been for 94
COUNTY
years the last resting place of the
Weavers and their relatives, and
shows numerous mounds, the family
being an old one and having held vast
possessions in the wonderful thermal
section since the days of the pioneers.
At the grave Rev. Tabor read a
passage, the choir sang sweetly
"Asleep in Jesus," after which the
grave was tenderly decorated with
the profuse floral offerings, the sor
rowing ones then wending their way
down the steep mountain side, after
having paid the last respects to one
of the best beloved and finest young
men ever reared in that part of the
county.
The active pall bearers were:
Messrs. Frank Doggett, Rutherford
ton; J. Worth Morgan, Forest City;
Jonas Bartles, Thermal City; Adam
Nanney, Union Mills; Edwin Castle,
Thermal City; Kenneth Weaver,
Marion.
The Deceased
Mr. M. Lynch Weaver, who lost
his life in the distressing railroad ac
cident Saturday afternoon, was the
son of Mr. and Mrs. A. F. Weaver, of
Thermal City, aged 27 years, and
was born and reared at the old
homestead and had spent his entire
life in the county of his nativity.
After finishing school, he entered
the service of the Southern Railway
Co., about seven years ago, and had
advanced to where he was considered
one of the best in the service.
In Sept., 1925, he was married to
Miss Geneva James, of Robbinsville,
a young lady of most lovable char
acter, and their married life had been
a most happy one, the couple being
unusually congenial and devoted.
They made their home at Thermal
City, near Mr. Weaver's ancestral
home.
Mr. Weaver was a member of the
Methodist church and a young man
of sterling character, He made friends
with all whom he came in contact
and was widely known, loved and re
spected.
The devoted wife, the parents,
brothers and sisters, the other rela
tives and friends have the deepest
sympathy in their sad bereavement.
His tragic death comes as an inscru
tible act of Providence that mere man
cannot undersand nor fathom, and
all can only bow in humble submis
sion to that higher authority, know
ing that the deceased had lived a
clean, pure life and has gone to a
richly deserved reward in that home
prepared by a loving and just Crea
tor.
Deceased is survived by his young
wife, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. F.
Weaver, and the following brothers
and sisters: Mr. Jack Weaver, Atlan
ta, Ga.; Mr. Mike Weaver, Seattle,
Wash.; Mr. Pete Weaver, Thermal
City; Mrs. T. G. Stone, Forest City;
Mrs* J. E. "Thomasville;
Mrs. W. L. Barnard, Seattle, Wash.;
Miss Mary Weaver, Thomasville, N.
C.
Watch for an interesting free con
test to be inaugurated by The Movie
next week. Free tickets and lots of
fun.
. 72 COLUMNS
SI.OO per Year in Advance
THINKS CITY
DISCRIMINATED
AGAINST IN NEWS
Kiwanis Club Passes Resolu
tion Requesting That Forest
City News be Covered
by Local Represent- •
tative
There has been much complaint
from citizens of Forest City for some
time on account of the way in which
news from this city and immediate
territory has been handled in the
daily papers of the state. The dissat
isfaction arises from the fact that
practically all of this news is sent
from correspondents at Rutherford
ton and under date line of that city,
many times without regard to accu
racy and often entirely contradictory
to facts. There is also a feeling- that,
inasmuch as Forest City is the largest
city in the county,"news from here
should go under Forest City date
line.
In order to more forcibly bring the
matter to the attention of the daily
papers, the following resolution was
unanimously adopted by the local
Kiwanis Club at its meeting Tues
day evening: 1
Whereas; Forest City iy continu
ally being discriminated against in
the matter of special news articles,
concerning local occurrences of news
value, to the several large daily pa
pers of the State,
And whereas; All said special artic
les are published under a Rutherford
ton headline, many times without re
gard to accuracy and often entirely
contrary to the facts,
And Whereas; Forest City is the
largest city in the county and through
its wide patronage to the important
daily papers of the State, deserving
consideration from said papers;
Be It Resolved by the Forest City
Kiwanis Club that said papers, having
circulation in Rutherford county, be
apprised of existing conditions and
urged to appoint special Forest City
representatives who will be responsi
ble in a specially defined territory for
all news of local and general news
value.
And it is further resolved that the
influence of the Forest City Kiwanis
Club will be exerted in favor of those
dailies willing to give to local interest
the consideration that citizens of For
est City have an inalienable right to
expect.
Forest City citizens are indignant
over the latest and most flagrant of
the articles appearing under Ruther
fordton date line in which a wholly
inaccurate account is given of the res
cue of a drowning boy at Woodland
Swimming Pool last Friday evening.
The article in question is inaccurate
in its entirety, the fact being that the
boy was rescued by Miss Ruth Moore
of Alexander, assisted by Frank
N^ewton.
* * *
Kiwanis Note
Forest City is to have three ap
propriate Kiwanis signs, worded as
follows: "Welcome to Forest City, the
City Beautiful," erected at the east
and west entrance to the city On
Route 20 and one on Route 207.
These beautiful design? were submit
ted by Rev. G. R. Gillespie and en
thusiastically accepted by the club. '
Prof. A. C. Finch had charge of the
program, which was along patriotic
lines in honor of the Fourth. Several
visitors were present. The next meet
ing of the chib will be held at Lake
Lure Inn next Monday evening.
MORE COTTON BLOSSOMS
Cal Mosley, colored, of the Dog
gett Grove section brought three cot
ton blooms to the Courier office that
were picked on his farm Sunday. Cal
is a farmer on the land of Mr. Shaw
Randall, near Sulphur Springs, and
is the second person to show cotton
blossoms this year.
Miss Grace Carson, of Gastonia, is
a guest of Misses Ruth and Eleanor
Gillespie in Forest City this week,
having accompanied them home from
.their visit to Gastonia last week.
12 PAGES