“CRIMINAL CARELESSNESS.”
Although Mr. Ogden and his guests thought little of the loss of baggage and said less, they were vehement in saying that the accident was what they termed “criminal carelessness. The Ogden special car was on the main track with the right of way.
There was a reception committee awaiting them. The whole town expected them, yet the railroad men declared that they had no orders against a shunting of a freight train on to the track, where it would not be seen by the special train.
Another cause of the severe criticism was that the engineer had never been over the route before, knew nothing of the curves or grades, and tore at express speed into a station where he should have slowed up.
Mayor Mahon was among those who attributed the disaster to incredible negligence on the part of the railroad company. Robert C. Ogden wired Gov. Heyward this afternoon, asking that he use the authority of the State in making certain the investigation as to the responsibility for the accident.
It is asserted by the railroad men that there was a misunderstanding of orders. At the Coroner’s inquest this afternoon the train dispatcher testified that orders that the Ogden special would arrive at 7:15 were filed in the yardmaster’s office, and later that another order was filed that the special would arrive at 7:55 A. M. Yardmaster Riser testified that her received no orders whatever. Faussoux, the yardmaster who ordered the freight on the main line, says that the dispatcher, W. M. Lensberger, should have informed him of the approaching special. Lensberger insists that Faussoux acted stupidly without orders against all rules of the road.
The trip of the Ogden party to Spartanburg, Biltmore, and other points has been abandoned and the special left Greenville at 7:45 to-night for Philadelphia and New York. Prof. and Mrs. Farnam remaining at the Earle Sanitarium. The wrecked cars were still burning when they started. All the cars that had not been smashed and burned were on the new train. In addition there was a new dining car to take the place of the two destroyed and a new baggage car to carry such trunks and bags as were worth carrying north.

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