218
Wreck of the Royal Palm
The Southern Railway fliers Ponce de Leon and Royal Palm
(Cincinnati-Jacksonville) collided head-on near Rockmart, Georgia,
on December 23, 1926. "This accident was caused by failure to
obey a meet order. ... It was dark and raining at the time. . . ."
Nineteen persons were killed, and 123 were injured (New York
Times, December 24, 1926, p. i ; Interstate Commerce Commission,
Bureau of Safety, Summary of Accident Investigations, No. 30
[Washington, 1927], pp. 33-35)-
The following ballad about the disaster does not seem to have
appeared in other collections. Of authorship and origin unknown
to the editors of this collection, it handles its subject in good con-
ventional railroad ballad style, with moral application to Christians
in general and railroad men in particular.
'Wreck of the Royal Palm.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection.
1 On a dark and stormy night
The rain was falling fast.
Two crack trains on the Southern road,
With a screaming whistle blast.
Were speeding down the line
For home and Christmas Day.
On the Royal Palm and the Ponce de Leon
Was laughter bright and gay.
2 Then coming around the curve
At forty miles an hour,
The Royal Palm was making time
Amid the drenching shower.
There came a mighty crash —
The two great engines met,
And in the minds of those who live
Is a feeling they can't forget.
3 It was an awful sight
Amid the pouring rain.
The dead and dying lying there
Beneath that mighty train.
No tongues can ever tell.
No pen can ever write,
No one will know but those who saw
The horrors of that night.
522 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
4 On board the two great trains
The folks were bright and gay.
When Hke a flash the Master called
They had no time to pray.
Then in a moment's time
The awful work was done,
And many souls that fatal night
Had made their final run.
5 There's many a saddened home
Since that sad Christmas Day,
Whose loved ones never will return
To drive the gloom away.
They were on the Royal Palm
As she sped across the state;
Without a single warning cry
They went to meet their fate.
6 We're on the road of life
And like the railroad man,
We ought to do our best to make
The station if we can.
Then let us take care
And keep our orders straight ;
For if we get our orders mixed,
We sure will be too late.