Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-02-20
TERRIBLE ACCIDENT
ON the BEllAlRE AND SOUTHWEST
ERIN RAILROAD.
-Four Cars Prseipitatsd Over a Trsstls Work
= Twenty Persons Injured ard
Many F%ataiy-Ihs Full
Particulars.
IMPENDING DEATH OF HON. |. DAN
FORD.

About ON CIOSh hos e'~o
rumor reached this city OF q terrible
casualty on the Bellaire and Southwest
ern railroad, by which a number OF per-
ons were seriously, perhaps fatally, In
iured. A reporter was dispatched in q
special conveyance, to the scene oil
the accident to gather full particulars
of the disaster. At Bellaire he learned
that the report was indeed true, and
that the accident had occurred at the 5
~trestle, between Jacobsburg and Bethel
Church, about thirteen miles from Bel
laire. Proceeding at once to the scene,
he gathered the following particulars:
Passenger train No. l left Bellaire Tor
Woodsfeld at $50 o'clock, yesterday, in
charge of Engineer Patrick Sherry and
Fireman John Ably, and consisted oftwo
passenger coaches, M baggage car and a
car of coal. At the S t~restle, between
Bethel church and Jscobsburg, about
Is miles from Bellaire, the rear car
jumped the track and ran for some
distance on the ties. The brakeman,
James Birchfield, was in this car
and exclaimed: Take hold of the
seats, we are going down." tie
Immediately took the water from the
cooler and put out the fire. Scarcely
had he done so, when the coach went
of, falling a distance of45 feet.
The fireman, Ably, noticed at once,
when the coach jumped the track and
took. out the pin between the tender
and baggage car; the engine thus went
safely over, but all Of the other
cars were carried down. At night
and in the confusion the
scene was terrible, heightened by the
cries and groans OF the wounded and
dying. A dispatch was immediately
sent to Bellaire, and at 8 o'clock a spe-
cial train left that place, bearing physl'
clans, reporters and friends OF the
wounded passengers. The train went
to Glencoe, on the b. 4 o. X. r., and
from there the passengers made the
best Of their way to the scene OF the
calamity, three miles distant.
The probabilities are that about TWEEN
ty persons are injured, thirteen OF whom
were SO seriously hurt that they were
conveyed to the house of Robert Nickel
yey, near by, to be cared for. Hon. l..
Danfsrd, ex-member of Congress for
that district, was in the rear
car, and his head was so badly
crushed that his life is despaired OF, and
he is probably dead at this writing.
Mrs. A. b. Caldwell, OF Caldwelrs
Station, wife of one OF the directors and
largest stockholders Of the company, was
perhaps fatally injured about the head
and chest.
Brakeman Birchfield was seriously in
iured about the head and shoulders.
An aged man, whose name could
not he ascertained, was so frightiuily
hurt about the head that he cannot live.
A young nan named Bowman, OF
Economy, Pa, vas fatally hurt about
the chest.
Isaac Booth, Of Bellaire, route mail
agent on the road, was crushed about
the head and shoulders and it is feared
injured internally. He was brought to
Bellaire on the engine, ABOUT 10 o'clock,
and cared for 10y friends.
An elder brother OF young Bowman,
of Economy, was seriously hurt, his hip
being broken and his arm crushed. A
sister OF the same man was also badly
wounded.
In the confusion existing at the time
our first reporter left the scene, it was
impossible to obtain a more correct or
extended list. How the accident hap
pened cannot be a~scertained and it is re-
garded as altogether mysterious.