The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-08-15
I'M A WRECKED CAR.
The experience OF a Young Woman In the
Recent Disaster Near A~merherst, Va.
n..l.nnnd frnrA tL,n Ann1sta LGa \ Chrnnlcla

The Experience OF a Young wor1an in the
Recent Disaster Near Amerherst, va.
Condensed from the Augusta Ca Chronicle.
The following extracts are from a
a letter by Miss Fannie W. NJ. Platt,
liz in Lynchburg, to her father l this
city We left Washington on Saturday
night on time. ] was alonein my berth,
mother and Annie were together across
the aisle and only a little while before
we struck the bridge l awoke, sat up
and found to my relief it was day, but
noticed that NO were tearing like mad
over the road, swinging so from side
to side that ] lay back on my pillow
again. In a moment / felt great jerks,
Jumps and q fearful turn of the car to
one side, back again to the other, and
I saw through my curtains, which,
through Gods mercy, had remained
nearly closed, that mother and Annie
had been thrown out of their berth on
the floor. 1 saw things falling at the
forward end of the car, and as we be-
gan to go down, down, down, l thought
great God!it has come at last, and tore
back my curtains. Not seeing mother or
Annie anywhere / commenced calling and
begging to know if they were hurt, but
could hear nothing from them. Then /
reached back for my crutches, which
were in my berth next to the window,
thinking | must get to mother and An
ME somehow. The car settled easily
and in some way my window shade went
up and / saw that we we're in water and
that men were standing on some floating
logs. Put not for one instant did l re-
aIize where we were or l would have
died then. / turned to spring out of my
berth and to my Joy saw mother stand
ing there, but with a wild, dazed look
in her face that to my dying day l will
never forget. Iasked, where is Annie?
Are you hurt?" Annie stepped to my
side and mother said, Something struck
my head" Annie said, "The water is
coming in." Some man said climb to
the upper berth. Mother and Annie
caught my hands and began to drag me
up. We chung to the curtain rods and
stood on the lower berth while the water
rose nearly to our shoulders.
The car seemed to have settled, for
the water came no higher, and a feeling
that we would be saved came over me,
but how l could not tell, as the yenti-
lators In the car-top were the only open
ings that remained above water. They
are little frames of glass in front of
them, and he twisted the frame from its
hinges, making for them, however
small, an opening to the beautiful world
outside. Annie broke our glass, but
her weak little hands were not equal to
the task of twisting the hinges; Of what
use, anyway, when the outside was COW
cred with a stout wire network that i'm
prisoned us still; but our hearts bounded
with Joy as we heard the voices of men
in boats outside. We quietly legged
them not to leave us and were assured
we would be saved. Mrs. Farden handed
her baby out through the ventilator and
the next thing we saw she was going out
of the seven-inch hole in the quickest
possible time. / could scarcely believe
my eyes when her husband followed,
apparently without any effort, and then
a sickening feeling came owe me when
l saw that we were alone In the car-au
had gone. Do not think / mean to
blame anyone. Oh, no; God forbid,
for a truer, drawer set of gentlemen
never lived. Some one called for an
axe and told us we would be saved; then
came the first stroke on the roof,
with a dull axe that o man brought
from the shore in the first boat that
anne.
Annie very quietly directed them
where to cut 10 as not to strike her
head. / do not think this q~uiet1ess
came from our not being frightened so
much as it did from a kind of despair.
Every stroke of the axe rebounded like
a mallet and we wondered how long
we must wait, how long we could wait.
for our suffering from the cold was very
great, and it was SO hard to have to
stand and see the agony in each Others
face, yet never dare to say q tender
word. fearing it would unnerve them
and all would be over. We heard them
say: aOh, what a dull axe; can't you
get q Ratchet or something better"
AT last there was a crash and the
blessed light shone through; more cut
ting and waiting while the lamp was
was being torn out and the floating mat
tresses and curtains handed out by An
ME, that We might pass to the hole.
Then one after the other Annie, myself
and mother, just as we stool, were
lifted from our horrible prison by
noble, brave men, who had worked so
hard to save MS.