Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-07-20

ON THE VIRGINIA MIDLAND RAIL
ROAD.
Eight Persons Killed and a Large
Number Wounded.
Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun
ALEXANDRIA, VA, July H.
The train on the Virginia Midland
Railroad which left Washington
city at eleven o'clock last night for
the South met with frightinl acci-
dent about 2:20 o'clock this morn
ing at point two miles south OF
Orange Court House, Va. The
train went through the trestle
known locally as Fat Nancy's
trestle, the engine and five of the
seven cars attached to the train
going down through the trestle
and being badly wrecked. There
/
were three Pullman sleepers on the
end. The two rear ones remained
on the track and were uninjured (;
the forward one went partly down,
and rested partly upon the heap of
wreckage below it and partly upon
the track. The train was the one
known as No. %. 1t was drawn
by engine 69i, John Watkins,
engineer, and John Kelly, fireman,
with Neil Taylor conductor. The
engine went down, pilot end tore
most, thus communicating no fire
to the wreck. All lights we're ex-
tlnguished in the fall. The scene
that followed was one of lndescrib-
able horror. The shrieks and means
of the injured, the shouts of the
wildly excited passengers and the
kissing of the steam were terrible
to hear. The baggage car was
completely wrecked, mashed into
kindIing wood.
The passenger cars were crushed
out of all shape, while the sleeper
was held high in the air By the
ruins of the broken coaches. A little
stream runs under the trestle, and
the recent rains had swollen it to far
beyond it's wonted proportions. As
soon as self.possesslon returned to
the startled survivors of the hor-
rible disaster they went at once to
work to rescue the inju red and re-.
cover the bodies of the dead. The
train was piled in such an inextri.
cable mass of debris that it was
difficult to discover the outlines of
human forms. Through the in
terstices of the wreck arms and
legs protruded in every direction.
Within a mile there are three
trestles. At the second, because
of a slight fire, Flagman O'Neall
stopped the express. ONeall was
taken on the engine and in less
than two hundred yards ran on to
the trestle through which the train
was plunged. 1t was, therefore,
moving at an unusually slow rate,
and the theory is freely advanced
at the wreck that If it had been
running faster the train would have
passed safely.
As it was, the engine and tender
got oyer, but the smoking car broke
through, and was followed by the
baggage, mail, a passenger and
one sleeping car, dragging engine
and tender. The smoking car was
completely demolished, and 1t
seems that only one person in it
escaped. The mail and express
cars fell on the smoking car.
There we're six persons in the
mail car, all of whom were hurt (;
one, II. G. Wilmington, was killed
outright. The car was total
wreck. The baggage car had but
two occupants-Baggage-Mas Master
James Goodman, OF Alexandria,
who was found under an iron safe
and several trunks, and it was
necessary to cut away the top OF
the car to release him, and Express
Messenger Patterfeld, who escaped
with slight injuries. Goodman,
although seriously bruised, will re-
cover. Those who were seriously
cut and bruised were in the pas
senger coach.
The engine was evidently the last
to 90 down, and was drawn down
by the weight of the cars. Neither
engine nor tender lost the upright
position. The tender is jammed
forward, making escape from the
engine impossible, except by the
windows. Through one Of these
Engineer Watkins was probably
thrown, as he found himself out
side, but he crawled into the cab
and cut off the steam. He then
hastened to Orange Court House
and telegraphed news of the dis
aster.
Soon DR.. Il. w. S. Rowe reached
the scene of the accident, and rem
dered skillful and valuable services
to the wounded and dying. The
wounded claimed the first atten
ton. When DR.. Rowe arrived he
found a miscellaneous crowd anx'
ious to do something for the wound
ed, but ignorant of the best meth
DDS. Under his lead the work oi
extracting the wounded and the
dead was begun. Mrs. Browning,
Mrs. Brooking and others of the