The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-08-07
THE LATE ACCIDENT
ON THE NORFOLK AND WESTERN
RAILROAD.
Railroad Commissioners Hill Receives the
Hull Omciai Rcport-What He and
Others said To Times Reporter
wholly Due TO Frovidcntial Causes

Who'll, Due 10 Providcntiai Causes.
General Hill. the State Railroad Com.
missioner. yesterday received the iuiI
and official report from the Norfolk
end Western Railroad regarding the
accident recently occurred one mile
,,est of ThaxtOn's in Bedford county,
between Lynchburg and Liberty. This
accident took place on July 2d, and re-
shifted i'm the death Of seventeen per
,ous and the injury Of twenty-one
more.
From ali the Investigations made TINS
a .cident was due entirely to providen-
fial causes. 4 map Of the territory has
been made showing the drainage ana
All the water-runs from large area up
10 the culverts on the road. The water
spout which dclugod that section IN
lurrv-similar to that which swelled
Shockoe creek aud flooded Main and
Franklin streets. causing the water TO
stand six feet deep in these streets IN
side Of two hOurs-is shown IN the
maj: and the testimony Of many OF
the farmers living in the vicinity was
taken 10 show that the extraordinary
fan of water had washed their farms
fearfully and produced strong currents
which had 10 get an outlet somewhere.
PHoTOGRAPHs or THE SCENE.
The r abroad Commissioner has in his
possession about forty photographs.
taken by order of the Norfolk and
Western Railroad authorities, which
- ow the vast devastation done by the
ruthless flood of water mile or more
.bove the railroad down towards the
valleys. across which the railroad en-
binkments were built.
IL will be remembered there were
TWO wAsHOUTs
in the embankment. One was at
ThackstOns :. the other about mile
west. Had the train which was going
east missed the first washOut. the one
into which IT plunged. 1t would have
gone into the second one. and still
oregtcr number of lives would probably
have been lost.
The track walkers on the Norfolk and
Western are required to follow the east
freight tram preceding . passenger
tram. As this passenger tram was ON
lv thirty-hye minutes behind the last
preceding freight train. 1t was &C
c0rdmg TO the reports impossible Tor
tie track walker 70 have reached the
wa-hout before thu passenger tram ar
rived there.
WHAT JOHN sUMPTER SAYS.
CAPTAIN Sumpter. who is Railroad
Commissioner Hill's assistant. told the
TNrs reporter Yesterday that he ran on
the Norfolk and Western Railroad for
twentv.seven years He was familiar
with every spot on it. This washOut
A -
never have expected one TO occur. In
fact. when told of the accident. and that
II was lust west of ThaXtOn's, he To-
Gated it in his mind at Leyburns Stone
Arch. thinking this arch, which IS a
very large one. had been chOkcd up
with drift such as hay, wheat, etc.
lie also thought that the location might
be at the road crossing Just west OF the
arch. as "A large amount of water flows
there during heavy rains IN the bitches
ON the east side of the road bed.
Captain Sumpter said when asked q.
why the engineer going slowly could
no, see the washOut in the embank-
Jnent. He replied that that was very
easy TO be understood. The bank was
ffv feet high and thirty feet wide at
the TOD. The water from every direc-
made an arch If earth, which tumbled
in when the train reached il by virtue
If the engines weight. The track
was straight and clear. and
he engineer could see nothing
wrong. The fact tina, the engine went
over on its side. shows thai one side OF
the cmbankment must have sunk first.
and that subsequent the second side
fell and all the earth washed away by
the volume of phenomenal water.
THE MOST sUCcINCT ACCOUNT
of the disaster. is that given to his supe-
rior by the Eastern Division Superinten-
dent, who was one of the wounded.
Mr.. Edmund l.. DulBarry, superin-
tendent and engineer of this district.
i'm his statement, SAYS that the train
ran very slowly. making frequent stops
on account of little landslide coming
i'm on the rail. the engineer felt his way
carefully for distractions and wash
outs. The train stopped every few
hundred feet, and ran through water at
one place several inches deep. After
leaving Buford Mr.. DuBarry retired. In
about minutes he felt jar the wheels
teine on the ties. lie said. Il attempted
10 rise. aud almost simultaneously with
the Jar there was a crash and grind
ing of timbers. and | felt the car 80
down. turning partly on its side. lie
gives a long and graphic description OF
his experience while pinioned up IN the
car and when released. of the efforts
made to put out the flames and torescus
the passengers still in the cars.
II see IN the published account OF the
accident, said he. THAT the tram Is
reported as running at high rate OF
epced. This is false | know better.
Ii was going al about fifteen miles an
hour. Ii might have been lite more,
but have grave doubts whether we
were going over that speed. could
have stepped oil the train. lie denies
that the fire was caused by the explo'
sion OF lamps, as he laid pinioned IN the
wreck for an hour, and saw the lire
drop from the boiler. and was present
when IL broke ont into a bright blaze.
He speaks in high terms of the be
haviour of the passengers. Not a
nurmur was heard. Several of the
lady passengers behaved nobly. par
ticularl, one from Knoxville. Tenn,
who worked faithfully in bathing the
heads and wounds Of those on the side
Of the embankment
Mr.. JOSEPH II. SANDS,
the general manager, in his report,
SAYS that there must have been two
falls OF the embaukment. which cor
roborates Captain Sumpter.
This embankment had thee track
on il. Ii was made of Bedford clay
which is tenacious, and which has stood
for thirty -seven years. and no appre-
hensiOn Of danger at this point ever
entered the minds of anyone.
Immediately after this accident &C.
CURED General Hill told TINES re-
porter that II was an act OF providence.
and that be could not see that the rail
road authorities were blamable. Il
have seen" said he, 1.-THE verdict of the
Bedford grand jury. 1t, cut and cut.
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