The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-07-11
THIRTY KILLED.
Frigfffml Result of Pas cnsrr 1rain's
Plunge Into Washed Out cuise eft tH
Virginia.

Frighfful Result of Pas cncrr 1rafns
Plunge Into y Washed Out cuis ert jH
Virginia.
LYScHBrgG. Va. July "A fearful acct
dent, by which many lives we're Lost and .
large number Of people injured. occurred
on the Norfolk & Western railroad at ..5J
o'clock Tuesday morning one mile above
Thaxfon's switch and thirty one miles above
the city Rain had been falling almost
continuously and at times very heavily
for twenty -four hours, swelling the mount
ain streams greatly beyond their nor
NAL state. Several trains had passed
over the road during the night, and 1t
was thought that the line wa: safe for
traffic notwithstanding the rains, and that
no danger need be apprehended At the
place of the accident. however, the water
had undermined the road-bed and caused a
washout about eighty feet long and fifty
feet wide The, water at this point
was eight to ten feet deep. Into
this watcry gulch the engine made .
frightful leap while running at the rate Of
thirty miles an hour, carrying with 1t the
tender and eight cars. As the engine struck
bottom the rushing OF the water into tho
locomotive exploded the boiler. This
fact greatly augmented the catastro-
phe Debris was thrown in every
direction by the force Of the explo-
sion, injuring some OF those on tho
train by the flying fragments and scattering
firebrands which ignited the woodwork OF
the coaches The flames spread and de-
stroyed large amount of mail and express
matter besides spreading panic among tho
already terror-stricken passengers 1t is
supposed that some OF the passengers
were unable to extricate themselves
tho wye od
in the fiames but 1t Is difficult
to get accurate Information. as tho
employees of the Norfolk Il Western railroad
refuse to give any information to the pub
lie. 1t is impossible to state the number Of
persons killed, but the most reliable esti-
mates place it at between twenty five and
thirty. The number OF wounded will be
far in excess Of the number killed Thirty
Of the wounded have been taken to Roa-
noke, thirteen to Bufordsville and fifty to
Liberty. Among those who are known to
nave lost their lives are:
Charles Bruce, Of Lynchburg, fireman. scald-
ed to death; Nathan Cohen. OF Roanoke. en-
route for Germany via New York; Patrick
Donovan OF Lynchturg. engineer; A. $. Fran
els, OF Marion. mail agent; A. NJ. James.
Of Roanoke. travelling engineer Of the
road: j. w. Livsay, OF Roanoke. train dis
patcher; DEM Melon, janitor OF the ralre ad
offices, en- route to New York to hs
married; w. G. Stead, or Cleveland. Tenn:
stranger, bound for Paris VIA New York, L.
b. Summers, or Abingdon, Va. mail agent:
little girl supposed 70 be the adopted daughter
OF Mrs. Judge Thompson, or Staunton. Va. J.
w. Dubarry superintendent OF the Eastern di.
vision J. j. Rose. postal clerk. OF a ngdon. Va
John kirkpatrick, OF Lynchbuig; the husband
and two children OF lady passenger on tho
train whose name can not be learned.
Mp 81. md
agent of an Idaho hunting and fishing ex-
pedition. lie was on his way to Enp land
for supplies when he met his death On
his person was found a package containing
$4,000.
Conductor johnson. Bishop Wilson. Ex-
press Messenger Ashncre. Mrs. Judge
Thompson, Major J. &. cassel, supcrin-
tendent Of the road. and Baggage master
Ford are among those lnost badly hurt A
number of others including several ladies'
frOm Texas are slightly injured