Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1911-06-10

carried for a distance off ever a mile
before the train could be stopped, was
tie thrilling experience about 1870
c clock this morning Of Roy D. Van
Metre, a well-known young farmer of
Berkeley county, while on his way
home from below Shepherdstown.
Young VanMetr the victim OF one
of the most remarkable accidents in
The recollection of the eldest railroad
man in this section, is a son of Mr.
Warner VanMetre, of Wineorenner' S
Cross Roads, and is employed on the
Charles Grove farm. four miles south
of Martinsburg. He had spent Sun
day with friends below Shepherds
town,and was driving leisurely toward
Martinsburg when the accident &C.
Cured
When he reached Flagg's Crossing,
two miles east of this city, he glanced
VI and down the track but failed to
notice the approach of westbound fast
freight Nc. 95 which rounded the
curve to the east at rapid speed Be-
fore the young man realized his dan
ger the train was upon him. He at
tempted to pull out to escape the on
coming train, but the engine caught
the rear of his h rse and the front of
his buggy with terrific impact. The
an NAL was torn loose from the buggy
and hurled aside, and the vehicle, or
what remained of it, was picked up by
the cow-catcher, with the dazed occu-
pant still seated upon the cushions.
Young VanMetre was temporarily rem
dered unconscious by the shock, but
aged to disentangIe himself and crawl
along the foot-board to the cab of the
engine, on the side occupied by Engi-
neer Keyser.
The latter was astolshed when he
saw the young man crawl into the
cab, and demanded to know what he
was doing there.
"Just came in to ask you to stop
and remove the remains of my buggy
from the front of your engine" repli-
ed young VanMetre. "You struck me
as you came over F'Iaggs's Crossing
at a mile a minute without blowing
your whistle. You've killed my horse,
demolished my buggy, ruined my new
suit of clothes-and now, I suppose,
the next thing that will happen me
will be my arrest for stealing ride
on your blamed old train"
Engineer Keyser brought his train
to a standstilr at the Bull Eye bridge,
back Of Green lTTilf cemetery, and
young VanMetre was assisted to
atight Members OF the train crew re-
moved the debris of the buggy from
the cowcatcher of the engine, and the
victim of the accident
went back TO look after his horse. He
found the animal badly mangled, and
concluded to put it out Of IS misery.
While he was hunting for gun, a
railroad man came along and killed
the horse with a pick.
While badly shocked by his terrible
experience, Mr.. VanMetre was net
seriously injured and was able to
come to Martinsburg shortly after the
accident. When he was struck by the
engine he was somewhat bruised
about the body, and received a slight
cut On the back between the schoul-
ders His clothes were torn, there be-
ing a big rent on the back of his coat.
How he escaped an instant and shock
ing death will always remain one Of
those mysteries that occasionally oc
cur on the read
In describing the accident afterward
the young man said that he failed to
notice the approach of the train, and
is positive that no warning whistle
was sounded by the engineer. He
said the train was running at terrific
speed and that when the shock came
ne was picked UP with a part Of the
buggy and deposited upon the front
of the engine without being dislodged
from his seat. AS socn as he recover
ed from the shock of the impact, he
yelled several times to the engineer,
but the latter failed to hear his voice
IL the noise or the rushing train. He
then crawled along the foot-board of
the engine to the cab, which he enter
cd. The engineer then stopped the
train, and the victim of the accident
descended and took an inventory of
the damages. The freight train then
proceeded upon its way. Mr.. Van
Metre states that the engineer in
charge was named Keyser, and that
the latter seemed to be totally una
ware Of the accident until after the
victim entered the cab and informed
him of IT,
Mr.. Van Metre places the blame en-
tirety upon the railroad engineer, and
claims the latter failed to sound a
warming as the train approached the