The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-09-17

Win the throttle OF the engine ala
most wide open. to mako up, IL Ia
9 I,,N ior lost time. train No. Is. of the
richmond, fredericksburg and PotoS
mac Railroad. due in Richmond "a
$40 O'Clock, jumped She track at Ia,,-
rel. eight miles from Richmond. al
700 yesterday afternoon, killing FIRE.
man Robert E.. Byrd. inflicting In.
1uries on Engineer F. L. KoontS from
s ne iater died, and seriously ins
,urins Engineer Cooper.
inc train, OF five cars left the rails
ton. and did not stop until fbs sea-
zine mad leaped a switch and h,,r,aa
us nose In the soft earth of a nIo,ad
iieio' with the mail coach TANNED into
at right angles. and the baggage
eoacn ping on both, all q comnleta
Gnu notwithstanding wreck. Byrd was
at ms post when the engine fell unon
MIN. IL turned over on the side and
ne was buried beneath tons or o,a.I
ana earth which the crushing enrtna
,iaa gathered up in Its furious courao
~ was necessary to dig the bodv n,,t
rom the ruins 1t was blaokened hy
coal dust and by the fferoe scaldins
recognizable.
Cooper at Brake.
Engineer Cooper was seated q, ~.
right side of the cab. Just behind Fln.
sineer hoontz. Cooper had his hana
on the brakes. and when he felt tha
trucks OF the engine slip from ths
rails. he realized what had hannen.s
ana that the emergency called for tha
s' IN MIN He was probably the flrsA
one IN mat engine cab to know that
the giant machine was running an ~
ties. and he shrieked out n wa -
warning which sounded loud abnyo
the roar OF the grinding and crashing
beneath his feet and of the esoanjne
steam He pressed his hands againsn
the rod which controls the brake. ana
the Missing OF the air told him than
the brakes were working.
That's ALL" yelled Byrd. as he
threw In the last shovelful of coal.
koonts cried something, but hi. yot,.
was lost in the roaring noise. Coonar
1eit himself hurled through the ain
i felt he said on his cot in the Res
treat for the Sick last night thar Z
was going down into the valley of the
shadow OF death. and clasped INV
hands together, and said, God save VIA
Then 1 felt myself diving down and te
seemed an eternity before I landed ON
something. which knew afterwards
TO be the body OF poor Byrd The an.
CINE had stopped then ana she was on,
her side. 1 reached UP and caught
hold OF something in the roof OF the
cab and threw myself out of the cab
window. struck in ditch. ana
walked out of that. got into a field.
and was saved Now L am here. And
III never forget It," he said to DR.. st
Julien oppenhelmer. assistant chief
surgeon for the Richmond. Freder-
icksburs and Potomac Railroad. "as
long as I live. 1T was an awful ex-
periance."
And how do you feel nowr" tho
surgeon asked him.
"oh, feel all right now" ne re-
Piled. though he was weeping. and ha
said that he had notified his family
In Washington that he had been In a
wreck and was now in the best OF
hands II "'Ened the telegram Papa
Claude" he said. FOR that is the name
by which they know me best. rye
got four children" he added. land the
oldest is a big strapping box eighteen
years old"
Engineer mt Throttle.
Koontz was still at the throttle
when he heard the warning cry Of
Cooper. He closed 1t down. and sat
stih, with his hand on the rod Then
he was thrown forward into the front
of the cab and against The boiler He
was hopelessly TANNED among this
twisted rods and in tn emass OF bent
iron. railroad ties. rails and earth.
which the engine dragged with It for
more than 100 yards. His train crew
pulled him out and laid him on tho
grass which, skirts the southern edge
OF the double railway tracks.
Baggagemaster Bush was thrown in
to the front OF his car. as 1t piled in
to the engine and mail coach before
1t.
1--WE were going sixty miles an hour.
said Engineer Cooper last night "we
had just rounded the curve at Laurel
when the accident happened. But I
don't know what caused. IT."
J. c, Lewis. the colored Pullman COR.