Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1917-08-10
TWO KILLED in
AUTO ACCIDENT
Miss Mamie Whitley, of North
Tazewell And Mrs. Kirk, of
Bluefield Met Tragic Deaths
Others Injured When Car
Turns Over.


Whitley, of North Tazewell, and
Mrs. j. B. Kirk, of Bluefeld, and
the serious injury of Miss Margaret
Whitley, of North Tazewell; DR.. j.
b. Kirk, and son and daughter, Lind
lay and Miss Hazel Kirk, of Blue
field.
The tragedy occurred b. the over
turning of an automobile in which
the party were riding l,.ar Oakvale,
w. Va, few miles :, of Blue
field. They left Bluefeld early Sat-
urday morning enroute to Mountain
Lake, in Giles county to spend the
week end. and at a point near Oak
vale on the mountain road, the car
"skidded" and turned over an en-
bankment twenty feet high and roll
ed down the mountain side. Mrs.
Kirk and Miss Whitley lived only
short time after the accident. Those
.of the party who sustained injuries
were given attention by local ply
.sisian0 ard later taken to the Blue
field hospital,
The remains of Miss Whitley were
brought to Tazewell Sunday morning
and taken to her homo near North
,Tazewell. The funeral services were
held Monday afternoon at $3.50 at the
Whitley home. Rev. r. B. Platt, jr.,
'was in charge of the service, assisted
by Rey. S. D. Long, of Abingdon;
Rev. G. +. Brown and Rev. w. w. Ar
:rowood, of Tazewell. The burial took
place in the Maple Yi,w Cemetery.
Both the funeral and burial were
attended by large -ouncourse of
peopls, The flowers bearers were:
Misses Mary Moore, Marea st. Clair,
Evelyn Mccall, Mamie Rose Whit
ley, May Brown, Anita Gillespie,
Irene Peery, May BroY'l, Louis and
Lillian Speer and Eliza2 th Reed.
3E1 active pall-beare. were: Bane
c.. .;|atry MIR. Booker, of Abingdon;
Lawrence i'ln;,r, David Peery, Gar
land Peery, Robert Hopkins, Homo
rary pall-bearers: Louis Coulling,
Sam D. May, c. R, Brown, jr., A.
st. Clair, jr., George Mcguire, John
w. ST. Clair,
The deceased young lady is sur
vjyed by her mother. Mrs. Cosby
Whitley, and two sisters, Miss Mar
garet Whitley, and Mrs. Vawter, of
Elkhorn. All were present at the
fnneral and burial except Miss Mar
garet who was still in the hospital.
Additional details of the accident
are obtained from the Bluefeld Daily
Telegraph:
''It happened too suddenly to think
what was going on" DR.. Kirk said at
the hospital. "W were going along
smoothly, when the car skidded and
turned over the bank at a rather
sharp curve in the road. When re-
gained myself / was lying beside my
son, who looked to be lifeless, and l
thought he was killed outright. Mrs.
Kirk and Miss Mamie Whitley were
lying o few feet away with their
heads down hill and my daughter,
Hazel, was pipioned under the car.
Two large rocks, however, held the
machine off Hazel's body. Miss Mar
,garet Whitley recovered herself as
soon as ! did and was making her
way to the injured when l first saw
her"
The automobile, DR.. Kirk stated,
turned over twice after leaving the
road. All of the occupants, he said,
were pinioned under the car in its
first somersault. The machine fell
on Mrs. Kinks breast and it caught
Miss Nannie Whitley by the head.
These two lay where the car first fell
on them, but the other occupants were
carried with the automobile in its
downward flight, the doctor said, and
his son and daughter again were
caught under it at it's final stop. Doc
tor Kirk said he was able to extri-
cate his son from under the drivers
seat of the car, and then released his
daugher. Both Lindley and Miss
Hazel Kirk were unconscious when
released from the wrecked automo-
bile.
The crew of a local freight train
passing near the scene witnessed the
accident and stopped the train to
give what aid they could. The rail-
road men assisted the injured as best
they could, until few minutes later
an automobile approached. The occu-
pants of this car aided the injured,
and in short time they were Joined
by another automobile party.
Mrs. Kirk and Miss Mamie Whit
ley were then made as comfortable as
possible and in a short time were
taken to the railroad station at Oak
vale. DR.. Boyd, of Oakvale, was
summoned and rendered first aid. In
the meantime, DR.. Kirk telegraphed
the division offices of the Norfolk &
Western railway here and spec.
ial train carrying DIR. Wade st. Clail
was sent from here.
Miss Whitley never regained con
sciousness. She died practically al
the same moment that Mrs. Kirk ex
pired in the arms of her husband
about two hours after the automo
bile took the fatal plunge. Mrs. Kirl
was conscious for almost an hour be
fore her death hut Il could he seel