The Great Nashville Train Wreck of 1918
Trainwreck
On Tues., July 9, 1918, shortly past 7:15 a.m., two trains pulled by steam locomotives and traveling 50 mph collided head-on at Dutchman’s Curve near White Bridge Road in Belle Meade. The collision was heard for miles, as passenger cars telescoped upon each other, shattered into splinters, and caught fire. Victims were thrown helter-skelter and bodies were torn apart. In what was the worst railway disaster in American history, 101 people were killed, many of them Negro laborers coming from as far away as Texas to work at the government gunpowder plant in what is now Old Hickory. Amazingly, due to news about World War I, the disaster fell from the front pages quickly.
‘That mournful sound’
80 years ago, two trains collided, changing the face of Nashville
From The TENNESSEAN
Sunday, July 5, 1998
By Mike Kilen Staff Writer
The railroad track hides in the armpit of Nashville, beneath the bustling traffic and behind the office towers and strip malls.
The used-but-forgotten tracks parallel West End behind Centennial Park, cross Murphy Road and take a sudden turn south by McCabe Park.
That curve, Dutchman’s Curve, still evokes memories of a horrible day in Nashville history.
A bit farther south behind Belle Meade Plaza at White Bridge Road and Harding is an old, crumbling bridge where Frank Fletcher of Nashville stood that day 80 years ago, looking down on the bloody tracks.
Descend the wooden and weedy embankment and the smell of oil on railroad ties and an eerie quiet and heat suffocate you. Colorful graffiti on a bridge support says: Welcome to the Line Yard.
In the distance you can hear a train chugging, coming down the tracks with force and speed and purpose.
And you imagine a mighty collision.
“Every time I drive over White Bridge Road I think of it,” says the 94-year old Fletcher. “The scene has occurred to me time after time… The horror of it.”
July 9, 1918
The Union Station was crowded on the early Tuesday morning. Most railroad stations were during World War I, transporting soldiers and workers to plants geared up for war.
The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis train No. 4 was preparing for its trip toward Memphis.
Willis M. Farris, an honored Nashville citizen who had made the lumber industry here famous the world over, went to take a seat.
A young bookkeeper, seeing the older man, offered Farris his seat, which he graciously took in the crowded car.
At the same time, Robert D. Corbitt, the brakeman for the east-bound No. 1 heading to Nashville from Memphis, decided for no particular reason to check out the rear of the train. That train was packed with passengers, many of them workers traveling to the DuPont plant in Old Hickory.
Among them was 18-year-old George Scott, scared of the large, bustling crowd of strangers on his first trip away from home. He was headed to Nashville to play his part in the war effort, producing powder at DuPont.
An irritating vision kept awakening him on that night train. from Memphis. Something horrible was going to happen. At 6 a.m. he left his seat and went to the passenger car behind his and, for no reason he could recall, he pulled the shade and waited.
The decisions made that morning would be played out for generations by survivors of the dead and descendents of the living.
Running late
The veteran engineers on both those trains were running late that morning. Engineer David Kennedy pulled his No. 4 out of Union Station at 7:07 a.m., seven minutes late, while No. 1 was chugging in from the west, 35 minutes late.
No. 1 had the right of way so it was the trainmen of No. 4 who had to keep a lookout for No. 1 running past them on the double tracks heading into Union Station. If they didn’t see No. 1 before hitting a 10-mile stretch of single track west of the city’s center, they must stop.
Once passing that track fork, there was no going back.
As the trains rumbled forward, tower operator J. S. Johnson showed train No. 4 a green sign from the tall, wooden tower, which meant all was clear. As he stopped to record it, “No. 4 passed tower 7:15 a.m.” his hand froze. He could find no entry that No. 1 had passed.
Johnson reported to the dispatcher who telegraphed back. “He meets No. 1 there, can you stop him?” Johnson blew the emergency whistle but no one stood at the rear of the doomed No. 4 to hear it.
“Along about 6 that morning something kept telling me that something bad was going to happen,” Scott told Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock in 1983. Braddock had become fascinated with the event on Dutchman’s curve and interviewed survivors, such as Scott, on tape.
“So about 6 that morning I came out of that coach, into the front end of this coach. Instead of leaning over trying to get a little rest, I pulled the shade down over the glass.”
Train No. 4 snaked around the curve, blind to what was ahead, as No. 1 approached the White Bridge Road area.
“He told me that he was riding in the engine like he normally did,” says Thomas Vester of Nashville, a nephew who was raised by Robert Corbitt, brakeman on No. 1 that morning. “But he went to the rear of the train. Something just told him to go back there.”
The end of the curve approached and the trains each chugged upwards of 60 miles per hour. A horrible site appeared around the blind corner.
Two trains, one track.
Kennedy wildly pulled the brake lever.
It was too late.
Oh my God!
The two 80-ton engines met, causing an explosive sound heard two miles away. The ground quaked and the waters of nearby Richland Creek trembled. The wooden cars crumbled and hurled sideways, hanging over the embankment. One train telescoped the other.
Scott was hurled across the train car. He got up shaken and saw people laying about, “blood running everywhere.”
“I had to raise up the window and the glass was falling all over everywhere,” he said through sobs, “and finally I got out of there.”
“And I wandered out past a cornfield, best I can remember, and I run across one of the trainmen laying there. Every time he was breathing, blood run out of his mouth. It done knocked me down…
“It wasn’t long and here come a truck full of 10 tubs to pick up the body parts. You couldn’t tell one part of the bodies from another. They were just all cut to pieces.”
Scott could barely be heard on Braddock’s recorded tape as he described the fate of the young woman and child he sat across from on the first train car. The woman’s arm had been ripped off and had stuck into the baby.
For the next three days he was in shock, walking around Nashville with blood covering his clothing.
Frank Fletcher heard the explosion from his home in West Nashville. The 14-year-old was summoned by his father to check out what had happened.
Together, they arrived early on the scene.
Fletcher talks slowly over the telephone from his Nashville home, gathering up the memory of what happened next.
His father ran down the bank to the wreck, while he stayed perched on the bridge.
“My father was horrified. He went down there and attempted to raise the car to relieve some of the victims who were under pressure.”
Many were dead or dying. Willis Farris had died and the young bookkeeper who surrendered his seat survived, according to Rachel Farris of Nashville, Willis Farris’ granddaughter.
In the years to follow, the faces of those trapped in cars haunted many, included Fletcher.
“One of the cars was standing at an angle. This man must have been standing in the door and all that I could see was his legs hanging out of the doorway,” Fletcher says.
“The other thing I remember was a hand pinched under the car. The man was stuck there with two dead men on his laps. He was hollering, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ Nobody could do anything to help him.”
Fletcher vomited and would look no more.
Among the bodies was Robert Corbitt, who lay motionless.
“They took him to the morgue,” says Vester, Corbitt’s nephew. “They were ready to embalm him. Then he moved.”
Corbitt was transported to the hospital, swamped with the injured and near dying. Doctors were set to cut his leg off.
“But mama said it was better than no leg at all,” Vester recalls.
Corbitt lived out his life, working on the railroad until retirement. Doctors managed to fix his leg so he even walked without a limp. Only a metal plate in his head marked the wreck.
He survived another train accident in 1951 by jumping from the train.
The aftermath
As many as 50,000 “spectators” came to the track throughout that day, hearing the moans of the dying and watching horse-drawn “dead wagons” stacked with bodies head for overcrowded funeral homes. Coffins, wrote the newspaper accounts then, were “stacked like cordwood.”
The final death tolls are still disputed. Officially, the Interstate Commerce Commission, in those days the investigative body for railroad accidents, listed the dead at 101. At least as many were wounded.
“Embalmers,” it was written, were brought in from surrounding towns. African-American family members from points west descended on Nashville to find their loved ones.
It was first reported that almost 80% of the victims were black workers from Memphis and Arkansas, crammed into the wooden cars, but that figure was later disputed as too large.
The catastrophe, the worst in U.S. railroad history, fell off the front page within three days..
Some writers have since speculated that World War I was too dominant a story for much of the nation to bother over a train wreck and racism may have kept others from caring.
The question still remains: Just what happened?
ICC officials questioned railway workers afterward. The proceeding’s notes were taken by the late Ernest Jones Sr., who supplied them to The Tennessean in 1983.
Jones said the early morning confusion at the Union Station caused Kennedy to think train No. 1 had passed when it was simply another switch engine hauling empty cars.
Kennedy was found at the wreck with the train schedule folded under his body.
William Floyd, the engineer of No. 1, died on his last day before retirement.
Soldiers were found with notes to their mothers, grandfathers with pictures of their grandchildren. The scattered letters from the mail car were sorted among bits of flesh and bone.
Scott was sent back to Memphis with $50 from the railroad.
He never could remember what happened the three days following the wreck. And he felt guilt over his survival while the little baby died.
Farris’ sons received money from a settlement from the death of their father, whose body they carried up the railroad bank that day in agony.
Out of the bleak tragedy, one son’s life course was changed.
Frank Farris Sr., used his settlement as seed money to start Third National Bank, according to Frank Farris Jr., his son.
Farris Sr. became a leader in the banking business in the south and the bank later merged with SunTrust Bank.
For others, it meant a lifetime of nightmares.
“You never forget it,” says Fletcher. “Every time I cross that bridge I recollect the sight.”
Down the quiet tracks, in view of the electronic signal posts, which prevent such accidents today, you can look toward Dutchman’s Curve and listen…
Songwriter Bobby Braddock did — and helped write The Great Nashville Train Wreck:
“Now every July 9, a few miles west of town, to this day you can hear that mournful sound…
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Dutchman’s curve today
Relying on information in an old “Nashville Banner” story I took the color photo of the infamous 1918 train wreck site. The view is east from the old White Bridge Road overpass, which is still more elevated than the 1918 photo perspective. You can see the “Dutchman’s curve” and according to information in the newspaper story the point of impact was near the large white stone in the left distance. – William W. Weems
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The full text of newspaper reports on the worst railway disaster in American history, which happened in Nashville on July 9, 1918
121 PERSONS ARE KILLED AND
57 INJURED IN TRAIN COLLISION
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION
WROUGHT WHEN CRASH ON
N. C. & ST. L. RY. OCCURS
Engines Demolished and Express Car Driven
Through Coaches Laden With Human
Freight, Other Cars Being Telescoped
and Piled High in the Air.
THOUSANDS FLOCK TO
SCENE OF CATASTROPHE
WASHINGTON, July 9.–The Railroad Administration announced tonight that George L. Loyall, assistant to the regional director for the South, has been ordered to Nashville to investigate the wreck on the N., C. & St. L. Railway. Mr. Loyall is especially charged, the administration said, with fixing individual responsibility for the wreck, if that be possible.
Because somebody blundered, at least 121 persons were killed and fifty-seven injured shortly after 7 o’clock on Tuesday morning, when Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway passenger trains No. 1 from Memphis and No. 1 from Nashville [sic: No. 4 came from Nashville] crashed head-on together just around the sharp, steep-graded curve at Dutchman’s Bend, about five miles from the city near the Harding road.
Both engines reared and fell on either side of the track, unrecognizable masses of twisted iron and steel, while the fearful impact of the blow drove the express car of the north-bound train through the flimsy wooden coaches loaded with human freight, telescoped the smoking car in front and piling high in air the two cars behind it, both packed to the aisles with negroes en route to the powder plant and some 150 other regular passengers.
Just where lies the blame, it is impossible now to say. Officials of the road are silent. But one of three things is reasonably sure — that the engineer of No. 4 was given wrong instructions, ran by his signal, or overlooked, the schedule on which he was supposed to run. That he knew the Memphis train to be a little late, leads to the conjecture that he was attempting to reach the switch at Harding station, a short distance beyond the scene of the wreck, before the inbound train arrived at that point.
Engineer Given Wrong Signal.
As Engineer Kennedy’s train approached the signal tower in the new shops, it is authoritatively stated, he blew for his signal and was given a clear board. Before the train had passed under the tower, however, the red board was dropped, signaling him to stop. The supposition is that he never saw this signal, as both the tower man and switch engineer tried in vain to attract his attention. Besides this, getting a clear signal gave him no right to proceed, as he knew that another passenger train having the right-of-way was approaching at no great distance.
Orders given him upon. leaving the station are said to have advised him, that train No. 1 would meet train No. 7 (a accommodation from Waverly). at Harding Station, and are also reported to have given the engine number of train No. 1., The conductor of .Kennedy’s train is understood to have stated that he was busy taking up tickets after leaving the station and did not notice that the train had run past the double tracks, which extend for three quarters of a mile beyond the new-shops, until it was almost at the scene or the wreck.
The speed of the two trains when they met is estimated by old and experienced railroad men as being not less than sixty miles an hour.
Scene of Horror Indescribable.
The scene immediately following the collision is indescribable. Those escaping unhurt or with lesser injuries fled from the spot in a veritable panic. The cornfield on both sides of the track was trampled by many feet, and littered with fragments, of iron and wood hurled from the demolished cars. The dead lay here and there, grotesquely sprawling where they fell. The dying moaned appeals for aid or, speechless, rolled their heads from side to .side and writhed in agony. Everywhere there was blood and suffering and chaos.
From the wreckage, beneath which many still lived. shrieks and muffled cries arose, and here and there helpless yet visible victims prayed for speedy deliverance ‘or death.
As soon as possible every available doctor and nurse was rushed to the scene, and a steady stream of ambulances and automobiles, turned over by their owners to assist in the work of mercy, began the task of transporting to local hospitals and undertaking establishments the dying and the dead.
Among the very first to arrive and who plunged immediately into the work of rescue, doing much effective “first aid” before even the doctors or the wrecking train reached the scene were Alfred T. Levine, Frank Sanderson, Frank David, John .J. Vertrees, Jr., and Harry Friedman. At a time when conditions were at their worst, these men labored practically without tools and struggled tirelessly against great odds.
Mutilated Bodies Beneath Debris.
In spite of the most strenuous work, however, the labor of recovering the bodies of the dead, many of whom are mangled beyond the possibility of recognition, has not yet been completed. At a late hour in the afternoon the bodies of six negroes, fearfully mutilated, were discovered beneath a pile of debris thought to be merely a scrap heap from the demolished engines.
All morning long attention centered about the telescoped smoking car of the outbound train, train crews working hard to raise with jacks the heavy body of the express coach beneath which was pinioned or crushed most of the white victims. In one of the seats, his body held as in a vise, sat one of the passengers, still conscious, but with three of the dead crushed against him. Here the work began. The side of the car was chopped away and the man released, apparently in a dying condition.
From beneath the express car, some thirty men were later removed, only the last of their number being alive. His name could not be ascertained, but in the band of his hat were stamped the initials E. T. B.
The last victims to be discovered were found in a portion of one of the coaches upon which the boiler
[sic: break in text due to typesetting error]
beyond the possibility of recognition, was not completed until late at night. At a late hour in the afternoon the bodies of six negroes, all fearfully mutilated, were discovered beneath a pile of debris thought to be merely a scrap heap from the demolished engines.
Wearing apparel of every description strewed the ground, among which were several women’s slippers, but it is believed that they belonged to the few negro women passengers who either fled the scene or are numbered among the unidentified or undiscovered dead.
Five Men of Train Crews Dead.
Of the train crews five are dead: Engineer William F. Floyd and Fireman Thomas Kelley of train No. 4 and Engineer David C. Kennedy, Fireman Luther L. Meadows and Baggage Master Tom Dickinson, of train No. 1. The first four resided in Nashville.
Of the known dead at least 80 per cent were negroes. In the majority of cases the end came to them without warning. Corpses were piled everywhere beneath the heaps of iron and shattered wood and tin work of the fragile cars. An entire day was employed in undoing the work of devastation that an instant had wrought.
Fortunately fire played no part in piling on the horrors of the day, a slight blaze started at the end of one of the coaches being almost instantly extinguished by those first arriving on the scene.
Huge Crowds Flock to Scene.
Huge crowds, some seeking friends and loved ones thought to have been on the wrecked train, but in the majority of cases composed of morbid curiosity seekers reveling in the gruesome sights lined the viaduct and crowded the adjoining fields. Only the prompt and efficient work of Chief of Police Barthell and his men prevented their crowding so close as to actually hinder the work of the wreckers in removing the bodies of the dead to awaiting ambulances and cars.
Chief Rozetta and engine company No. 7 also arrived on the scene at an early hour and rendered great assistance throughout the day.
Heroic Efforts Made.
To hundreds of men and women of Nashville, besides the doctors, nurses and others, are due unstinted praise for their labors in the work of rescue and aIleviation of the suffering. Splints and bandages were in abundance, large quantities of ice were sent out from the city, and calls for assistance of any kind were promptly answered by those nearest at hand. Deputy sheriffs, du Pont police, special agents from the Department of Justice and members of the home guard afforded the police, valuable assistance in handling the immense crowd of souvenir collectors that crowded everywhere, but no thefts of valuables were reported, although suitcases and other baggage was strewn broadcast over the grounds.
Up to a late hour Tuesday night all streetcars leading to the scene of the wreck were packed with sight-seers, and taxicabs did an enormous business during the entire day and evening. It is estimated, by members of the police department that during the day fully 50,000 persons visited the site, and that no accidents occurred is largely due to those officers on whom the duty devolved of keeping the huge throng in order.
Late corners were disappointed, however, as the wrecking crews labored so effectively that the tracks were cleared and put in order in time for train No. 2 to leave the Union Station on time for its regular run at 10 o’clock Tuesday night.
This, it is stated, is the first passenger train wreck on the N., C. & St. L. in many years, although a disastrous rear-end freight collision occurred several months ago within a few hundred yards of the site of the present wreck, on which occasion three of the train men were killed and many heavily loaded cars smashed to bits.
Negro Dead.
Crowds of curious colored people visited the establishments of A. N. Johnson, Taylor & Co. and W. H. McGavock, undertakers, to view the dead of the wreck which occurred Tuesday morning. Each place was a beehive of activity. The morgues were filled to overflowing with the dead and the halls were used to accommodate the bodies in some instances. The dead were brought in every conceivable gruesome shape. A. N. Johnson had trucks to assist in transferring the bodies. These trucks were open, and the bodies laid crosswise piled high as possible not to roll off. One body was brought in a wash tub. Others had heads, hands and arms cut off, while some were split in two.
Several women were among the colored workers who were coming from Memphis and other stations en route to work at the Government powder plant. Colored doctors and nurses were rushed to the scene, and rendered all aid possible. Many who reside here and were expecting relatives today thronged the street and visited the undertakers’ establishments. A large number of helpers were kept busy moving bodies from ambulances, while as many others were kept busy inside the establishments, which were filled to capacity. Extra embalmers were secured to prepare the bodies for identification, if possible. A number of women and children are among the dead.
George Hall, railroad porter on the train going out from Nashville, was among the dead. He was a resident of Nashville, and his body is at Taylor & Co.’s.
In speaking of their escape, several survivors at the “Y” said when the impact came between the two trains, they were miraculously thrown out of the windows clear of the wreck.
At the City Hospital.
The City Hospital was taxed to its utmost in caring for the injured. Almost every available cot and bed was pressed into service, and the staff of physicians ‘was totally inadequate to give immediate attention to the victims. Realizing the urgency of the situation, a number of physicians volunteered their services, much to the relief of Dr. W. F. Fessey, the superintendent. Not only did the physicians volunteer their services, but a number of them went to the hospital accompanied by their nurses, who remained until every one of the sufferers had been attended and made as comfortable as circumstances would admit.
Among the physicians who voluntarily went to the hospital and did what they could in alleviating the suffering of the victims were : Dr. Otterson, Dr. Sharpel and two nurses. Dr. John W. Gaines, Dr. Henry Litterer, Dr. Whitfield, Dr. Buckner. Dr. Dake, Dr. Crockett and others. A number of nurses also called at the hospital in person or ‘phoned to know if their services were needed, and if so, they would report any time the hospital physicians might designate.
In all the hospital received about seventy-eight of the injured. Thirty-one of these received first-aid treatment and were able to leave the institution, six of the number died during the day, and there still remains at the hospital about forty, many of whom it is thought will not survive their injuries.
Latest reports from the scene of the wreck are to the effect that eight more bodies have been discovered in a portion of one of the coaches upon which the boiler of the engine of train No. 1 had fallen. They were burnt and mutilated beyond recognition. Six of them were men, the other two being a woman with a baby still clasped in her arms. The remains were so badly scalded and charred, however, that it was impossible to tell whether they were whites or negroes.
Orders given Engineer Dave Kennedy of the outgoing train are said to have stated that train No. 1 would meet train No. 7 (an accommodation from Waverly) at Harding station, and are also reported to have given the engine number of train No. 1. The conductor of No. 4 is also reported to have said he was busy taking up tickets after leaving the station, and did not notice that the train had run past the double tracks, which extend for three quarters of a mile beyond the new shops, until it was almost at the scene of the wreck.
Officials of the du Pont Company reported late Tuesday night that after a careful investigation it had been ascertained that of the negroes en route to this city to work at the powder plant, 11 were from Memphis and twenty from Little Rock and were accompanied by two bosses, both of whom escaped from the wreck uninjured.
From this number 78 are reported as uninjured, 16 slightly and 18 seriously hurt, 2 dead and identified, and 19 as yet unaccounted for. Relatives of all those identified have been notified by telegraph.
Scenes at the Morgues.
The scenes at the morgues beggar description. At Dorris, Karsch & Co.. a stream of spectators formed a line and all luring the day passed back into the morgue, searching for relatives and friends, or, drawn by an irresistible force of unknown origin, yielded to the impulse and gazed upon the most horrible sight that was ever witnessed in this city. Idle curiosity was lost, and even those without missing relatives or friends seemed as deeply affected as did the dazed relatives who mutely gazed at the mangled remains without word or outcry.
Few of the bodies were in a condition to meet the gaze of the friends that seemed so anxious to pay any tribute in their power. In some cases the bodies were completely severed in two, while in other the flesh was crushed into a pulp. In nearly every instance death must have been almost instantaneous. There were no marks of suffering.
Narrow Escapes Recalled.
In some instances the escape of the more fortunate bordered on the miraculous. Noticeable among this number was the case of Milton Frank, a brother of John P. and James Frank, the Fourth avenue clothiers. Young Frank was with his friend Milton Lowenstein, when the latter proposed that they go into the smoker and have a smoke. When they reached that car, Frank objected to the crowded condition and returned to his car, where he went into the smoking compartment and. smoked alone. When the crash came he was thrown to the floor, hut finding a convenient hammer, broke the glass and crawled to safety. Others were recovered from beneath the wreck practically unhurt.
The establishment of Dorris, Karsch & Co. was soon taxed to capacity and the bodies arriving later were sent to the other undertaking firms in the city, while several embalmers were called from neighboring towns to assist in caring for the remains.
Scenes Most Pitiful.
While the scenes at the white morgues were heartrending, those at the establishments of A. N. Johnson and Taylor & Co. were most pitiful. At the former place there were twenty-four unidentified bodies of negroes and all day long a line passed in and out in the vain hope of identifying some absent relative or friend. At a late hour no identifications had been made.
Three identifications were made at Taylor & Co.’s by relatives or white friends. The color line was forgotten and the whites rushed to the aid of the brother in black, offering any and every assistance in their hour of trouble.
To the lot of W. H. McGavock fell the care of the bodies of the negroes from Pegram Station and Burns. He succeeded in getting the names of all but one of the bodies sent to his place.
Coffins were stacked on trucks as long as they could be piled and rushed to the several establishments where attendants worked until late into the night preparing the remains for shipment or burial. So anxious were the undertakers to do their full duty in the emergency that all bodies were prepared for burial without awaiting the arrival of relatives or the identification of the remains.
Never before have such scenes been witnessed in this city, and the horror of the day will long remain in the minds and memory of the thousands that viewed the greatest holocaust the South has witnessed in a generation.
Red Cross Chapter.
The first sad day’s experience for the Nashville chapter of Red Cross in handling disaster relief was experienced Tuesday in caring for the needs of the victims of the railroad wreck. Mrs. Percy Maddin, chairman of the administrative board, was on the scene of distress by the time the alarm of fire had reached the city. The men working among the wreckage under the bridge, kept calling up to all to come down and help; all women present responded in every way they could, taking charge of driving the automobiles, and thus releasing the men drivers for the sturdier work of lifting and carrying the wounded to places of comparative ease.
The Emergency Canteen Committee was officially represented on the scene by Mrs. Garnet Morgan and Mrs. Louis Sperry, who have charge of the medical supplies. Mrs. Harry Evans, chairman of this most efficient standing committee of the chapter, was engaged most of the day identifying the soldiers who were killed. Identification papers must be officially prepared and sent immediately to the commanding officers; flags must be purchased for the sad service of enshrouding. The canteen uniform carried with it an easily read message of friendship; many were the calls upon these women; frantic relatives seeking some definite identification of loved ones; every undertaker’s establishment, every hospital in Nashville was visited during the day by Mrs. Evans.
Committees Apportioned Tasks.
Called upon for immediate work, this committee assembled at the Canteen House in the Union station and were apportioned their respective tasks for the day. Continued service of every kind was given there at headquarters by Mrs. Jo Howell, Jr., Mrs. I. W. Miller, Mrs. Ridley Wills, Mrs. Leigh Thompson and Miss Kitty Berry.
The Marine Recruiting Office thanked the women for a list of names furnished to them; a mute testimonial to the tenderness of these practical workers, is a collection of a variety of little “keepsakes” rescued from the debris of wreck, and carefully filed. One lot is a towel, a wet tooth-brush, and other articles of toilet care, and a postcard saying that the writer is nearing Nashville and will go and freshen up, and so on; strains on the towel and articles indicate that death or serious hurt was met while the toilet was in operation. The women say they never before felt so deeply the sacredness of their work; not because of the work itself, but what their coming meant to the suffering people.
Mrs. Evans was handed two $5 bills while she sat at luncheon today, by interested people whose line of work kept them from the actual service of relief.
Bodies Draped With Flags.
Wonderful flags were purchased. 2 1/2 x 3 3/4 yards. These flags were tenderly arranged about the bodies of the soldiers by one worker who claimed this privilege.
To the canteen workers the activity of military relief seemed to naturally gravitate, while the civilian relief department assisted in that of the disaster in its relation to the civilian.
Mrs. Maddin tendered the use of two automobiles the entire day; Miss Carrington, civilian relief; making the rounds of the hospitals several times, accompanied by Miss Nan Dorsey, public health and Red Cross Nursing Service.
It would be impossible at a time when all are stunned to recount the many acts of loving service rendered. Accompanying Miss Carrington’s party of the afternoon, was Miss Mary Stahlman. 16 slightly injured men were most anxious to reach their home people and to get a full account off to them tonight: there was little time, and Miss Stahlman undertook the task, typewriting, addressing and mailing the letters, each with an encouraging personal message from the men to the dear ones at home; in forty-five minutes these letters were mailed in time to catch the first outgoing train which could carry them.
Addresses of certificate holders in the first aid and the home nursing classes were given the Nurses’ Corps with telephone numbers; these class members are expected to hold themselves in readiness to fill the duties of assistant to any nurses’ aid, who might call on them at any hour, through Miss Carrington or Miss Dorsey.
Tommy Little, Tennessean cartoonist. was around headquarters at noon, seeking opportunity to render service in any way that he might be called upon to act for the Red Cross workers. The civilian relief committee was especially attentive to any not requiring hospital accommodation. Immediate notice was given to the du Pont Company that the committee was at its call. Cots were sent to the negro Y. M. C. A. and excellent work done for the colored men.
This recounts the official service of the Red Cross chapter departments; all tendered help, and all yet await the call in any capacity. The relief train of the railroad and the professional medical and nursing workers of Nashville were so absolutely ready and prepared that the Red Cross workers, others than those who have already assisted in this first call, stand awaiting further commands or demands as desired by the medical or nursing corps of the city.
Some Interesting
Wreck Incidents
One Nashville man who had a narrow escape was Milton Frank, president of the National Bag Company of Nashville. Mr. Frank boarded the train leaving Nashville Tuesday morning, but failed to find a seat in-the front cars and made his way to the rear. He had little more than seated himself when the train started. The front car where he failed to get a seat was destroyed and many killed and injured; the occupants of the rear car escaped serious injury.
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S. P. Dannel, who lives at the Commercial Hotel, and is the employment agent for the George A. Fuller Company at the alcohol plant at Lyle, Tenn., was in the smoker on No. 1 when the crash came. He received bruises on the left arm and chest, and a bruise on the head that, as the doctor claimed, almost resulted in concussion of the brain. He says he believes that he was the only man in the smoker that was saved. His injuries are not considered serious.
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After the wreck attention was called to several trunks which had been broken open by the impact, and which contained clothing and habits belonging to Sisters of the Dominican order. Those knowing this fact became much alarmed, knowing that several of the sisters were about due from Memphis. The nuns teach school at the sacred Heart convent in Memphis during the school year, and come to the home convent, St. Cecelia, to spend the summer.
The telephone was called into service and inquiries made as to the members of the order expected. But it was found that while the trunks were their property, the owners had come in Monday night. Their trunks were delayed and came on the train leaving Memphis Monday night.
Monsignor Murphy, of Memphis, well-known in Catholic and other religious circles, was on the incoming train, however but, being in the Pullman, escaped injury.
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Leland Moore escaped death because he waited to hear a funny story that a friend was telling. Other friends had urged him to go to the smoker, and he intended to go a little later. Many in the smoker were killed.
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One negro emerged from the wreckage uninjured, saying: “Thank God I got sense enough to carry a horseshoe in my pocket.”
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Negroes at the hospital say a crap game was in progress in their car when the crash came.
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A gentleman living within a mile of the wreck stated to a Tennessean reporter that he was standing in his front yard when the crash occurred. At first, he said, there was a shriek that he took to be the alarm whistle at the penitentiary, then what seemed to be a terrific explosion, followed by dead silence. “It was the most weird succession of sounds I ever heard in my life,” he declared.
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It is reported that a jewelry salesman en route to this city from Memphis had in his trunk in the baggage car, samples of jewelry valued at over $30,000. For some time he despaired of their recovery, as the baggage car was practically demolished, but the trunk was later found with its valuable contents uninjured.
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In the pocket of W. M. Winstead, a young soldier killed in the wreck, was found an unmailed letter to his mother, which read: “I am going to get out of this all right. When you hear from me next I will be over the seas.”
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Herbert Rogers, who earlier in the day was reported among the missing, was reported safe and unharmed Tuesday night.
MILTON LOWENSTEIN
IS KILLED IN WRECK
Popular Young Nashville Man,
Nephew of L. Jonas, Among
the Victims.
Milton Lowenstein, who lost his life in Tuesday morning’s wreck on the N. C. &, St. L. Railroad, was born in Nashville on August 5, 1895, the only son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Mike Lowenstein, and has lived here all of his life with the exception of a few years when his parents resided in Shelbyville, Tenn.
His parents having died while he was quite young, he was reared by his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. L. Jonas, with whom he has made his home ever since. He was also a nephew of Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Jonas.
He was a splendid type of young manhood, and was getting ready to enter the army to serve his country. He was of a jovial and genial disposition, and made friends of everyone he came in contact with, and in his kindly disposition he ever had a good word for his fellowmen.
He has been connected for a number of years with L. Jonas & Co., whom he represented on the road in Kentucky, West Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, and was very popular with his firm,, his fellow employes and his trade.
He is survived by three sisters, Mrs. Sam Green of Glasgow, Ky., Miss Helen Lowenstein of this city, and Miss Irma Lowenstein of Washington. D. C.
The funeral arrangements will be announced later.
JOSIAH L. SHAFFER
IS AMONG VICTIMS
Veteran Postoffice Employe Is
Killed When Passenger
Trains Collide.
One of the saddest deaths recorded in connection with the wreck on the N.. C. & St. L. road Tuesday was that of Josiah L. Shaffer. Sr.. who, in company with his son-in-law, William Knoch. left the city Tuesday morning on a fishing trip. Both were caught in the wreckage and it is thought met their deaths instantly after the compact of both trains.
Mr. Shaffer was one of the veterans of the local postoffice, entering the service more than forty years ago. He was one of the original five employes when the office was located on the present site of the Independent Life Building at the corner of Church and Fourth avenue. At the time of his death he was still in vigorous health considering his age and was regarded as one of the most valued men connected with the Nashville postoffice. The officials were greatly shocked to learn of his death, which has cast a gloom upon the entire working force, with whom he was a great favorite. No more conscientious worker has ever been connected with the office, and his services were valued because of his long experience in postoffice work.
Mr. Shaffer was born November 6, 1840, in this city, and attended Western Military Institute, which was located on the old Montgomery Bell Academy grounds in South Nashville. After leaving school he was connected with the county register’s office until 1861, when he enlisted in the Southern army of the Confederacy, serving with distinction in the Eleventh Tennessee Regiment, Col. James E. Raines, commanding. He was promoted to lieutenant for meritorious service and was afterward transferred to Colonel Starnes’ regiment until assigned to Col. John H. Morgan’s cavalry. He remained in active service until captured in Ohio and held prisoner until the end of the war. Mr. Shaffer was a member of Cheatham Bivouac, Troop C, Forrest Cavalry, and carried him throughout life the proud distinction of having served with honor his country’s call for what he conceived to be right, but after the war no one could doubt his stand for a united country.
Mr. Shaffer’s death is particularly saddened because of his taking away together with that of his son-in-law, with whom he was living at the time. His daughter suffers both the loss of her devoted husband in William Knoch, and also her father. Mr. Shaffer was idolized by a devoted family and large connections throughout the city. He leaves the following children: J. L. Shaffer, Jr., Edward K. Shaffer, Mrs. Wm. Knoch, Mrs. C. W. Woodruff and Mrs. J. M. Biggs. The following friends and associates from the postoffice will serve as pallbearers: Lawrence Wade, A. J. Armstrong, George Copeland, W. J. O’Callaghan, Thomas Brown and Arch Lawrence. On account of late arrival of relatives from distant points, further funeral arrangements will be, announced later, which will take place at the residence of his daughter, 1510 Beechwood avenue.
Vandenbrook’s Parents
Notified of His Death
JACKSON, Tenn., July 9. (Special.) — Newton M. Vandenbrook, reported killed in the wreck at Nashville today, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Vandenbrook of North Church street this city. The family had not been advised of the casualty when a representative communicated to them the information contained in the Associated Press dispatch. The identity of J. T. Simmons, referred to as being injured and listed as being from Jackson, could not be established. Every Simmons family listed in the city directory and telephone books was communicated with, but the party in question proved to be no relation to any of them.
FUNERAL SERVICES FOR
ROBERT HENRY LONG
The funeral of Robert Henry Long, son of Lieut. Robert N. Long of the Nashville police force, who met death in Tuesday’s wreck, will take place at the Waverly Place Methodist Church at 3 o’clock this afternoon, the services being conducted by Rev. A. P. Walker. The following will act as pallbearers:
Honorary-Chief of Police Alex Barthell, Lieut. J. W. Smith, Sergt. J. W. Longhurst, Sergt. W. H. Haynes, Sergt. Walter Reece and W. H. Burns.
The active pallbearers will be as follows:
Frank Manning, Roy Manning, Dorsey Horner, Frank Stull, E. W. Williams, Samuel Sexton, W. A. Glover and W. C. Mimmo.
The interment will be at Mount Olivet.
THE DEAD
Private John F. Hussey, Uhlian, Ill.
Wilson B. Harris, navy reserves No. 2.
Alexander, U. S. Marine.
Joseph Shaffer, postal clerk, Dickerson road, city.
John W. Kelly, fireman, city.
John Gardner, 1122 Cherry avenue.
Luther Meadors, fireman, Nashville.
W. M. Farriss, Sr., West Nashville.
Joe Hammond, city.
Frank Hammond, city.
Robert Long, son of Lieut. Long of the Nashville police.
John T. Whitfield, Boscobel street.
R. C. Timmons, Brentwood, Tenn., rod-man in employ of N., C. & St. L. Ry. Co.
S. J. Vaughn, Greenville, S. C.
William F. Floyd, engineer on train No. 4, 904 Russell street.
Tom Kelley, 503 Sixteenth avenue, fire-man No. 4.
Dave C. Kennedy, engineer No. 1, 6 Aberdeen apartments.
Luther L. Meadows, fireman No. 1, 1617 Church.
Milton Lowenstein, salesman for and nephew of L. Jonas.
Tim Dickinson, baggage master No. 1.
John H. Peebles, engineer N., C. & St. L. fly.
Private Daniel.
W. Johnson, Silver Lake, Tenn.
F. E. Pell, Y. M. C. A.
Melville Chadwell, Seventeenth street and Chadwell avenue, mail clerk.
Lige McClanahan, Caruthersville, Miss.
John Reed, Jackson, Tenn.
Douglas T. Bates, Centerville, Tenn.
W. W. Lawrence, address unknown.
F. T. Payne, Nashville.
W. A. Schameron, Jackson, Tenn.
Mr. Mayes, Kingston. Tenn.
Alexander H. Ash, address unknown.
Ed Williams, Memphis.
Otto Wolfe, 757 Demonbreun.
William Knoch. 1509 Beechwood avenue, Western Union Telegraph operator.
W. B. Harris, Covington.
J. T. Armer, Trenton.
Louis Woods, Marvell, Ark.
S. J. Vaughn, Dukedom, Tenn.
J. T. Whittaker, Paducah, Ky.
John T. Nolan, Nashville.
An unidentified soldier, address unknown.
Floyd Richards, U. S. N., Newbern.
N. M. Vanderbrook, U. S. N., Jackson, Tenn.
_____ Lynch, Cookeville.
W. M. Winstead.
Thomas W. Dickerson, baggage man on No. 4.
John P. Hussey, U. S. Marines, Ulin, Ill.
Two unidentified dead.
COLORED.
Oliver Peek, Craggie Hope, Tenn.
Frank Hunter.
Joe Hunter.
Marshall White, Pegram, Tenn.
Unidentified woman, 40 years old.
Bess Dunn, Kingston Springs.
Susan Miller, 1513 Hawkins street, Nashville.
George Hall, train porter, Nashville.
Mat Wilson, Nashville.
George Turner, Burns, Tenn.
J. B. Murphy, Kingston Springs, Tenn.
John Reid, Jackson, Tenn.
Joe Morse, address not known.
Lem Hudson, Memphis.
Hubert Freeling, Newsom Station.
Arbel Reek, Kingston Springs, Tenn.
Roger Stone, Whitlock, Tenn.
W. Ernest Beck, Kingston Springs.
Andy Robinson, N., C. & St. L. shops.
J. J. Hall, 1616 Jackson street, Nashville.
Nine unidentified women.
Walter White.
Fred Harris.
Matthew Coles.
George Codd.
_____ Allen, Memphis, Tenn.
_____ Johnson, Missouri.
Thirty unidentified men.
THE INJURED
AT CITY HOSPITAL.
Albert Jones, colored, Cable avenue, near fair grounds, Memphis.
Richard Crawford, colored, Memphis, 1117 Kentucky avenue.
Dave McKinney, colored, 108 East Carolina street, Memphis.
Albert Woods, colored, 67 Adams street, Memphis.
Warner Price, colored, Scott and Howard streets, Memphis.
_____ Cash, colored, race track, Memphis.
Clarence Rose, 142 Monteverde street, Memphis.
W. B. Yater, 183 Jackson avenue, Memphis.
Thos. Carney, colored. Pegram’s Station.
Wiley Pope, colored, rear 150 South Third street, Memphis.
Arthur Kuykendale, colored, Memphis.
Ben Allen, colored, Second avenue, Station E. Memphis.
Goodie Mason, colored, 636 King street, Memphis.
Matthew White. 903 South Fourth street, Memphis.
Willie Perkins, colored. Moscow, Tenn.
Wiley Hill, 342 Callahan street, Memphis.
Willie Lee, 209 North Front street, Memphis.
John Partlow, 913 Thompson street, Memphis.
F. M. Glasgow, Dresden, Tenn.
Matthew Tole, colored, unable to give address.
Mary Lee Griffin. 290 North Front street, Memphis.
Bertha Spriggs, 420 South Second street, Memphis.
Annie Brooks, colored, Memphis.
Ad Lee Thomas, colored.
Claiborne Wesley.
Ed. Williams, colored.
Gus Todd, colored.
George Phillips, colored.
Ellis Harris, colored.
James Charlton, colored.
Van Davis, colored.
Arthur Faulkner, colored.
John Moore, colored.
Chris. Robertson, colored.
John Moulton, colored.
Bennie Griffin, colored.
Reedy Hall, colored.
Wrene Churchill.
Frank Messenger.
Layman Whittilow, Memphis.
John Davis, Viadoha, La.
J. W. Smith, Cort City, Tex., slightly injured.
Mrs. Mollie Mays, Kingston Springs, slightly injured.
AT VANDERBILT HOSPITAL.
A large number of the injured were also taken to Vanderbilt Hospital. At the latter place, Ed Williams, colored, 160 Commerce street, Memphis, died shortly after his arrival.
A list of the injured follow:
DeWitt Cash, colored, 945 Watkins street, Memphis.
Thos. Lampkin, Earl, Ark.
Callor Walker, colored, Kingston Springs.
Luke Graham, Kingston Springs, will die.
William Lukes, colored, Kingston Springs.
Lem McKinney, Monroe, La.
Roy Dallas, Little Rock, Ark.
Warren Mitchell, Memphis.
John Kilbreath, colored, Memphis.
Anthony Gillette, Memphis.
Lucy Womack, colored, Argenta, Ark.
Robert Foster, residence unknown.
R. A. Davis, Hickman, Ky.
A. C. Mussey, Altoona, Pa.
The latter two, white men, were only slightly injured and will recover.
AT SHOFFNER HOSPITAL.
Lige McClannahan, Caruthers, Mo., slightly injured; notify James H. Denning, East Ferry, Mo.
WOMAN’S HOSPITAL.
J. W. Smith, Cort City, Tex., slightly.
FORT’S HOSPITAL.
Mrs. Mollie Mays, Kingston Springs, slightly.
Arbel Beck, Kingston Springs.
Wow, I just heard about this on History Channel today and just read this article…
What a horrible disaster that day was… my Great Uncle, David William Gardner died in the train wreck that day, 9 July 1918, he was only 33 years old. His name is listed wrong as “John Gardner”? Thank you for printing this article.
M. F. Fagnani