Newspaper Tidbit: Manassas Items (1914)

Richmond Times (Va.)
11 January 1914

MANASSAS
[Special to The Times-Dispatch]

Manassas, Va. January 10 -- Miss Florence Lion returned on Tuesday from Pittsburgh where she has been the guest of Mrs. Will Hall.

Misses Amelia and Daisy Hill Brown are the guests of friends at Charlestown, W. Va.

The Manassas German Club will hold an important meeting next week, and officers for the coming year will be elected. Arrangements will be made for the number of germans to be given this year. The club has increased greatly in membership, and has had an excellent year financially.

The Misses Lillian and Alice Brand entertained friends at 509 at their home in Manassas Saturday evening.

Miss Dorothy Johnson was the weekend guest of Mr. and Mrs. R. Weir Waters at their home in Culpeper.

Miss Thedia Waters of Washington was a guest at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Lipscomb on Sunday.

Eastern College began its winter term on Wednesday with an increased enrollment. The first chapel exercises were held on Wednesday.

Mrs. R. S. Hynson returned Monday from Upperville, where she has been the guest of her sister, Mrs. James Kincheloe.

On Thursday evening the local medical profession was entertained at a stag dinner given by Dr. B. F. Iden at his home in Manassas. The guests were Drs. W. A. Newman, R. E. Wine, J. C. Meredith, J. Marye Lewis, W. F. Dowell and Surgeon John Hooe Iden of Annapolis. During the evening the physicians organized a temporary organization to be known as the Medical Society of Prince William County, which will be permanent at the next meeting on Friday night, January 16. Officers were elected temporarily, they being Dr. B. F. Iden, president, and Dr. J. M. Lewis, secretary. The membership at present consists of the local medical profession, but after the organization is made permanent all physicians of Prince William County will be asked to join.

Richard Kelly, of Marshall, spent Sunday with friends here on his way to Marshall.

Mr. and Mrs. Silas Lillard, who have been the guests of Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Merchant, have returned to their home in Danville.

Misses Anna Merchant and Miss Bessie Merchant are the guests of friends and relatives in Washington.

Miss Helen Burtless has returned to her home in Roanoke after visiting Miss Francis Spies.

Travel Tuesday: Fast Southbound Mail Demolishes at Danville (1903)

Times-Picayune (New Orleans, VA)
28 September 1903

FAST SOUTHBOUND MAIL DEMOLISHED AT DANVILLE

Nine Men Were Killed and Seven Injured Out of a Crew of Sixteen

Southern Railway Train No. 97 Jumped Trestle Seventy-Five Feet High -- Engineer was a New Man and Not Acquainted with the Grade of the Road

Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 27 -- While running at a high rate of speed, No. 97, the Southern Railway's southbound fast mail train, jumped from a trestle seventy-five feet high, half a mile north of Danville, Va., this afternoon at 2:00 o'clock and was almost demolished.  Of the crew of sixteen men on the train, nine were killed and seven injured.

THE DEAD.

Engineer J. A. Brady, of Saltville, Va.
Fireman Clapp, White
Fireman Clapp, white
Conductor J, Thomas Blair, of Danville, Va.
Mail Clerk J. L. Thompson, of Washington
W. T. Chambers, of Midland, Va.,
D. T. Flory, of Nokesville, Va.
P. N. Ardanright, Mount Clinton, VA
Flagman S. J. Moody, of Raleigh, N.C.
A boy 12 years old, son of J. L. Thompson

THE INJURED

Mail Clerk Louis W. Spiers, Manassas, Va.
Frank E. Brooks, Charlottesville, Va
Percival Indemeyer, Washington
Chas. E. Reames, Culpepper, Va
Jennings N. Dunlop, Washington
M. C. Maupin, Charlottesville, VA

All of the injured men are seriously hurt and have been carried to the hospital in Danville.  The recovery of Mail Clerk Spiers is not expected, and other clerks are though[t] to have received mortal injuries.

The trestle where the accident occurred is 500 feet long, and is located on a sharp curve.  Engineer Brady was a new man on that division of the Southern, and it is said that he came to the curve at a very high rate of speed.

The engine had gone only about fifty feet on the trestle when it sprang from the track, carrying with it four mail cars and an express car.  The trestle, a wooden structure, also gave way for a space of fifty feet.  At the foot of the trestle is a shallow branch with a rocky bottom.

On account of the wreck, all traffic on the central and northern divisions of the Southern will be affected.  It will take several days to repair the damage to the trestle.  The Southern is arranging to run its southbound trains over the Norfolk and Western from Lynchburg, via Burksville, to Danville, new trains being made up at that place.