HEY researchers. Please do not shoot me for sending this to the post. I am doing research on the Clapp Family trying to find Francis Clapp. I took a little break from that and was looking for Blankenship's in Pittsylvania Co., and I ran across this and wanted to share it with you all. I noticed that there was a A. G. Clapp on the OLD '97 and that is what caught my eye. Sue B. Altice Wreck of the Old '97 A while back I was in Morganton, N.C. going thru the microfilmed copies of The News Herald and happened across a story familiar to me from the Thrusday, 1 October 1903 issue. Perhaps it will be of interest to others on the list in the Danville area: NINE KILLED IN A WRECK Terrible Disaster on the Southern near Danville, Va.- the Fast Mail goes Over a Trestle-Four Cars Wrecked, Nine Killed and Seven Injured. Danville, Va., Special 27th, to Charlotte Observer. No. 97, the Southern Railway's fast mail, plying between New York and New Orleans, plunged over a trestle north of this city this afternoon, killing nine men, injuring seven others and completely wrecking three mail cars and one express car. The killed are: J.L. Thompson, railway mail clerk, of Roxboro, N.C.; W.S. Chambers, railway mail clerk, of Midland, Va., D.H. Flory, rail- way mail clerk, of Nokesville, Va.; P.M. Argenbright, railway mail clerk, of Mt. Clinton, Va.; J.A. Broady, engineer, of Placerville Va.; J.T. Blair, conductor, of Spencer, N.C., A.G. Clapp, of Greensboro, Flagman S. J. Moody, of Raleigh, N.C., a 12 year old son of J.L. Thompson. The injured are: Lewis W. Spies, of Manassas; Frank G. Brooks, of Charlottesville; Percival Indenmauer, of Washington; Chas. E. Reames, of Charlottesville; Jennings J. Dunlap, of NorWood, N.C.; N.C. Maupin, of Charlottesville; J. Harrison Thompson, of St. Luke. All of the above are railway mail clerks. It is said that this is the first time that Engineer Broady ever ran a mail train and the supposition is that he was running too fast and not entirely familiar with the road bed. The wreck occurred on a steep grade, the latter embracing the trestle, which is in the shape of an "S". The train was probably running at a rate of between 50 and 60 miles an hour when the engine left the track. The train ran some distance on the cross ties, plunging over the trestle at a tangent, when the engine was about half way across. The engine and all of the cars fell 75 feet to the water below. The last car tore up a considerable section of the trestle. The engine struck and was buried in the bed of the creek. The cars piled on top of the engine, all of them being split into kindling wood. The engineer was found some little distance from his cab, horribly mangled and dead. All of the bodies save one have been recovered. The train carried nothing but mail and express. The mail was not much damaged, considering the extent of the wreck. Some loose registered letters and the valuables of the dead men have been recovered. The express matter was considerably injured. Among the express consignments were a number of crates containing canary birds. The birds were not hurt and were singing when taken from the wrecked cars. Two small boys, names unknown, were playing under the trestle when the wreck occurred. They were thrown down and injured, but not seriously. A woman, in delicate condition of health, witnessed the wreck from her chamber window. She fell to the floor unconscious and it is not believed she will live. The mail coaches were taken in charge by R.B. Boulding, a clerk who spends his Sundays in this city. He arrived on a train within half an hour after the disaster. Mail clerks were sent on special trains from Richmond, Charlottesville and Greensboro, N.C., to assist in rescuing the government property. The wreck itself beggars description. All of the cars are battered into kindling wood and the engine is buried in the mud of the creek. A wrecking crew is laboring to remove the debris so that the trestle can be repaired for the continunce of traffic at as early an hour as possible tomorrow. All of the injured mail clerks were taken to the Home for the Sick in the city where they received medical attention. At a late hour it was learned that Lewis W. Spies is in a critical condition and will probably not live through the night. The other victims may recover, although the physicians can give out no definite information as to their condition. One man, name unknown, is still in the wreck. He can be seen, but the debris under which he is lying has not been removed. Express Messanger W.F. Pinckney escaped injury. Contributed by Truman Adkins <tadkins@kimbanet.com>