N&W in 1909--Another fatality

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
February 10, 1909

FIREMAN DIES OF INJURIES RECEIVED WHEN TRAIN STUCK BOLDER
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Engine and One Car Hurled From Track by Rock Weighing Over a Ton

    Dislodged from the bank of a cut near Wittens Mills, an immense boulder weighing over a ton rolled on the Norfolk and Western track after midnight yesterday morning and train No. 85 crashed into it with the result that the engine and one car were thrown from the track and the fireman, Will Kensinger, was caught in some way between the bolder and the tender of the engine.
    A wrecker was rushed from this city to the scene of the accident with Dr. St. Clair on board so that he could give medical assistance to the wounded fireman.  The crew then worked for several hours trying to remove the boulder and as soon as this was finished the special train made a hurried return trip to this city with Kensinger, for whom everything that the doctor could do was being done.  An ambulance met the special at the local station and the man was hurried to the Bluefield Sanitarium where it was found that he could not live, as he reached the local hospital in a pulseless condition.  Within a few minutes after his arrival here he died and was later taken to the home of his mother, Mrs. Mary A . Kensinger, on Allen street.
    The dead man was 24 years old and was a member of Grace Methodist church and also member of the B. of L. F. & E. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen].
    He is survived by his mother, four sisters--Mrs. C. C. Walker, and Misses Ada, Mary and Pearl Kensinger and two brothers--James and Guy Kensinger.  The funeral will be held from Grace Methodist church this afternoon at 2 o'clock under the auspices of the Brotherhood of Firemen, and the services will be conducted by Rev. T. S. Hamilton and Rev. D. E. Hawk.
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[Whitten Mills is in Tazewell County on the Clinch Valley line to Norton, VA.  Also, Feb. 9th was a Tuesday so it is interesting that Dr. St. Clair made the trip to the accident scene even though his practice must have suffered that day.  Finally, the Rev. T. S. Hamilton was my grandfather.]

Gordon Hamilton
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