Disasters and Heroic Rescues of North Carolina : True Stories of Tragedy and Survival

by Scotti Cohn

• ISBN13: 9780762737048
• ISBN10: 0762737042
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-08-01
• Publisher: Globe Pequot

Summary

North Carolina has had more than its share of disasters during the course of its history. Twenty of these dramatic incidents come to life under the pen of veteran history writer Scotti Cohn. Spanning the early nineteenth century through contemporary times, these incredible stories tell of people facing all kinds of catastrophic events, from hurricanes and fires to train wrecks and airplane crashes, including: >The Great Fire of 1831 in Fayetteville, which was the most destructive fire in all of U.S. history, destroying 600 homes, 125 businesses, and the State House.>The Great Hurricane of 1899, during which Rasmus Midgett of the Gull Shoal Life-Saving Station single-handedly rescued ten people from a cargo vessel that was driven ashore.>A seven-year-old's eyewitness account of the 1925 Coal Glen Mining Disaster in Sanford, in which fifty-three men were killed, leaving forty women without a husband and seventy-five children fatherless. These and other accounts offer fascinating reading for anyone interested in real-life drama set in North Carolina.

Author Biography

Scotti McAuliff Cohn is a writer and freelance editor specializing in history, health care, and young-adult fiction. Her other books include It Happened in North Carolina and More than Petticoats: Remarkable North Carolina Women. After living for more than twenty years in North Carolina, she now makes her home in Bloomington, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Great Fire, 1831

The Wreck of the Steam PacketHome,1837

The Wreck of theMetropolis, 1878

The Wreck at Bostian Bridge, 1891

The Hotel Zinzendorf Fire, 1892

The San Ciriaco Hurricane, 1899

The Wild West Show Train Wreck, 1901

The July Floods, 1916

The Influenza Pandemic, 1918

The Coal Glen Mining Disaster, 1925

The August Floods, 1940

The Atlantic Coast Line Wreck, 1943

The Highland Hospital Fire, 1948

Hurricane Hazel, 1954

The Crash of Two B-52 Bombers, 1961

The Crash of Flight 1016, 1994

The Speedway Disaster, 2000

The February Snowstorm, 2004

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Suddenly the train made two jumps, then jerked forward and back. Sanderlin woke up. In the first-class car, Conductor Spaugh reached for the danger cord. Before he could touch it, another jolt knocked him off his feet. Lawson, the millinery salesman, grabbed the seat in front of him. The train jolted and bumped, then plunged over the side of Bostian Bridge.

The distance from the top of the rail to the surface of the water was just over 60 feet. To the people onboard the fall seemed to last an eternity. Col. H. C. Demming of Pennsylvania wondered why they were in the air so long. He tucked his pillow more securely under his head and reviewed his entire life, regretting that he had accomplished so little in the world. Auditor Sanderlin later recalled: "I felt myself going down, down, down. . . . I could [not] tell whither. My heart well nigh stopped beating."

As the train hit the ground the sound of breaking glass and the hiss of escaping steam filled the night air. The first-class car landed on its right side, tilted at a 45-degree angle. Lawson landed on George Bowley, the rubber salesman. "That you, Louisville?" asked Bowley, who could not remember his new friend's name. "Yes," came the reply. "Is that you, Atlanta?"

The train's wheels continued to revolve noisily. Strong at first, the motor's pulse began to fade. Lawson and Bowley tried to get their bearings in the absolute darkness. All around them the cries and groans of the injured grew louder and louder. The two men climbed out a window. Lawson noticed blood flowing freely from several cuts, including a large one on the left side of his face.

The second-class car lay along the embankment atop the tender, a special car designed to carry fuel and water. Both were next to the engine, which had ploughed into the soft earth. The sleeper car lay with one end in Third Creek.

Bennehan Cameron had been asleep until the moment of impact. Now he felt timbers closing in on him in his berth. He was certain he was doomed. Water began to rise to his chest, then to his neck. The wreckage had dammed up the creek. Cameron yelled for help. No one answered. He worked desperately to free himself.

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Excerpted from Disasters and Heroic Rescues of North Carolina: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival by Scotti Cohn
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.