The country hhad massive labor problems in 1922. Nationwide, coal miners went on strike beginning April 1 when the United Mine Workers’ contract with the coal companies expired on March 31. Around 610,000 miners walked off the job, including over 100,000 miners who weren’t with the union.
To make matters worse, it appeared that railroad workers would strike on July 1 because the Railroad Labor Board had announced that it was cutting wages by seven cents an hour, which led the shop workers deciding to strike.
Near the end of the June, Sheriff J.B. Clouse and 10 deputies arrested 105 striking miners near Thomas, West Virginia, because they blocked non-striking miners from entering coal mines and doing their jobs.
On June 28, the Western Maryland Railway provided a train to allow the sheriff and his deputies to transport the miners and their supporters to Parsons, West Virginia, where they would have their hearing. The train had 150 people on board, including women and children.
However, something happened along that trip and about 1.5 miles from Hendricks, West Virginia. The rear car jumped the tracks, and tumbled down an embankment on Blackwater Grade. The grade drops nearly 4% or 1,236 feet as trains travel over 10 miles.
The rear car traveled 40 feet down the embankment, crushing the top of the car.
A cloud of dust followed the crash, which didn’t seem to bode well. The rest of the train that hadn’t derailed halted. People rushed off the train and made their way down the hill to the wreckage. Meanwhile, the remainder of the train headed for help at Hendricks.
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported, “As fast as the injured were carried up the steep embankment, they were taken to a nearby farm house which was converted into a temporary hospital, and there given first aid awaiting arrival of the relief train which took them to Parsons and Elkins.”
The train reached Hendricks with news of the wreck. Doctors and nurses were hurriedly gathered and along with Judge A. Jay Valentine, who was the judge assigned to the case, boarded a train to head back to the derailment.
Meanwhile, things in Hendricks became unsettled as people accused the striking miners, coal companies, or railroad workers of causing the derailment.
The sheriff asked for help from the National Guard, and Company A 105th MP unit of the West Virginia National Guard was sent to the town to help keep the peace.
Eighty people were injured in the derailment. Although most of the injuries were minor, nine people were listed in serious condition and required admittance to the hospital, and Thomas Konac, a miner from Thomas, was killed. Those with minor injuries who were among the arrested miners were taken from the hospital to the jail where they waited there heading before being sent to Parsons for their hearing before Judge Valentine.
An investigation later listed a broken wheel as the cause for the accident. However, given the state the country was in with a violent, ongoing coal mining strike and an expected railroad strike, the possibility remains, although not proven, that the derailment was caused by sabotage.
During the railroad strike, Western Maryland Railway trains experienced problems from sabotage. Air hoses were cut, switches misapplied and car journals were sanded.
Railroad officials reported that there had been hundreds of these incidents in the two months of the strike.
The cut air hoses presented a dangerous problem.
The hoses weren’t cut all the way through so that they burst when the trains tried to brake. Usually, this meant the car had to be removed from the train and taken onto a sideline where it could be repaired. However, it could also mean that the train couldn’t stop, and depending on where it happened, it could be cause an accident.
Contact Jim Rada at jimrada@yahoo.com or 410-698-3571.