In Landgraff, West Virginia, the work of recovery after a flood was still underway when two bodies were found caught in a drift pile, tangled among the debris left behind by the rushing water.
They were so badly decomposed that no one could identify them. The report gives only one grim sentence before moving on: the bodies were burned promptly.
The Norfolk and Western railroad was expected to reopen soon, though miles of track remained disconnected where bridges had been lost. Coal mines were beginning to load cars again. Telegraph workers struggled to raise lines in places where the flood had stripped the earth down to bedrock.
Rain continued to fall, delaying the work and threatening to undo what progress had been made.
This was the aftermath of a catastrophe.
Two Bodies in a Drift Pile
LANDGRAFF, West Virginia. — Two bodies were found in a drift pile at Landgraff today. They were so far decomposed that identification was impossible and the bodies were burned promptly. The railroad and industrial situation is improving rapidly.
It is expected that the Norfolk and Western railroad will be in shape for a train to get through tomorrow, although about 40 miles still remains to be connected, owing to loss of bridges.
A number of coal operations resumed work this morning and loaded over 200 cars.
Rainstorms continue to visit this section and while they do not cause very high water, they delay work.
The telegraph lines have been gotten up as far as Vivian. It was more difficult to run this line than it was to construct it at first, as in many places the flood washed the soil to the bedrock and poles could not be set.
Source: The Scranton Tribune. Scranton, Pa. June 29, 1901.
