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<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Bluefield Daily Telegraph<BR>March 17,
1909</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT size=4>TWO MORE TELEGRAPH OFFICES TO BE
CLOSED</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG>Were Among First to be Opened With Building of the
Norfolk and Western</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left> The Norfolk and Western railroad will, it is
said, within the next few days close two more telegraph and block offices on the
Pocahontas division, Cooper and Northfork. These offices were among the
first to be opened with the building of the line and the announcement of their
abandonment will, no doubt, come as a surprise, especially to railroad
men. North fork has been operated for years as a terminal where yard crews
were maintained for the purpose of making up trains for the through crews and to
do the shifting for the mines. A number of men who are now located at
Northfork will be transferred to Bluefield after the change takes effect and the
former point in so far as the Norfolk and Western is concerned will be little
more than a way station on their road.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> The absolute block system for passenger
trains which, by the way, was immediately put into effect after the big rear end
collision which happened to the World's Fair limited just east of Welch some
sixteen years ago in which several lives were lost has apparently been
superceded on the western general division by the system which allows passenger
trains to follow each other over some portions of the road, as for instance,
between this city and Graham where what is called "hugging" each other is
practiced.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> The Norfolk and Western has a most enviable
record in the number of accidents to its passenger trains during the last dozen
years and it heard that the new order of things on the western division proves
effective as the old.</DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=left>[<EM>Does anyone have any details of the World's Fair
limited accident 1893? This fair was the Chicago World's Fair, aka World's
Columbian Exposition.</EM>]</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Script size=6>Gordon
Hamilton</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>