Waverly Disaster

On a chilly Friday afternoon, just days after a train derailment in Waverly, Tennessee, a tanker car loaded with an unstable gas exploded during cleanup attempts. Sixteen people died in the February 24, 1978 blast.

The derailment of 24 cars from a Louisville and Northern Railroad freight train occurred Wednesday night, February 22, in downtown Waverly. Officials made the mistake of classifying one of the tankers as double walled when it was actually single walled. Local police and fire departments were on the scene for two days, spraying the cars with water in an attempt to keep them cool. The weather was assisting with temperatures in the 20s and a light snow on the ground. When HAZMAT teams arrived Friday morning, the weather had changed; the sun was shinning and temperatures had climbed into the mid-50s – heating up a single walled train car containing 2,000 gallons of liquefied petroleum gas. Officials tested the area for leaks and found none. At around 3pm, as crews were setting up HAZMAT equipment, an explosion rocked the region, igniting the car into a fireball, throwing train cars for hundreds of feet, and triggering flash fires in and around the downtown area. Residents were evacuated within one mile of the blast zone for fear of more gas leaks.

Records indicate that six people were killed instantly in the blast. Ten died as a result of injuries sustained from the explosion. Among them was Waverly’s fire chief Wilbur York, 65, city police chief Guy Barnett, 46, Tennessee Office of Civil Defense state investigator 24 year old Mark Belyew, five L&N cleanup crew members, two fire fighters, and six local residents. Forty-three people were burned and injured. For the next several hours assistance came from as far as Memphis and Nashville with firefighting air assistance and air ambulances traveling from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Burn victims were sent to Cincinnati Ohio, Louisville Kentucky, and Birmingham Alabama. A total of 16 buildings were destroyed in the downtown area.

Reports later indicated that the blast was caused when the single walled train car began leaking gas out through a crack that was caused by the derailment. Although the local emergency crews were prepared to handle train derailments, they were not trained in handling hazardous materials. In 1980, new training standards were put in place in Tennessee. To date, there have been no emergency responders killed at HAZMAT sites in the state.

Today the town remembers the horrific incident with a museum and memorial. The Waverly Train Explosion Memorial Museum is located by the railroad tracks where the blast occurred. A fitting tribute to those who died.

~ Joy

Did Opening King Tut’s Tomb Dig Up a Curse?

Valley of the Kings

It was February 16, 1923, in the Valley of the Kings when the tomb of King Tutankhamen was officially opened. English Egyptologist Howard Carter had searched for five years before discovering the tomb on November 26, 1922. Fortunately, it was one of the few tombs that had not yet been found, which meant that the treasure trove it contained was still intact.

King Tutankhamen

The sarcophagus contained three coffins encased inside one another. In the last coffin, made of solid gold, explorers discovered the mummified body of King Tutankhamen.

King Tut’s tomb contained close to 5,300 items his followers had sealed away for his use in the afterlife. Things like chariots, weapons, furniture, jewelry, statues, clothing, funeral items, and works of ancient art. But the most valuable artifact in the tomb was the mummy of the boy-king. 

Tomb Treasures

The relics were removed from the tomb for sketching, photographing, recording, and cataloging. Due to the interest in preserving the artifacts, it took more than 10 years to remove all of the treasures... and some "disappeared." Once the items were preserved, a traveling exhibition known as the “Treasures of Tutankhamen” made its way around the world. The collection now resides in a permanent home at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt. 

Of course, there were rumors of a curse that would descend upon all who disrupted the ruler’s eternal rest. Supposedly engraved in hieroglyphics on the exterior of the tomb were the words, “Death Shall Come on Swift Wings To Him Who Disturbs the Peace of the King.” The “Mummy’s Curse” is claimed to have taken numerous lives.

George Herbert, 5^th Earl of Carnarvon

Lord Carnarvon and His Daughter

Carnarvon had financed the excavation of the tomb from 1918 to 1923. The Earl was on hand at the Tomb in November, 1922, and again on March 6^th the day he was bitten by a mosquito. He nicked the bite while shaving and it became infected. Carnarvon died of blood poisoning on April 5, one month after his second visit to the tomb, and six weeks after the media began reporting on the curse. To add fuel to the fire, there was a widespread blackout in Cairo on the night Carnarvon died. But it was said that power failures were common in the area…

 George Jay Gould

American financier and railroad executive, George Jay Gould, visited the tomb in the spring of 1923. Rumor spread that he became ill with a fever immediately afterwards and died of pneumonia on May 16, 1923.

Sir Archibald Douglas Reid

Sir Archibald Douglas Reid was the radiologist who x-rayed the mummy before it was presented to museum officials. Reid became sick the following day and died of a mysterious illness three days later, on January 15, 1924.

Arthur Cruttenden Mace

Arthur Cruttenden Mace was a British Egyptologist, and member of Carter’s excavation team in 1923. Mace assisted Carter in writing the draft for the first volume of The Tomb of Tutankhmun. Mace died of arsenic poisoning on April 6, 1928; another death supposedly related to the curse.

Richard Bethell

Richard Bethell, Howard Carter’s personal secretary died on November 15, 1929 at the London Mayfair Gentleman's Club. He was discovered smothered in his room. Some suggested that it was the curse at work since Bethell’s home had experience a series of small fires after some of the treasures from the tomb were "stored" there.

Richard Bethell, Baron Westbury

Bethell’s father, Richard Bethell, 3^rd Barron Westbury was also thought to be a victim of the curse. The Baron killed himself by jumping off the 7^th floor of his apartment building on February 20, 1930. It was reported that several of the tomb’s treasures had also been stored there. Bethell's suicide note read, in part, "I really cannot stand any more horrors and hardly see what good I am going to do here, so I am making my exit." Were the horrors related to the tomb? No one could say for sure.

By 1929, eleven people were said to have died from the curse.

Howard Carter

Interestingly, Howard Carter, the first person to enter the tomb never suffered any ill effects. Carter lived to the age of 64, dying of natural causes. He did, however, record in his diary during the excavation that he had seen jackals, known as the guardians to the dead, roaming in the area. It was the first time he had seen them in that region after 35 years of working there.

So was the curse real? Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, said he was sure the curse existed and began promoting wild accusations after Lord Carnarvon died. Others say that Carnarvon himself created the curse as a way to keep reporters and sightseers away from the excavation. (Unfortunately for him, he added to the legend by conveniently dying soon after.) Although the tomb was opened 95 years ago, many think the curse is still to be believed.

~ Joy

Remembering George Burns

George Burns

Nathan Birnbaum was born on January 20, 1896 in New York City. He began his career singing harmony with other 6 and 7 year olds while making candy in a basement shop. People came down to listen, tossing coins when they finished. Nathan decided it was showbiz for him from there on out. He began billing himself at George Burns – George was his brother’s name, who was glad to lend it out. And Burns came from the Burns Brothers Coal Company whose trucks George would steal coal from to heat their home.

George partnered with several girls but the chemistry just wasn’t there. One partner was Hanna Siegel whom George married so that they could go on tour together. When the tour ended after six months, they divorced, having never consummated the marriage.

Gracie Allen

Grace Allen grew up in San Francisco but started in Vaudeville in 1909 with her sisters as “The Four Colleens,” a dance act. And then George met Gracie. It was  1923 when Allen met Burns met at a vaudeville theatre in Newark. This time the chemistry was seismic. Billed as Burns and Allen, the two played off each other masterfully with Allen as the “Dumb Dora” character, and Burns as her straight man. Gracie Allen was so witty she ramped up the illogical logic patter to a level all audiences appreciated. The two became a long-running team with Burns writing their comedy, and Allen delivering lines with perfect timing. 

They married in 1926, and continued in Vaudeville until they launched their own radio show in 1932. Their characters were single, but when the audience found out the two were actually married, demand increased that the show reflect it. During the last 1930s, the couple also did several comedic films.

In 1941, The Burns and Allen Show adapted a situational comedy approach, complete with supporting actors. With the rising interest in television, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show debuted on the CBS Television Network in 1950. The show now featured famous actors as guests, and playing local characters. Burns loved talking to the audience during the program, telling jokes and offering amusing asides about the other performers. The show lasted until 1958 when Gracie retired due to health reasons. 

Gracie Allen died in 1964 of a heart attack. Burns was bereft, but friends convinced him that work was the only answer. He toured nightclubs and performed at theatre venues around the country. Then, in 1974, his best friend, Jack Benny was dying of pancreatic cancer. Benny requested  Burns take over his part in a film called The Sunshine Boys. Benny died a few week later. A broken-hearted Burns stepped into the role, playing opposite Walter Matthau. Burns received an Academy Award for best Supporting Actor in the comedy. At the ago of 80, Burns was the oldest person to win an Oscar. With his newfound fame firmly in place, he ushered in a comedy film career for the later part of the century.

In 1977, Burns played opposite of John Denver in Oh, God! The film inspired two sequels, Oh, God! Book II, and Oh, God! You Devil where Burns played both roles of God and the Devil.

Burns went on to make appear on The Muppet Show, and starred in three more films: Just You and Me, Kid, Going in Style and 18 Again! Burns continued to do regular stand up gigs at Caesar’s Palace in Vegas, where he had a lifetime contract.

George Burns died on March 9, 1996 – 49 days after turning 100. He was interred in a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale California next to his comedic and life partner, Gracie Allen. Their epitaph reads: "Gracie Allen (1902–1964) & George Burns (1896–1996)-Together Again." George felt that Gracie should be given top billing this time.

~ Joy

A Look Back at the 1971 Thiokol Chemical Plant Explosion

Location of Woodbine, Georgia

Woodbine, Georgia was selected as the place to build the Thiokol Chemical Corporation in the mid-sixties, thanks to its close proximity to Cape Canaveral where the space race was in full orbit. Situated on 7,400 acres, the company built and tested solid propellant rocker motors for NASA. The plant was comprised on 36 buildings that housed all types of fuels and chemicals produced here.

Devastation From Explosion

On Wednesday morning, February 3, 1971, one of those buildings known as the Woodbine Plant (Building M-132) exploded killing 29 and injuring close to 50 workers, most of them women. According to reports, the fire began in an area where ignition chemicals were added to other explosives including magnesium. The fire then spread to a storage area that contained 56,000 flares. The resulting blast leveled the building, killing 24. Officials were not sure of the immediate death toll due to victims being dismembered from the explosion, and bodies being blown from the building into a nearby forest. 

 

Building Destroyed

Three more buildings were heavily damaged and more than 50 workers were injured, five so severely, they died within days from their injuries. Nearby buildings sustained scorched and buckled aluminum walls, and charred utility poles. Another seven buildings received minor damage from the blast. One survivor said it was “like an atomic bomb” had gone off. Heavy smoke and dangerous fumes lay over the plant as a dismal rain began to fall on the wreckage.

Air Lifting Victims

At the time of the tragedy, the plant had an order to produce 758,000 trip flares for the Army’s use in Vietnam. The materials were originally given a Class 7 designation – the highest ranking for hazardous chemicals and materials. But in 1967, the Army had downgraded the classification to a Class 2 – which designated a fire hazard. The Army reissued the Class 7 designation in the fall of 1970. It reached the Thiokol Plant on February 25 … 22 days after 29 people lost their lives in the devastating explosion.

Today, children of survivors are working to develop the Thiokol Memorial and Museum to honor those killed and injured in the incident - most who were women. Thiokol was one of the few places in the late 60s and early 70s where a woman could get a full time job and be paid the same wages as a man. Due to the Army contract, the plant’s workforce at the time of the blast was close to 500 employees working round-the-clock to get the order filled. 

Tomorrow, February 3, is the anniversary of the explosion. A memorial service will be held to honor those who died and were injured 47 years ago.

~ Joy

Remembering the Apollo One Astronauts

Ed White, Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee

January 27, 1967 is a day many space buffs will always remember. It was on that tragic evening three U.S. astronauts, Ed White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee died on a Florida launch pad.

Apollo 1 Patch

The three astronauts were chosen for the Apollo Program, which was to be the first manned space flight. Grissom was to be the command pilot, (This would be his third space flight.) Ed White was designated as senior pilot because he had experienced two previous space flights, and Roger Chaffee was the pilot since this would be his first space flight.

The Arrival of the Apollo 1

But the Apollo spacecraft was plagued with problems from the beginning. In fact, when the craft was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in August 1966, more than 630 engineering changes were done to the command module as it set on the launch pad. The crew didn't like the huge assortment of flammable materials located in the cabin. The men approached Apollo Space Program Office Manager Joe Shea and requested that all of the netting and Velcro be removed for safety’s sake. Shea issued the order to his staff but did not have the request supervised. Finally, on December 30, 1966, the craft was ready for testing. But Commander Gus Grissom was so annoyed by the continuous problems and headaches; he hung a lemon off the Apollo simulator - one week before tragedy struck.

Command Pilot Gus Grissom

In December, when asked by a reporter about the risks, Gus Grissom replied, “You sort of have to put that out of your mind. There's always a possibility that you can have a catastrophic failure, of course; this can happen on any flight; it can happen on the last one as well as the first one. So, you just plan as best you can to take care of all these eventualities, and you get a well-trained crew and you go fly.”

Chaffee, White and Grissom Training in Simulator

It was Friday, January 27 1967, when the three men arrived at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Pad 34 ready to take part in pre-launch testing aboard the Apollo 1 command module. The test was not considered to be risky since there was no fuel on board, and any explosives had been disabled. But the testing was riddled with problems and concerns. The men were dealing with a situation that was growing worse. Grissom, White and Chaffee agreed that despite all of the problems plaguing the launch, all they could do was their best with what they had to fly - and fly they would on February 21.

Fire Blackened Command Module

Around 6:30 that evening, as nerves wore thin and the astronauts were ready to stop for the day, a flash fire broke out aboard the Apollo 1. In the pure oxygen environment, the fire burned quickly. So quickly that attempts to rescue the men were futile. A microphone that had remained on broadcast the dying words of one of the men into the control room: “We've got a bad fire—Let's get out ....We're burning up." All three astronauts aboard Apollo 1 died of asphyxiation. Once the craft was opened, it took 90 minutes to remove the astronauts due to the melted nylon inside the cabin that had fused to them.

Apollo Staff Testifying Before the Senate

The tragedy was investigated and the fire was blamed on faulty electrical wiring. But the men lost their lives because the pressure inside the cabin had sealed the hatch door shut making it impossible to open from either side. The capsule had become a deathtrap for the men inside. 
 

Launch Platform 34 Today

Tomorrow will be the 51 anniversary of the Apollo 1 tragedy. All that remains of Launch Complex 34 is the launch platform, which serves as a memorial to the crew of Apollo 1.

Attached to the structure are two plaques, which read, in part, “They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived. Godspeed to the crew of Apollo 1.”

~ Joy

A Tombstone Tourist Making a Difference in Chicago

Photo by Mike Gustafson

For Tombstone Tourists residing, or planning a visit to Chicago, there’s a new cemetery web site created by Barry Fleig that offers historical and contemporary graveyard resources for the Windy City. Plus a lot more!

 Fleig began the  Chicago and Cook County Cemeteries Cemetery Guide in August last year. His site has a listing of more than 800 Chicago area graveyards, plus numerous Native American burial grounds. The web site contains thumbnail sketches on 273 cemeteries, and more than 250 cemeteries have been cross-referenced for easier research. More than 300 Jewish cemeteries can be found in the Chicago containing more than 175,000 burials. According to Fleig, these small cemeteries make up a patchwork of burial grounds located mainly in Jewish Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park, a suburb west of Chicago.

Tracks leading into Rosehill Cemetery

Besides burial site information, Fleig has also written numerous blog posts detailing some of Chicago’s lesser known cemetery wonders including facts about daily funeral trains that ran through Chicago in the 19^th century, information on three cemeteries located at O’Hare Airport, a cemetery that has a elevator, and a cemetery that held a liquor license. The Windy City has its share of history, and forgotten cemeteries abound under some of its most famous buildings and tourist sites.

Barry Fleig

Fleig, a cemetery historian, focuses on finding cemeteries that have disappeared. He was instrumental in the rediscovery of the Cook County Cemetery, the site of more than 38,000 burials on property that once belonged to the Chicago State Hospital on the city’s northwest side. To date, nine acres have been preserved under the Human Grave Protection Act.

Whether you’re planning a cemetery outing in Chicago, or just want to learn more, visit Chicago and Cook County Cemeteries.com.

~   Joy

Remembering Dame Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

She was considered the most popular author in the world when she died, having written more than eighty books during her lifetime. British author, Agatha Christie’s books have sold over 2 billion copies.  She wrote plays, short stories, poetry, and novels under her real name, and romance books under the pen name, Mary Westmacott.

Christie wrote her first detective novel in 1920, The Mysterious Affair of Styles, which featured her most famous detective, fastidious Hercule Poirot. She had learned about poisons and their affects while working as a volunteer aid detachment (VAD) at the Devon England hospital during WWI. By the end of the war,  she qualified as an "apothecaries' assistant,” someone who dispensed medications - a perfect side job for a mystery writer.

Known as “The Queen of Crime,” Christie wrote 66 mystery novels featuring Poirot, and her other famous detective, Miss Marple. Christie also published fourteen short story collections. And, she wrote the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap, which opened in England in 1952, and is still playing after more than 25,000 performances. 

During the Blitz in WWII, she worked as a pharmacy assistant in London, finessing her knowledge of poisons. After the war, Christie was awarded the first Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. She was also awarded an Edgar Award in 1955 for her play, Witness For the Prosecution.

Her best selling novel of all time, And Then There Were None, was published in 1939. In later years, Christie tired of her famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. But his popularity kept him in the forefront of her works. Determined to give the readers what they wanted, Christie continued to feature him throughout her books. 

Christie began to suffer from the effects of dementia in the early 1970s. Agatha Christie died on January 12, 1976 in Oxfordshire, England. She was 85. She was buried in St. Mary Churchyard. It was rumored that at the time of her death, she still had one Miss Marple novel that had not been published, but as yet, has not been released. However, one of Christie’s essays was discovered in 2012, and published in the UK amid much fanfare. Agatha Christie was made a Dame of the British Empire in honor of her contribution to writing in 1971.

~ Joy