Hal -- since your correspondent is also interested in nonfictional texts,
there is likely a wealth of info to be found in historical newspaper
databases.

Several years ago I translated from the German language Richard Pichler's
(P. Richards)  ZEICHNER UND "GEZEICHNETE" (1912) -- translated as DRAFTSMAN
AND DRAWN.  (Pichler was an artist and journalist who wrote about his
relationship with Mark Twain.) The last chapter of his book features a
discussion of a wreck on the Santa Fe Railway in 1901 near Needles,
California.  Richards concludes the book with a quote from a letter he
received from a deranged correspondent:

"It is foolish people who fail to heed The Living God, yet pretend to
wonder why they fall beneath The Iron Rod. Whatever evil comes to you be
sure it serves you right, it is a hint to pay the tithe to Lewis, Lord of
Light."


If  your correspondent expands her study to European writings, she will
likely find even more in both fiction and nonfiction.

Barb