The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-06-13
Thrilling Accident on the
CarrOlltO1 Railroad.
Another Runaway Dummy.
An Old Lady Seriously and
a Gentleman Slightly
Injured.

Injured.
About 5 o'clock last evening, there Oc
curred on the Carrollton Railroad, in tn,
Sixth District, just below Peters Avenue
an accident of thrilling and remarkable
nature.
1t appears that dummy No. 3 was at
| tached to freight Car which was loadet
when abont Clinton street, in CarrOllton
coming down town, the couplingchail
broke, and the dummy shot forward, leav
ing the driver on the platform of the freight
car The steam was turned on full, and
like vicious horse that had thrown it,
rider, the dummy dashed forward with a
scream and whiZz, as if determined t.
have a frolic on its own account. Each
moment it's speed was accelerated, and
| finally it shot over the smooth and level
roadway at rate which could not hav.
been mnch less than Sky miles an hour
So swiftly did it fly that persons living on
the ronte only knew it to be runaway
dummy by the peculiar noise made by the
escaping steam, the dummy being out OF
sight long before they could rush to their
doors and windows.
The race for a while was all very harm
l"sS, but there was d car ahead, and unless
the passengers could hear the runaway
coming, it was evident there must be a
disaster. Unfortunately there was LITTLE or
no warning and the dummy rushing wildly
on finally struck the car ahead, just below
Peters Avenue, telescoping it completely,
4
track
When persons living in the vicinity
reached the scene of disaster, an old lady was
found lying in an insensible condition between
the two tracks and about ten or fifteen
yards in the rear of the overturned dummy
and one gentleman, who, fortunately, was
the only other passenger in the car, slightly
injured about the face The driver OF the
car that was run into, states that the gen
tleman passenger-whO turns out to b. Mr.
Forth, clerk of the steamer St. John-frst
called his attention to tine swiftly approach
ing dummy, and that taking in the situation
at glance, he turned off the steam from his
own dummy and told tie gentleman and lady
tojump for their lives.
Finding there was not a moment to lose
he sprang over the dash board and rolling
over on the grass jumped mp, uninjnred,
orly to find that in that brief space his car
had been telescoped and his dummy pushed
forward about seventy five yards with the
skeleton of the car attached.
The driver knows nothing of how the
passengers got out Of the car aud could
scarcely be expected to know undel the cir
cnmstances.
Mr. Forth says when he saw the dummy
coming he called the drivers attention to it
and went out upon the front platform. He
has no recollection of anything farther, ex
cept that he found himself ont of the car
with Il bad cnt or his nose and several
bruises about the body.
The lady we learned was Mrs. BRANDED
Weinberg, widow some sixty years of age,
who resides with her >Ou -in-law. Mr.. S. Ro-
seminal, in CarrOliton. She was on her WA
to visit one Of her daughters and her grano
children, near the Mint, and when she re-
covered her consciousness partially, she
was utterly unable to tell what had hap
pened, and seemed to have forgotten that
she had been in a car at all. She was taken
at once into the residence of w. A. Hanney,
Esq. where every kindness was extended to
her. Several doctors who arrived shortly
after were unable TO determine whether she
was very seriously injured or not, though
she suffered increasingly, complaining Of
her head and side and back.
~ Is lcdlcu BIC u
that one rib is broken, though how she es-
capped alive at all is simply miraculous. The
fact that she was found 80 far behind the
last dummy has not been explained on any
theory, and nnless she JUMP ed
ont Of a window, it battles ingenuity to ex-
plain her being in the position where she
was found.
One lady, living in the near neghborhood,
who saw the accident, says the old lady was
thrown ont Of the front car and completely
over the rear dummy, but that seems almost
incredible.
Mr.. Rosenthal the sOn-in-aw Of Mrs.
Weinberg, took her home in carriage as
soon he could come from Carrollton. This
IS the second accident of the kind which has
occurred within few months, and some
steps will have to be taken to prevent their
recurrence or the h rises will have to be re-
nstated.
If the coupling chain broke, it was too
weak, and it was somebody's duty to know
hat fact. Manifestly the coupling chains
used on the ordinary passenger cars are not |
strong for heavily loaded
reight car, and to orr mind the fastenings I
If the passenger cars are Inadequate. We
rust Gen. Beauregard will give this matter !
lis individual attention, as the lives Of
many people may be involved.