Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1889-10-24
FELL DOWN AN INCLINE.
A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT AT A CrN.
CINNATI TRAMwAY.

Loaded Car Hur.ed from Top to Bottom
OF the Steep Grade-Five Instantly Killed
and a Number Badly Injured.
At Cincinnati, car on the Mount Au
burn inclined plane at the head of Main
street. which rises between $50 and BOG
feet in space Of perhaps 2, 900 feet be.
came unmanageable, rushed down the
plane, and-was dashed to pieces Eight
persons were locked up in the car, OF whom
five were killed and all OF the others badly
hurt The dead are: Judge William M.
dickson, aged 49, Michael Kneiss, Mrs.
Caleb Ives, Mrs. Mary G. Errett, and
Joseph McFadden, Sr. The wounded are:
Mrs. Agnes Hostetter, Miss Lillian
Oskamp, fatally, Joseph McFadden, Jr. !,
seriously, George Miller, fatally, and Jos.
eph Huette, aged IA, badly cut.
Several other persons who were near the
scene Of the disaster were hurt by flying
fragments. Miller was standing on the cor
ner of Mulberry and Main streets and was
struck by the roof of the car. He Is still
unconscious. Huette was badly cut about
the legs by flying fragments of the car.
There are two tracks upon the inclined
plane, over which two cars are drawn
one ascending and the other descending
by two steel-wire cables wound around n
drum by an engine at the top of the hill.
The ascending car having reached the top
OF the incline, Charles Goebel ATTEMPTED
to force down the lever which shuts Off the
steam and stops the engine. For some
reason the apparatus refused to work. and
the car rushed on upon the iron railing
Goebel bent all his strength upon the lever
but it failed to bulge. On the car rushed
madly with the tremendous power that
drew it on. The iron work pierced
deep into the wood flooring, and
still the cable tugged. Finally. with
grating noise, the cable slipped from the
brass clamps that held them, the bolts
that secured them opened, and
tho car was free. Tne passengers uII-
conscious OF the doom impending, were
about to step from the vehicle as it shot
downward on its mission of death. The
passengers, who had arisen, fell together
on the flooring of the car. Down the
plane of several hundred feet it shot, and,
plunging fiercely upon the railing at the
bottom, dashed it to pieces The car
struck, shot far out upon Main street.
and was shivered into thousand frag-
ments.
The iron gate that formed the lower end
of the truck on which the car rested was
top of the car was lying almost as far
away in the gutter. The truck itself and
the floor and seats of TIE car formed a
shapeless wreck, mingled with the bleed
ing and mangled bodies of the passengers.
Mrs. Ives was dead when taken from the
wreck The Others named in the list of
killed died of their injuries soon after.
The intensest excitement prevailed and
numberless inquiries were made by friends
who feared members of their families
might be in the fated car. The horror of
the passengers locked IN tho ethOr aud
compelled to await the coming of the !
doomed car and its inevitable crash beside |
them at the foot Of the track may be |
imagined.
Judge Dickson, who is among the dead,
was one of the first of the wounded to die.
he was a retired lawyer, and had been(
warm personal friend of Abraham Lin.
coin. He was crushed and his head and
face were cut He was conscious when
taken from the wreck, but une BILE to talk.
Mr.. Kneiss was tea her in the third in
termediate school, and lived at IA Euclid
avenue, Mount Auburn, with his family.
lie was on his way home to dinner. His
body was badly disfgured and was re.
moved to the morgue. Mrs. Ives was the
wife of Caleb Ives, treasurer Of the Globe
at Riverdale She was on her way to Wis.,
i her son, Franklin Ives, and his bride.
Her neck was broken. Joseph McFadden,
Sr, was stone cutter of 10 Saunders
street, Mount Auburn. Miss Cskamp is
The daughter of Henry Oskamp.
Charles Goebel, who was at the lever
and bad the unspeakable horror to find
himself unable to stop the engine, saws
hat he complainerl that tho ''out or was
not working properly. 81 told the engi-
leer about it this morning." he said, "and
he engineer told me he had repaired IT,
But 1t was evidently still out of order. and
his must have been what was the cause of
he accident" Engineer Howard Wor-
len could not be found, although this is
lot to be considered as evidence that he is
riding.
The inclined plane on which the disaster
is the Oldest in the city. It was
'uilt twenty-one years ago, and this is
he first accident attended with the loss of
ife at any or the four inclined planes that
re in almost constant use. 1t Is too early
or an examination into the trouble with
he engine, hut there have been only two
imilar cases in the history of inclined
lanes here. In both the others the engine
vas got under control before the cables
1ere broken.
"oeS 1"' DOueTIy, Secretdry OF Jne ,
ompany operating the Mount Auburn
lclined plane, says that the cause Of the
ccident was little piece of iron in the
nt-of valve and was found the next ,
ay after the mi hap by the
len who had taken the machinery
part How it came there no one ,
OF knows. 1t was not broken OF any of
10 surrounding machinery as far as has
ct been ascertained. BY occupying
pace required for the rod to movo in il so ,
sarranged the machinery as to render it :
npossible for the engineer to shut Off the :
cam.