The Globe-republican., 1890-08-27
A FEARFUL RIDE.


Road-A Car Full Of Passengers Dashes
Down the Mountain at 3 Frightful VelOc-
ity-Many Killed and Injured
READING, Pa, Aug 23.-On the Mount
! Penn Gravity railroad. mountain route
encircling Mount Penn, 800 feet above
the city, yesterday forenoon about 1880
o'clock. a car, containing about eight
cen passengers was taken from the
station to the top of the mountain.
This consumed about thirty minutes.
On the top Ct the mountain there is
high stone tower, where the passen-
gers are allowed to alight to enjoy the
scenery for thirty miles around.
When the tower was reached the en-
CINE was detached, when the car ran
away while the passengers were still on
board. The distance to the point of
starting is FIVE miles and it is estimated
that this was covered by the runaway
car in about three minutes, the car at
tanning a fearful speed, estimated at
eighty miles an hour 1t remained on
the track to the foot of the plane. and
went around all the curves, while the
passengers shrieked in their fright
and several jumped of. When the car
reached the station at the foot OF
the plane it jumped the track and rolled
down a fifty foot embankment, where it
ianded..upside down, with the passengers
imprisoned inside The greatest ex-
element prevailed and soon large
crowd gathered. Doctors and ambu-
lances were sent for and the dead and
injured removed. Four were taken out
dead. These were: Charles Rettew,
aged fifty-fve, conductor; Edgar NJ.
Levan, an attorney of this city, aged
about forty: Miss Rosa Pfeiffer, a young
lady of this city, and Miss Harriet Hin
kle, of Philadelphia. The following
will die: Mrs. Hiram Schiller and
Mrs A. w. H. Schimel.
The injured are: Sallie Bye and
Mary Guthrie of Wilmington, both
badly hurt: Willie Schimel Of this city,
both legs broken; Miss Katie Homan,
seriously hurt about the head. not ex-
pected to live: Misses Bessie and Katie
Kelley, nieces Of Miss Homan. both
badly injured; Cornelius Hanlon of AL
lentown, suffering from conclusion Of
the brain; Mrs. Cornelius Hanlon, OF
Allentown, badly cut and bruised; Miss
Weller of Allentown, badly hurt about
the head and chest; Mrs. Smith of AL
lentown, skull fractured: Mrs. Cooper
of Allentown, out in left temple and
about the eye and her baby also Sc
verely injured.
Mrs. Schiller and Mrs. Cooper with
her baby in hsr arms jumped from the
car during it's descent and were found
by Harry Brown, of Philadelphia, who
had leaped from the car soon after it
started on its wild run, but escaped
without injury.
The grade to the summit is very heavy
and the descent of the cars is always
rapid. There is a ravine at the place Of
starting and just before this is reached
on the down grade there is sharp curve,
at the point the accident occurred, the
men losing control of the car. The
road was built at cost of $50 900 and
had been il operation since May.
Norman Il. Willsher, of this city, who
was standing at the foot of the plane
when the car came dashing down the
mountain, gives graphic story Of the
accident He says that he first heard a
distant roar, as if thunder, and looked
up and saw the car coming down the
mountain, but sticking to the tracks, at
the rate of about a mile IN forty-five
seconds. He had barely time to recover
himself when the Car, like a flash of
lightning, dashed past the station
and down the embankment fifty
feet below. He was the first on the
ground and found the Car turned upside
down and the passengers all thrown into
a confused mass, and that with the as
sistance of others who arrived on tho
ground he helped to carry out the dead
and injured. There were about dozen
of the latter with broken limbs and bat
tered heads and their clothing covered
with blood. As the car fell the united
shrieks of twenty voices added terror to
the scene.
Superintendent Dechart gives as the
cause of the accident the refusal Of the
brake to work properly. 1t was new
brake and was being experimented with.
A great many people visited the scene
of the accident during the afternoon.
The car was splintered into kindling
wood and the escape of single passen-
ger is miraculous