Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-01-05
KILLED At a CROSSING.

l Ef1ghffol Accident 1t Chtc1gO-A Crowded
| Street Car Run Down by . Fort WAYNE
ing-Four Persons Killed and . Dozen
Fearfully IpJured-The Accident the Re.
/ suit OF Gross Neglect.
CHICAGO, Dec. 3O.-A Fort WAYNE
train in the semi-darkness of the early
hours of yesterday morning dashed
past the Representatives. crossing
at the rate of thirty miles an hour, and
| left behind it the mangled bodies OF
| four dead and a dozen fearfully injured
passengers of a street car.
The accident occurred shortly after
| o'clock. The street car going east on
Forty-seventh street was crowded with
half a hundred laboring men, going to
their work The passengers were
wholly unaware that q train was APP
preaching as the car started to cross
the railroad track. There was abso-
lutely no warning. There was the
wild shrek of an engine, frightful
crash. as the train tore through the
midst of the Inflated people, and. in an
instant the dead and injured were
strewn along the frozen ground by the
tracks.
The train came to a standstill some
distance south of the crossing and
those on board fastened back to the
wrecked street car, of which scarcely
enough remained to enable the wit
nesses to distinguish what it had once
been. The neighboring residents also
turned out to the rescue of the
wounded.
The alarm was turned in to all the POI
lice stations anywhere within the vi
cinity and five police patrol wagons
reached the spot short time after. At
first everything was confusion. It was
still dark, and. while the cries of the
wounded could be heard, their bodie
were almost invisible.s
The houses near the crossing were
soon turned into impromptu hospitals,
and number of the unfortunate people
were taken to the hospitals and to their
homes.
One man who was found still breath
ing lived long enough only to be car
ried into a neighboring house. and be-
fore another of the injured had reached
Mercy hospital death came and the des-
tination of the wagon was changed to
the morgue.
Most of the bodies were found in the
debris of the street car, but after the
search had been thought complete it
was found that two men had been
dragged several hundred feet by the
engine, under the tender of which they
still remained
Six people were placed under arrest.
They were: Patrick Shandley and
Bernard O'Connor. driver and conductor,
respectively of the street car; Engineer
Rosscup and Fireman Meager. of the
construction train, and the gateman,
John Albright, and the towerman,
Peter Schwartz. To all of these some
suspicion of carelessness is attached.
The gateman was last January in
dicted for alleged carelessness in con-
nection with fatal accident at his
crossing. In the present instance
neither the gateman nor the towerman
was at his post, both being in a warm
shanty near the tracks, leaving the
gates up and exposing any street car
or pedestrian to approaching trains.
This fact was established by their own
statements.
The street car men appear to have
been equally careless, either the driver
drove upon the tracks without receiv-
ing any signal from the conductor who
had gone in front, or the conductor
gave that signal without first having
satisfied himself that the track was
clear.
The fireman and engineer of the train
are also at variance in their statements.
There seems to be no doubt in the
mind of any one that the accident was
due to most gross carelessness in some
quarter.
The construction train was one
which leaves the depot, with rare ex-
ceptions, each morning at SIS o'clock.
Yesterday it passed the crossing at
$40, the exact moment at which it is
due there. The customary arrival is of
course we'll known to all street-car
men and to the employees at the cross
ing, yet, the gates were up. no employe
was at his post and no warning of the
II.