New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-02
11NDER ELEVATED WHEELS.
A WOMAN'S TERRIBLE SUICIDE.
- urR1s HERSELF FROM THE STATION PLAT


=, tho crowd of men and women hurrying to
A., un.owo platform of the Third Avenue Eie-
..a,ud Railroad at the Twcnty-thrd-st station
.'. attar o'clock Yesterday afternoon was
'~. s,o,,ly built, plainly dressed yong woman
.. n casual glance, would have been taken
c,,odisb servant of the better class. As size
.a,od ~ tho ticket Office she stopped irresoutely
s.. moment and looked around her Then She
...nood ~. m 20 the window and asked fer ticket.
.bo sama moment tho distant rumb" Of an
rnacbinr train heard. There was no
pta;,a,;ou or doubt in her movements now. With
,ic, decisive step she walked out OF the Office
% the platform. As the door of the ticket
noa closed behind her. the buffer of Engine No.
o, drawing train of five cars from the South
rorrv junction, touched the southern edge of the
platform. At the lower end of the PLATFORM wait
;nr for tbo rear cars. were ten or twelve men.
4, tho northern end was another crowd made mp
~ those passengers who in winter always wish
70 ride in the 'front.' car No save the woman
was near the centre of the platform. She saw
this and went straight ahead to the EDGE Of the
,Ia,form ler eyes fixed steadily the slowly
moving train In the same moment, IL tall. we'll
dressed man walked rapidly down the platform
iron, the upper end. Something III the face OF
the woman attracted him. He stopped short and
% he did 40 the woman-hcr eyes bent steadily
m the engine now within six feet of hcr-thrcw
the sealsln muij which she had carried TO the
ground, and without any particular appearance
Of hurry or excitement, leaned gently forward
and cast herself hcadong on to the track. As
her head net the rail the first wheels OF the en-
zine struck her body and passed over H.
Adison C. Ralph, tie engineer. had not seen
the falling figure, but he felt the sudden jolt
NJ the wheels of his engine, crushing out human
life.
~My God.- he cried to Cunningham, his fire
man. some Cne js under the train.
With the frenzy of mailman he craspcd the
brakes and almost instantly the train stopp l.
But in that moment not only the front wheels
OF the engine, bat the wheels of the tender and
the first wheels of the leading car had struck
and passed over the woman. From the force OF
fhe sudden stop. the wheels Of the car Iebounded
and passed over her second time. Every one
s,ood still for an instant, parayzed with the
horror of the thing. Then suddenly life and
reason seemed to return to the people. ont OF
the tram poured the passengers, and TN" plat
form was soon packed with women wildly scream
inr and men white and tcrror-stricken. To rescue
the manced body from the wheels II was n"c'--
sarv to clear the platform. ami this Dennis Muir
ply and j. Kel.ing, policeman oft the Eighteenth
Precinct. accomplished with the aid of the railroad
,mnoyes Five minutes later there not a
passenger on the platform.
The body was lying III the narrow space be-
tween the wheels of the tender and the front
wheels Of the first car. Ralph uncoupcd his
engine from the train, and moved it slowly up
the track Then the body lay exposed TO view.
Over lie space between the two tracks, and
running the whole length of the station Is a
wooden platform, on which the track cleaners
arc sometimes accustomed to stand A gang OF
nen, crossing TO the uptown station now stepped
down from the opposite platform out into TINS
centre track. carrying a litter and blanket. Inc
blanket was spread out, and on it was
M,cod tbe body The blanket. with the
burden. was lifted on 10 the litter, which was
carried 10 the uptown platform as Coroner
Messcmcr and Colonel Hahn. arriving almost TO-
.ether stepped into the station. One glance az the
body was sufficient for the Coroner. ana ne az
oncp gave the order for its removal 10 tho Mor@u".
Nearly an hour had gone hy, and the trdIi;
on the road had been brought to a staEdstIl
From Twenty-third 10 Thlrie'h SIS. there Wa
an unbroken line of mOtionlces cars som" al
yenturous persons chang at the d"llY. ciliiip''
over th. gate rails and walked along IN" TRACKS
until they reached the EGltccntll-'t. or twenty
third-st stations. lrt a, the oody that had
lain in the path Of the trains - long was taken
away the detached engine went back to IN"
ade was lifted.
At the Eighteenth Prccinc: station, the cur
rers Of the body halted while the police searched
the pockets Of the dead woman. All tlia' 'hN
found was purse containing $40 III piilS ANU
silver. a swedish com and a scrap OF paper o"
which was written Ms. Carleton. No. l"o stone
ave-, Brooklyn7 By scme strange chahc'' 'ic
face, pretty. rounded and wonanlY in life had cs
.aped the wheels except ioy Il slight cut over 'he
night eye. e., go.
1t took the police only few hours 10 ma ,o ou'
that the dead wonan's name was augusta i-il'son'
that She vas a Nwede inst one year III TINS couii-
Try aud mat the Nr- Carleton, whose name Mas
written On tho scrap of paper, had rhiPiofou nri
Fourteen DAYS ago Mrs. Carleton, whose husn.Hu o
carries on business in New-lork. TOOK ncr nonl n"n
registry for Immigrant servants AZ No' oiJi
Fourih-ave once or twice the woman han acun
like ore donlontel Twice, "a man whom sh'
called her brother and WHO was known aS Vt,o'
had visited her: but nothing was known OF MN nm
To Mrs Cert rude Whitcstonr, who lives III Mis'
Carlcton's house she sad y"stcr lay
Il have something to tell N0u. nave G,hl. G,
mitted terrible crime. and II hauntI ne. li"w
did il none in the world bur niyNelf KNOWS OF
can ever know" 4, ,
Then with a cry she turned away. An hoIf
later, dt O'Clock. She lett the house. ana went
straight TO ncr death.