The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-01-17
A TRESTLE TRAGEDY
Two Men Killed and Over
a Score Hurt at
tairVieW.
BURIED UNDER FLAT CARS
Incident of the Susquehanna Rail
ways New Line Construction
Horrible Risks Taken.

A disastrous accident occurred at Falrvle
this morning, resulting in two Italians losing
their lives and twenty-seven being severely
injured.
With tremendous crash that resounded
for a quarter of mile around, the big
trestle of the New York, Susquehanna and
Western Railroad caved in, dashing to the
ground, 80 feet below, ten carloads OF sand
and forty Italians.
The trestle is a continuation of the Sus-
quehanna road which is boring the tunnel at
that place. 1t is 500 yards from the Fair
view station of the Northern Railroad oi
New Jersey The road at that point en-
countered a creek, known a Bellman's
Creek. The stream runs but sluggishly,
being tributary to the Hackensack river
which runs some distance below this point.
A SKELETON EMBANKMENT.
The trestle is skeleton at the present
stage the intention of the company being to
fill it in with dirt up to the level OF the rails
To do this, the trestle had to be constructed
first and the filling in had to be made from
above Car loads of sand were run
was dumped through. An engine pushed
the cars to the end of an abutment
when the cars were given an impetus and
slid along the tracks. Ten cars were usually
run. manned by a crew of fifty Italians. The
cars were of the regulation size and weigh
about twelve tons with the sand. The whole
string of cars weighed in the neighborhood OF
120 tons or 100000 pounds. The en-
gine remained on sound foundation,
while the cars with the italians
risked the danger of running cut along the
high trestle. The structure was shaky one
and trembled beneath the heavy load. The
beams frequently creaked under the immense
pressure.
THIS MORNINGS CATASTROPHE.
This morning, at forty minutes past nine
o'clock, the cars were heavily loaded with
sand and were pushed by the engine to the
trestle Then the engine backed OFT,
while the cars slid along. Instantly the
beams shook and groaned. The structure
wavered, and the Italians at once realized
that the trip was dangerous one for them;
Never had the trestle creaked so loudly. VI
a sudden the structure COLLAPSED, and one
car after another was dashed below. The
laborers who stood watching the train be-
low. uttered yell of horror as the car, with
terrible force struck the ground. Spllnters
filled the air.
The injured Italians beneath the wreck
shrieked and cried for assistant p A corps
of men working below ran to the scene and
commenced lifting the wrecked cars from
the almost inanimate bodies of the unfortu-
mates crushed beneath them.
AT first it was thought eight were dead,
but six of these were found to be only un-
conscious.
WORK OF RELIEF.
The injured men were at once removed in
wagons to St Mary's Hospital, Hoboken.
A number of physicians and surgeons were
summoned to the scene of the wreck and to
the hospital. The wagons in which the
wounded men were transported were
cushioned with hay. One man had fear
full cash cut from one ear to another.
Almost everyone of them sustained a
broken leg or arm. Several are expected to
die, having ribs and other bones broken,
and one man having, it is said, fractured
skull.
Beds in st. Mary's Hospital were prepared,
some being used that were called into requlsl-
tion on Monday in the d. L. & w. calamity.
The contractors of the trestle WORK are
Brodhead and Hickey.
Coroner Volk went to the scene this noon
to convey the dead bodies to his morgue.