The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1895-11-23
AWFUL CATASTROPHE.
Frightful Plunge of a Motor Car
Through a Draw.
One Hundred and Twenty Feet Through
Space Into the River BeIOw--Fifteen
Persons Make the Plunge and All
but Two Perish In the Fall.

N1aE LAM " OY " To- a
iul accident which occurred here last
evening, suddenly threw a number of
South side families into mourning,
and it was all due to the criminal and
still unexplainable carelessness of a
street-car conductor. The careless
ness of the conductor will, however,
never be explained, for he Is among
the victims of the catastrophe. Nine
teen lives were lost, and some of those
who were eyewitnesses OF that awful
plunge into that dark abyss of 100 feet
assert that the motorman. as well as
the conductor, was responsible.
The accident occurred at 7:35 o'clock
at the draw of the Central viaduct, a
long stone-and-iron structure which
crosses Il valley and the Cuyahoga
river and connects jennings venue
on the south side and Central avenue
on the east. The bridge is 120 feet
above the river and n draw is immdi-
ately above it to admit the passage of
tall -masted vessels.
The draw was open for n tug draw
ing a schooner which was about to
pass beneath the bridge. As usual the
gates were closed on both sides of the
draw and the danger lights of red were
displayed to guard against just such
accidents as occurred last night. ALI
electric car was seen coming along
from the east towards the south side,
but Capt. Charles Brennan. who had
charge of the bridge. had no thought
of danger, as the usual precautions
had been observed. The car was II
of the Cedar and Jennings avenue
branch of the Big Consolidated line
and had fifteen passengers, a conductor
and motOrman aboard.
At what is known as the derailing
switch, some 200 feet from the draw,
the conductor mechanically a~lighted,
as is the wont of all the conductors at
this point, to see if all was right and
whether the coast was clear. The
car, as all cars do, came to a sudden
standstill, and the motOrman waited
for orders. The conductor, for some
un~accountable reason, failed to see the
red signal of danger an the closed
gates, or perhaps custom made him
careless, and he signaled to the motor
man, named Rogers, to came ahead.
The motorman turned on the electric
fluid, the conductor jumped aboard
the car, which at considerable speed
ven rolling toward the draw.
Why the motorman did not see the
danger lights or the closed gates
sooner than he did will perhaps always
remain n mystery, but the fact remains
that he did not. Nearer and nearer
came the car to that awful abyss and
a few feet from the draw it first
dawned upon the mOtorman that the
draw was open. He made extraordi-
nary efforts to turn off the current,
but it was Of no avail. The bridge
captain shouted like one possessed and
screamed incoherently, but there was
nothing left for him to do.
The motOrman, realizing his
danger, forsook the precious freight
of men, women and children entrusted
to his care, leaped off the front plat
form just as the car was nearing the
draw, ran down the viaduct in the di-
rection of Central avenue and disap-
peared in the darkness.
At the same instant two male pas
SuSCIS Jun u OI ILc Cur plIIlOEln
and escaped death as if by a miracle,
for the car had already crashed into
the closed iron gate. The conductor,
too. tried to escape, but it was useless.
A second after the immense motor had
crashed through the gate it reeled be-
fore that awful space of 100 feet,
steadied for 4 moment and with a ter
rife speed was hu rlcd downward.
Those who witnessed the accident
say that they heard one agonizing cho-
rus of creams and in an instant all
was quiet as death. The car struck
upon a projection of piles in the abut-
ment beneath the draw, then turning
and breaking into pieces, it leaped into
the dark river below, breaking the
towline between the tug and the
schooner that vas passing beneath the
draw.
A moment after the car struck the
river a few suppressed groans were
heard by the men who happened to be
on the docks below and then all was
over. Men from the bridge above and
from the docks yelled to the men on
the tug to pick up the people, hut
thirteen lives was sacrificed, only two
passengers, one nan and one woman,
being taken out alive.
Inside of twenty minutes a fireboat,
six ambulances, six dead wagon and a
squad of policemen were on the scene.
The injured man and woman were at
once taken to the hospital, but it took
many hours of hard and patient toll to
eXtricate the thirteen bodies from the
wreckage of the car in the river. One
by one the bodies were taken to under
taking establishments spread over
every part of the city, for this city is
without a mOrgue, and the work OF
Identification was extremely slow.
Late at night when the south side
residents heard of the catastrophe and
when they began to realize hat their
loved ones had not get returned home,
the undertaking establishments were
visited. where one after another the
bodies were identified.
The scenes were heartrerding in tho
extreme.
DhNIG IN n GLIIDCI