The Red Cloud chief., 1895-11-22
THROUGH A BRIDGE
A CLEVELAND. o., STREET
CAR ACCIDENT.
a Trolley tar rail- ioO Feet TO ster and
Nineteen Persons Meet with Oeath-A
Conductor. Careiessnss, Costs Iiu, Ills
Ufe - Scenes.

N~LENILAND. o., Nov. ~ hundreds
Of people remained on the river banks
all Saturday night and thousands
gathered sunday while the work of
searching for the victims of the cleo
tric car disaster of Saturday night wa,
in progress. The story of the awful
catastrophee is as follows:
As the car went over the brink of
the abyss the motorman jumped from
the vestibuled front. All the other
occupants of the car with the excep.
ton of the few who had managed to
jump as it topplcd over. went down To-
certain death. The car disappeared
from sight as soon as II struck the
water and every one OF the pussen.
gers were drowned.
The Inflated motor car, containing
petwcen twenty and thirty people,
approached the draw Just rs a vessel
was nearing IL. and the bridge attend.
ants had closed the big iron gates and
were preparing to swing the draw. AS
is the rule. the car stopped and the con
ductor went forward To release the
switch in case the way was clear. lie
must have been blinded by the electric
lights, for an eyewitness declares that
although the gates were closed n
the draw was already in motion. the
conductor raised the switch handle.
The motorman applied the current
n the ear shot Onward and struck
the gates with q crash. There was
only II moments pause and then the
heavy car ground its way through the
wrcckagc aud plunged over the brink
into the black abyss, mid the screams
and frantic struggles of the passen-
| gers. who, at the first iutimation Of
danger, rushed to- the rear door. The
car struck the water with q great
splash, and then there was silence.
The first reports of the disaster have
been verified in every particular, with
the possible exception of the number
of victims, which is Il triflc smaller
than was at first sur posed.
The work of rescuing the bodies OF
the victims has gone on steadily since
o o'clock Saturday evening, and it is
now believed that nothing more can
be done until the last bit of the wreck
age Of the ear has been removed from
the river.
II was almost impossible to work
with any system. The crowd pushed
itself as near the scene as possible aud
the efforts Of n large force of police to
maintain order was almost in vain. 1t
was with great difficulty that "a body.
when recovered. was taken to one of
the dead wagons.
One of the bodies found was hat Of
little Gertie Hoffman, aged AZ years,
who was going home from the store
where her father was employed, with
her mother and brother. The child's
body was found lying against the
bank of the liver, some distance be-
low the scene OF the accident.
Thc finding of her body filed the
cup of sorrow for her father. She
was the last member of his family.
His wife and son Harvey, the latter
aged Z, had already been taken from
the river.
KILLED.
James Mclaughlin.
Henry w. Mecklcnberg.
Edward Hoffman.
Mrs. John A. Saurnheimer.
Miss Bessie Davis.
Harry w. Foster.
Mrs. Minnie &. Brown.
Curt iIephne.
Mrs. A. W. Hoffman.
Harvey Hoffman, : years old.
Mrs Martha Palmer.
Marie Mitchen.
Augusta Sarinski.
Gertie Hoffman, ~ years old.
Louis +. Huletz.
Mrs. Marietta Saurnheimcr.
Matthew Callahan.
Arrangement have been made for
the funerals of the victims, nearly all
Of which will occur morrow.