Evening star., 1896-07-06
CRUSHED BETWEEN CARS
Fatal Accident ct Great Falls Railroad
Shed.
A Switch Was Open nnd q Death Re-
suited The Track Was
slippery.

John Frizzel. a white man, aged about
fifty, employ ed as a watchman at the cal
sheds OF the Great Falls electric railway,
was crushed between two cars this morn.
ing and injured so badly that his death
resulted in a few minutes afterward- Nc
one saw the unfortunate man at the time
he met the accident and there is no cor
rect account of the same. although all de.
ductions agree as to the cause.
The car sheds of the road at which Friz-
gel was employed are located just out,
side tho District line. and near what is
termed Powder Mill branch, a small stream
below the Dalecarlia reservoir. into which
empties ali of the drainage Of the streams
that formerly emptied into the reservoir
Itself. There Is a switch from the main
track leading into the car sheds. and at the
time of the accident, about q o'clock this
morning. the car shed was nearly filled
with cars. Frizzel had. previous to the ac-
ctdent. rolled one car out on the main
track. and that was running on its regular
daily schedule. Whether through the fault
whether some one opened 1t after the car
had left, is not known, but. at any rate.
the switch was left open. unknown to the
watchman.
people ir the place at the time, Frizzel be-
gan working at the cars on the track in
the shed totally oblivtous of the open
switch.
end of the switch SO as to have
notice, @ ans was working between
two cars short distance In the
son and Conductor ]. A. Ryan, was COM
ing westward from Georgetown at a lively
rate, and began the dOwn-grade which
leads past the power house. MGtorman
- n In
fifty yards of the s.me, and he immediate
ly put on the brakes. The track at this
place is full of oil, and the car slid down
ward, entering the switch and striking the
first of the line Of cars. The vibration ex-
tended all along the line of cars. and Pie
jar caught FriZZel just as he was In A
STOPPING position in the act Of coupling
several cars. The collision was very slight
and did not irjure the cars. but it was SUI
fic.ent to press the unfortunate man tight
IL between two cars, around the bieasf,
squeezing him almost fiat.
No one at The moment thought of any
person being between the cars in the shed
John T. Blincoe and George He'll, motor
man and conductor. who turned in the last
car at the shed last evening, and who spent
the night in the car, saw the unfortunate
w4tc hman Immediately after the accident
and gave the alarm. The injured man was
tenderly lifted from his position. and inn
mediately placed on a car. but he died
shortly after entering the District line
Inc DOdy was removed 10 lis IOINc Ou tlie
Little Falls road near the Canal road
while Superintendent Camp of the railroad
reported the matter to the police. who i'm
inediately notified the coroner.
Motorman Johnson. when seen by a Star
reporter. told his side OF the story. He saw
he open switch, and Immediately put on
the brakes. Ordinarily the car would have
stopped in a short distance. but owing To
The oily condition Of the track, the wheels
slid over the surface and entered the
switch. He could not see FriZzel and had
no idea that a man was between the cars
In the shed. There were seven passengers
On his car. and Conductor Ryan took the
names Of H. Thorn. G. Green. J. II. Howell
and James Lee.
Superintendent Camp sent two men to ac.
company the remains of the unfortunate
man to his home and help lay the body out
wife of Frizzel when the corpse was
brought into the house was prostrated, and
for time it looked as though she would
die. The deceased. according to his uncle
was only forty-seven years of sge. He had
been married fer some tiIne and was
hard-working and Industrious man. He
leaves family of six children. the oldes
of which is eighteen years of age. while
the youngest is only a baby five months
old. Arrangements are being made for the
funeral for Wednesday afternoon.
The coroner directed the remains to b.
brought to the seventh precinct morgue
where an inquest will be neid possibly thi:
afternoon late or tomorrow morning. Ths
examination Of the body of the dead mar
shows that the breast, back and hips art
crushed and caved in, and the interna
organs crushed out Of place. sufficient Z
L y1cfo mt flx-