The San Francisco call., 1896-10-06
CRASHED INTO
A BEER WAGON
Five Persons Injured by a
Street Juggernaut on
Broadway.
An Electric Car and Brewery
Cart Demolished in
Collision.
ACCOUNT OF AN EYEWITNESS.
F. Meeks Accuses the Motorman OF
Gross Carelessness in Exceeding
the Proper Speed.
ACCOUNT OF AN EYEWITNESS.

AtS:20 A. NJ. yesterday a Kearny. street
electrician crashed into a st. Louis
Brewery wagon on Broadway. between
Dupont street and Montgomery avenue,
with terrific force, resulting in severe IN
jury to five persons.
The names of the injured are: Herman
Behlman, driver for the st. Louis Brewery,
badly sprained back and lacerated wound
on the forehead; Ferdinand Doranthal,
employe of the st. Louis Brewery, severe
contusions and trifiing wound on leg;
Mrs. Helvogt, 1902 Stockton street, badly
wrenched shoulder and suffering from
hysteria; Mary, Mrs. Helvogt's daughter,
aged IL, several insignificant bruises;
Joseph Dominique, COS Broadway, badly
bruised about body and head.
Dominique was the most badly injured
of all, but will recover unless internal in
juries develop. He is now at the French
Hospital and late last night was reported
to be doing we'll.
Taking the manner of the accident into
consideration it seems miraculous that
every person on the car was not killed out
right. From the statement of Federico
Meeks, a merchant located at 213 Front
street, an eyewitness, it appears that the
electrician, in charge of motorman 907
and con iuctor 944, was running along
Broadway on a downgrade at high rate
of speed. Directly in front was st. Louis
Brewery wagon proceeding in the same
direction, with Behlman, the driver, and
Doranthal upon the seat.
AS the car gained rapidly upon the
wagon it suddenly seemed to occur to the
motorman that he must stop Immediately
to escape q collision. Accordingly he
broke the circuit and applied the brake
with all his power, at the same time
sounding the bell once. Before he could
sound it again the shock came.
With an awful crash the car struck the
rear of the wagon and in twinkling both
were completely wrecked. With such
force did the car strike the wagon that the
latter was carried fifty feet, throwing the
horses down and passing over them,
while wagon, beer barrels and broken
harness formed a mass of confusion.
The front platform of the car was
smashed to splinters. Glass few in every
direction. Even the running gear was
damaged to a considerable extent. The
two front seats were also badly Knocked
out of shape.
When the collision came the motorman
was thrown heavily against the lever of
his brake, but escaped without injury.
The conductor was standing between the
two seats on the rear platform, and was
1OrclDly prOpelleQ DeLWeeu the QOOrpOStS.
He also escaped injury.
Mrs. Helvogt made clear that she was
sitting on one of the back seats of the car
and was hurled against the rail when the
car struck the wagon. Her little daughter
escaped injury by being thrown against
the mother. OF the other passengers the
majority remained in the vicinity of the
accident for only few minutes. There
were probably ten persons on the car.
Behlman and Doranthal claim to have
heard only once the clang of the bell.
They remembered nothing after that but
a confused and indescribable sense OF
being hauled through the air until they
recovered consciousness in the drugstore
of DR.. Antiques, situated on the corner,
where they were carried.
Immediately after the casualty the
wrecked wagon was cleared away and an
other car was coupled to the broken one,
which was taken to the carhouse for re-
pairs.
Meeks says that he was the only eye
witness of the affair, and that no police
men appeared on the scene until one of
the bystanders blew a whistle. Officer
Hyman, it is understood, claims to have
seen the collision.
Meeks further states that when the off,
GERS appeared he demanded that the
motorman be arrested for violating the
law relating to the speed of streetcars,
but that no action was taken by these Off
ciaIs. He stated, with much indignation,
last night that the motorman had been
transferred to car lilo by the company,
and that so far as he knew there had been
no investigation of his conduct. He
threatens to swear cut q warrant for the
motorman's arrest.