Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-08-05
ATLANTIC CITY ACCIDENT.
RESPONSIBILITY Seems to Rest on
the Dead Engineer-FOrty-
four Victims.

Atlantic City, n. j., Aug. 1.-Confu-
sion exists regarding the exact number
of persons killed in Thursday evenings
embarrassing accident. Forty bodies
have been identified and four are I'M
identified, but relatives and friends Of
about four others who were known to
have been on the excursion have not been
able to find those persons or to recognize
them among the still unidentified. AS
the wreck has been cleared away and no
additional bodies found, the proba bility
is that they are among those unidentified
and that the relatives or friends have
been unable to recognize them because of
their mutilatcd condition. This would
place the total killed at forty-four.
The body of Thomas Kelly of Elmer,
n. j.. was identified today. Several of
the injured are still lying in a critical
condition at the sanitarium. Mrs.
Faunce Fralinger of Philadelphia, who
had her right leg amputated yesterday
is devoid of hope of recovery. A young
woman about ~ years old, who has been
lying senseless at the hospital since the
accident, recovered consciousness for a
is too i'll to admit of question
ing rs to her identity. There
is a strong proba bility that she is Miss
Lizzie Branin of Millville, n. j., who
was known to have been in the excursion
party, but has not since been heard from.
There is much perplexity here over the
dispatch from Millville to the effect that
s. Z. Murphy, who has been numbered
among the dead from the time of the
accident, is alive and well at his home.
The body supposed to be his was identi-
fed as such by fully fifteen people.
An impression prevails that the re-
sponsibility for the accident rests upon
ba o;1 o.I
is no dispute that the signal to come
ahead was given to the West Jersey eX-
cursion train, and if so the danger sig
nal must necessarily be given to the
Reading track by an automatic arrange
ment. The signals become locked and
cannot be released until both trains
have cleared the point. Before
red signal IS constantly displayed
to both tracks, indicating to
all engineers that they must slow UP on
approaching the crossing. The theory
is that Farr did not slow up and could
not do so in time when he saw the West
Jersey train approaching. 1t is said that
he had been laid off for two weeks not
long ago for not making good time and
1T is supposed that he was trying to make
up for this by running at Il high rate of
speed.
The coroners inquest will begin at
1870 o'clock Monday morning and Fire
man O'Houlihan of the Reading train,
who saved his life by jumping, will prob
ably be the principal witness.
1t is now practically certain that
fOrty-four persons were killed in the
wreck. The arm which was supposed TO
belong to a forty-ifth body has been
found to be a part of the remains of Mr..
Richard of Bridgeton. The corpse sup
posed to be that of Samuel z. Murphy Of
Millville was today shown to be the re-
mains of Patrick Weigan. retired liquor
dealer of this city. Frederick Cheine.
one of the injured. died last evening, and
the body was sent home without proper
notification to the coroner