The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-03-04
CABLE CARS TELESCOPED.
Woman Tossed Twenty Feet and Conduc-
Tor and MolOrman Rolled In the Slush.

lOI anu MOlOIndH NOllSu III tiiS oiuSus
Tho New York Sun contsined the following
graphic account OF q street car accident that
happened Monday morning;
In Lexington avenue at 02d stree. is a
sharp descent. The hill is very short one,
being but one block in length, Sut IL Is prob
ably the steepest street declvity in the city
Formerly, when the roadway was snow
covered the children used TO have fine times
coasting down it. Now the sleds are rele
gated 10 the sidewalk and tho cable do
the coasling in the road. Since the Lexing.
ton avenre cable line was started there have
been dozen or mere accidents at this hill
Another was added N the list yesterday
morning, in which woman was hurt, IL Is
thought fatally, end three cars were badly
smashed.
Except 70 the injury to the woman, the
accident v - typical of the many that pre-
ceded it. II was caused by the failure of the
grip 10 work. Up-bound car l22 came TO the
top Of the hill ut 0 o'clock. No. 256 bad just
gone down all right and was standing on tho
track little past l08l street. waiting 10 DO
switched TO the down-bound track, as the
underground trolley bogins a little further
along and the cable cars transfer their pas
sengers to the trolley cars and return. Be
cause OF the early hour, there were no
passengers on either l22 OF 230.
Just as the car at the top Of the hill was
balancing on The down curve OF the track
Mrs. Mary Muivihll Of l50 West Thirtieth
street started across the avenue. The head OF
the car tipped down, and IL shot forward on
the grade. The grip. which is nll that there
is TO control the car, brakes being practically
useless on that chute, failed TO cinch on the
cable. John Hogan, the aripman, jammed on
tho brakes with sll the strength no had. but
tho heavy car plunged down like falling
weight. Perhaps Mrs. Mulvihill didn't see IL
coming. and perhaps she did SEQ IL and mis-
calculated It's speed. She made dash to get
across the track exactly at the wrong mo-
ment. An avalanche couldn't have struck
her more heavily than the car did, II sent
her flying through the air to fall finally in
snow bank 20 feet away, at tho side of tho
street.
Gripman Hogan gave yell as she was
struck, and second later he gave another.
and fumbled Mt the grating TO get 1t open, for
he saw the stationary car in front Of him.
Having opened 1t he jumped. md the condnc'
tor, James Holley, jumped, too. Both were
rolled over and over In the snow and mud,
and before they could get TO their feet tre-
struck the other. Hogan got mp first. He
looked from the two cars. with their wrecked
platforms and shattered glass, 20 the woman
bleeding in the snow bank: then he ran away
as fast as his legs would carry him.
When the collision occurred no one was on
the stationary car, the conductor having
stepped off when tho car stopped hnd The
gripman having jumped ut the last moment.
h. In vail
Who're the cars met the platforms were
jammed into strange shapes and the front
partitions split, while nearly oil the glass In
the windows was broken. The conductor aud
gripman, with conductor Holey. went to the
assistance Of the injured woman. Somebody
ran around the corner to the East lc4th street
police station ana an ambulance from the
Harlem Hospital was summoned. The surgeon.
found Mrs. Mulvihll unconscious and took
her TO the hospital. where it was found that
her nose was broken, her skull fractured,
and that, besides many bad bruises on her
body. she had probably suffered serious inter
nal injuries. Her condition was critical yes
terday. Later on gripman Hogan found
by the police and arrested.
While tho men were looking over the two
tanaged cars. pending the arrival OF the
car No. la3 arrived at the top of the hill.
Exactly the same thing happened to that car
as had happened TO i,s predecessor. 1t failed
to get good grip on the cable. Nobody was
in the car, and when the gripman felt IL shoot
forward, he yelled TO the conductor:
"We're going tn smash those cars. jumpl'
He himself jumped before the reached
the bottom. The conductor somersaulted of
the rear platform just as 1913 struck the level
They were much better OFF with the few
bruises they GOT in their tumble than they
would have been had they stuck 10 the car
1t crashed into the others with terrific force
half telescopinR them and iamming ITS front
platform through the rear door of No. l22
On seeing this new terror sweeping down
from the hill the men all ran, so no one was
injured. IL took half an hour TO clear the
track.
The last previous accii at the Hill was
last Thursday, when a car going up tho hill
lost its grip when half way up and charged
down, smashing another car and breaking
three fingers belonPing to its own conductor
and bty's arm. Not long aRo woman was
run over and fatally injured at the top Of the
hill by a car that came quickly over the crest
and struck her before she saw IL coming
The cars are Obliged to come up the Hill az
full speed 20 as to make the grip on the cable
rs firm as possible. What causes such slips as
those of yesterday the gripmen DO not fully
unc cerstand. "slippesy cable" one will say,
and the next one will tell you, "some fault in
the working ~ the grip" Lut none Of them
know when their turn may come. and all OF
them fear the hill a collision between two
crowded cars NJ the loot of the hill would
probably mean heuvy loss Of life.
Besides the danger OF runaway cars. the
crossings al lOgd and 1921 streets, particularly
the former, are very dangerous. At 1850
street both uptown ana down town cars GO
NJ the full speed Of the cable. the down town
because they are gathering speed for the as.
cent and the uptown because they are fast.
ened rs firmly 10 the cable as tho grip can
hold them, and they could not slI"kon speed
In any possible way even II n pre-, ipice were
60 yawn suddenly before them. AZ lO2d
street the cars stop before b,giuning the
descent, but the downtown cars shoot up
over the crest at top speed and persons
crossing the track ho-e need 20 keep n shhrp