New-York tribune., 1897-08-16
AN ENGINEERS RECkLESSN ESS.
A CROWDED TRAIN HURLED AROUND ELEVATED
CURVES AT FRIGHTFUL SPEED

That serious accident did not occur early yes
terdav morning on the Sxth-ave elevated line Is
not the fault Of engineer. VINO. IN MS uesne
to make schedule time. handled his engine IN
the most reckless manner while gong arouhC
curves.
This bannened In the early morning hours. the
time when trains usually carry few passengers
save the advance guard of night-workers from the
downtown printing and telegraph offices But
crowd Of several hundred beated pleasure-seeKers
from excursions. who got aboard the tram a'
South Ferry on Sunday morning. left little room
for the regulars at the Cortlandt anu ram
Place stations.
As trains only run on fifteen minutes headway
during the night the passengers were satisfied to
hang on the straps or put up with o'her incoh-
venences in their desire to get home.
Locomotive No 81. drawing three ordinary pas
sengcr cars made up the heavily loaded tram
which by good luck. narrowly escaped being
pitched into the street a halfdozen times between
Park Place and Fifty-ninth-st. The screams OF
the frightened women and children ana the angry
complaints of the men. who momentariy expected
10 feel the leave the rails, were ignored py
the railroad men
The engineer was seemingly bound to make up
lost time no matter what disaster followed. The
points he selected to Increase his speed were not
on straight stretches Of track, but between the
stations where there are curves ana IN rouhdlhs
the latter he proceeded at full speed causing the
wheels running the larger circle. CT outer raii'
almost to leave IT, This raised the floor OF the
cars to a high slant. Such of the passengers as
were unable to catch straps fell in "A pile on the
ones In the seats, or bumped against those WHO
clung desperately TO the straps overhead
All this occurred on the train scheduled 10 leaVe
South Ferry shortly after a. m. OWING 10 iHe
crowd Of returning pleasure-seekers lhat poiueu @
it at the station named, "A few minutes time was
lost. This delay and the siIbsequent long stoPs
when big patches Of the outing tok lett the tIaiii
uptown stations were what apparently rattled
the man In No. BIS cab. Inc rules OF thc ecNdltu
railroad and in fact all railroads IN the country
require a sackening OF speed in rounding curves
There caution lamps on the elevated curves,
but the engineer yes.erd ~ morning seemed not 10
them. and. If seeing. he needed not.
He WAS Il little behind time, ana as ne nau
clear way ahead the engineer was apparently de-
termned to make up ms Loss am an ne SuCGveuTI, ,tg
was opened wide. and the train swung around the
from Church-st. into Murray-st. at llNely
pace No effort to slow was made, ana the Spe"u
at the West Broadway curve was 4 anything, dc,,
cccratcd At the second rounding the crowded
cars were keecd over. ana only Il miracle kept
them on the rails. When the curve was nnalIy
passed the ears swayed hke hoat IN 4 ne.tNS go go
Other spurts were made on the way uptown, but
delays were caused by the discharSinS OF passcn-
gers at Grand and Beecker SITS Again fun
head OF steam was given, and at the Thlrd-St
and children screamed and the faces OF the men
whityncd. II not until near Thompson-st.
that the cars righted themselves. and the wheels
and trucks were again squarcly on the track.
ON the turn into SXth-avc. the train kept on at
great speed. The complaints were general, but the
guards only laughed. and the engineer Kept up IN"
the rain al Fourteenth-st.. and the atmosphere
was blue with the imprccatons OF the men ana
the criticisms of the women aS they condemned
the rccklessness OF the engineer ana me hrutahty
slackencd. but the Fifty-thrd-st curve was nOe
passed prescribed 10y the comp1nys rules.