New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-29
ENGINES MET HEAD ON.
DEATH FOLLOWED A COLLISION.
MANY PEOPLE INJURED ON THE BROOK.
IYN UNION ELEVATED RAILROAD.
THOMAS GAFFSEY, THE ENGINEER. KII.LED--AN
ENGINE AND a CAR THROWN FROM THE
TRACK TO THE GRouND-A MIS-
Placed SWITCH CAUSED
THE ACCIDENT.

The locomotive ana forward car or an elevated
train on the Lexington-ave. division OF the
Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad left the
tracks at Fulton and Bradford SITS. at 7:1O
O'clock last evening. and fell to the ground
tventv feet below. The accident was the first
~ IT'S kind it is said. in the history Of the ele-
waited roads Of the Greater New-York and. in
latest report las, night only one OF the injured
men had died The following is the list of the
dead and injured:
GAFFNEY Thomas. ,hirty-six years old. Of No $50
Chaunceyst. Of engine No "a. complete com
pound fracture q the skull: died in Marys Hospital.
HEATH Herman twenty-five years old Of No 34l New
J.rsey-ave Of engine No 81 leg crushed: will
probably &c. removed to St Johns Hospital.
BROWN Frank engineer Of engine No o. Sigh, scalp
wound bruises. removed to his home by friends.
CARR George r ,hirty-,wo years old Of No 81 Van
sicklsn-ave right broken: attended by ambulance
sYrgeon and went home.
roNARIo Andrew. q Nc. Montauk-ave. confusion Of
In sni arm; went home without aid.
rrHREs Henry Of No 1876 Cleveiand-s, sprained leg:
taken home by friends after being attended by
tuaace
HANBREY julius OF Railroad Jamaica spine
injured removed TO St Mary's Hospital.
THOMAS. George. OF Avenue L. Forty-ninth-st..
fireman % engine No. -. badly sca:ded the face
Shoulders
Hospital
ENGINES SMASHED TOGETHER.
Engine No. "a was drawing train Of four
cars which left the Bridge for Cypress Hills
about $40 o'clock. When 1t left the Bridge
and on the greater part OF its trip uptown the
train was we'll laden with passengers who
were returning home After it had passed Ala
bame-ave the last station before Bradford
80. ~ rrt,,ex
car. the first one Of the four Bradford-st. is
about midway between the Van Sicklen and
Alabama ave. stations and the train there
fore going at a high rate Of speed at
Bradford-st Just as the train reached this
point Engine No. e. drawing three empty cars.
was coming down on the centre track from
Cypress Hills. and at Bradford-st.. for some
reason not exactly known. it turned from the
centre track TO the uptown track crashing
headiong into Engine No. a.
1t was said last night that the switch be-
tween the centre and uptown tracks had been
left open thus allowing the downtown train
TO get in the way of the passenger train En-
CINE No "a and the smoker which followed II
were instantly thrown from the tracks. and ex-
cept for the breaking Of the coupler which con-
nected the smoker with the next car. the en-
tire train would have been pulled from the
structure The engine was completely demol-
ished and the smoker was left standing on end
at an angle Of about 30 degrees. with the up
per end resting against the ties NJ the eie-
waited structure.
RESCUED FROM THE WRECK.
The fireman Of No. "A. George Thomas. es-
capped almost by miracle. with scalded race
and shoulders. In TIL smoker there were -FOUR
all of whom were more or less in
tured Frederick Romming. Of No. 2.l2o Full
ton-st saw the accident from a neighborlns
corner. and rushing over to the battered car.
broke In a window pane. through which Andre"
Donario and an unknown man escaped With
out assistance. ROmming and another man
then found Hanbrey and Fehres in the ruins
and removed them to the street. where they
were attended by the ambulance surgeons
Engine No ca was badly injured by the COL
lision, but It pulled away without difficulty Its
engineer Albert Brown, escaped with slight
scalp wound, but the fireman. Herman Heath'
had his leg badly crushed. He was carried 10 the
Van Sicklen-ave. elevated station. where ne
was attended by an ambulance surgeon from st.
Johns Hospital His left leg was so badly
crushed that it had 10 be amputated. He was
taken TO St Johns Hospital where it was said
last night that his chances for recovery were
police station by officer, where 1t remained
all last night.
Albert Russell. Of No. $50 Linwood-st. the con-
ductcr Of the passenger train, escaped unin-
1ured.
The extent 10 which the element Of luck en-
tered into the accident was most remarkable
Had the engine and smoker" been thrown from
the structure ten feet further along. they would
have crashed into a wooden building used as
dwelling house and grocery store, in which there
were number Of persons when the accident took
place. So far as known there were no teams or
pedestrians near the crossing Of Bradford and
Fulton SITS. when the accident took place.
HOW KELLEY ESCAPED
Charles Kelley. a young man who was a pas
senger on the train tells an interesting story Of
his escape from injury. He was sitting in the
forward end Of the smoker when the train
reached Van Sicklen-ave. Here his cigar went
out and he threw it away and walked through
into the next car where he sat down and began
10 read his evening paper. The train had not
gone two blocks before the accident occurred.
Kelley stood at Bradford and Fulton SITS. shortly
after the accident, surveying the wreck and con-
graduating himself that MS cigar had gone out
and that ne had left the smoker
Henry Fehrs Of the passengers in the
smoker. gives remarkable description of the
sensation which he experienced while the car was
falling from the structure.
The first suggestion we had of any trouble"
ne said. was loud crash. This was followed
by strong tug, which threw us all forward in
our seats In the next instant we could feel the
car rolling toward the outside Of the track. Just
what happened next | cannot tell, except that |
remember clutching at a window-casing and
holding on for dear life. 1t seemed as though it
iell fifty feet in the short space of time that IL
,ook 20 fan from the structure to the ground
when the car struck the earth lost my hold on
me windo"-casine and fell into the lower end
oi the car was badly stunned at first but was
NOT unconscious. | heard somebody break in a
pane OF glass. and soon as cried for help q
man came and assisted me out through The
broken window. do not feel that am serious
y injured
STARTLING REPORTS CURRENT
Inc frs; reports from the accident were OF the
most startling nature. The rumor spread abroad
'nat more than 200 persons were on the train.
'na' twenty-four had been killed and twice as