Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-04
Repetition of the Deanewood Horror
Narrowly Averted.
B. & 0. GRADE CROSSING ACCIDENT
Unknown Man and Woman Run
Down by a Train.
HORSE INSTANTLY KILLED

Ohio railroad, due here at o'clock last
| night, struck a horse and buggy on the
New York avenue crossing at lexington
and came near repeating the deplorable
! tragedy which was enacted on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad at the Deanewood crossing
several days ago. The horse attached TO
| the buggy was killed and the vehicle was
partly demolished, but the occupants of the
conveyance, a man and woman, are be-
lieved to have escaped uninjured
In respect of the occupants of the We
| hicle, the police had a mystery on their
hands, and today they are endeavoring to
unravel 1t. 1t is not known whether they
| were white or colored people, as those who
/ claim to have seen them do not agree on
| this question.
| of times during the past few weeks
| the valley train was behind and il
| Is stated that when it reached the
unprotected grade crossing at New York
avenue it was going at a lively rate of
| speed, possibly endeavoring to make up the
lost time. The watchman at the crossing
| had al O'Clock finished his days work of
| fifteen hours, and had gone home. The
gates had beer left open, as usual, so that
| the traffic would not be obstructed. Before
| he left the crossing, however. he remem-
bered the valley train had not passed. and
noticed that there was an express train on
the track. He knew then that the passen-
ger express train from the Shenandoah
valley was some minutes behind time but
his days work was finished, and he pro-
ceeded to his rest, without waiting for the
train. A little way down the track the long
express train had stopped, but after a few
minutes of delay the engineer footed mis-
whistle and then showed ahead to the yard.
laundering Down the Track.
1t was probably about 900 o'clock when
the Valley Flyer came laundering down
the track and rounded the curve. The
| mysterious man and woman in tie buggy
were on Florida avenue driving a bay
horse eastward in the direction of the Deaf
Mute College. On the tracks just north of
Florida avenue dozens of freight cars were
standing. that the view of the couple
IN the buggy was necessarily obstructed.
He drove along, apparently unconscious
of the fact that he was approaching so
dangerous crossing. Certainly he did not
at har d.
But unfortunately the horse got on the
track just as the heavy express reached
the crossing, ard the collision which re-
suited was of such force that the life was
Knocked completely out of the animal.
ore wheel was taken Off the buggy,
was the dashboard. and the occupants Of
the vehicle were thrown to the ground
| and given a lively shaking up. Some men
in the employ of the lexington and Sol
dlers Home street railroad were in the
vicinity. and several witnessed the acci-
otnt. and they naturally expected to find
the dead bodies of the man and woman
on the street beside the track.
Heard Woman Scream.
They heard the woman scream, but they
thought she made the outcry when she
discovered that an accident was unavoid-
able. Instead of finding them dead, how
ever as they had expected, the men saw
them get up and leave the tracks as il
they were badly frightened. They ran
across the commons in the direction of I'd
street east. Several times the woman was
heard TO scream. but both she and her
companion were soon out of sight.
All this time the poor dumb animal was
being tossed over the tracks. 1t was not
until NJ street was reached that the train
was stopped. and then the members of the
trains crew went back to inquire II hu-
man life had been sacrificed
Engineer Burns saw the horse and car
riage just before the collision occurred,
but it was too late for him to stop the
| short time after the accident happened
hut. they were unable to find any trace of
the persons who had occupied the We
hcle.
Complaint Filed.
1t has been only few days since COM
plant about this crossing was made to the
Commissioners by the Northeast Washing
| ton Citizens Association, and had a night
watchman been put there last nights af-
fair would not have been chronicled.
Speaking of that particular place this
morning, a resident of Northeast WASH
ington said he considered it the most dam
gerous of the outlying crossings on the
Metropolitan branch of the Baltimore and
Ohio road. In addition to the freight ward
being west of the tracks and just north of
Florida avenue, the station is SO situated
that It obstrUcts the view of persons going
east on Florida avenue. The crossing is
lighted but this does not assist in giving
view Of the track that an incoming
train may be seen.
Close TO the steam railroad tracks are
the tracks of the lexington and Soldiers
Home railroad, and the steam railroads
gates ara so close to these tracks that q
conductor on a street line was recently
Knocked from his car by them.
Last night the police of the eighth pre-
cinct made an effort to ascertain some
thing of the identity of the occupants of
the vehicle, and also to find it's owner. but
in this they were not successful
In the letter of Mr.. FrizzeI of the Ci.i-
zens' Association, sent to the Commission
ers few days ago, he made complaint
against the 9th street and Florida avenue
crossing, as well as that at lexington. and
at the next meeting of the association the
matter will be fully discussed.
Protection to Crossings.
President Evan H. Tucker, president OF
the Northeast Washington Citizens As
sociation. said to a Star reporter this after
noon that he thought the crossings shouIc
be protected all night as well as In the
day. While he had not investigated last
nights accident,it would appear to him that
it was the result of the failure of the au-
thorities to enforce the law. Speaking of
the danger on these crossings at night he
said he did not know how many trains
pass over them between pm. and am.
when they are not protected but he be-
Heved the number was larger on the WASH
ington than on the Metropolitan branch.
The railroad yards at Trinidad, he said
makes the number on this road much
larger than on the other.
Mr.. ]. G. Thomas, station master and
acting general agent for the Baltimore ard
Ohio Railroad Company. told a Star re-
porter today that there are six trains over
the Metropolitan branch during the hours
that there Is no watchman on duty at the
Florida avenue crossing, while there are
ten on the Washington branch. This num-
ber, he declared, included all trains
scheduled, both passenger and freight
trains. The railroad company, he said. Is
complying with the law, and he thought
that II there were no gates along the line
Of the road there would be fewer acci-
dents.