The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-05
TROLLEY CARS TELESCoPED.
THREE PERSONS KILLED AND A
SCORE INJURED.


The Scene OF the Collision at the
Foot of Two Steep Grades and the
Impact Terrific-The Cars. Driven
Half Through Each Other ana
Crushed to Picces-superintend
of the Road Has Both Legs Cut on
and His Body BADLY NIangIed--A
MOtOrman and a Passenger Killed
While Struggling Together to Es-
cape.
Detroit, Mich, Dec. 1.-Two suburban.
cars carrying some twenty passengers
and both running at a speed of twenty
five miles an hour. collided on the De-
troit and Oakland electric railroad at
o'clock this afternoon. Three men wera
instantly killed. and a score of passen-
gers were seriously injured.
The killed are:
JOHN SAVAGE, superintendent OF the
road
CHARLES WHITEHEAD motorman.
JOHN KELLY Of Detroit, book agent.
The injured are:
Frank McHugh, motorman, leg broken
and internal injuries.
LOUIS HARNECK, severely bruised ana
internally injured.
MRS. JOHN DoTY of Pontiac. two ribs
broken, and otherwise injured.
AGED MOTHER of Mrs. Doty, badly
crushed and leg broken.
JOHN f. MADDEN of Leonard. legs
and arms badly bruised.
PETER HELNfED. cut in the Les ana
head cut.
MRS. T.. SMITH OF Detroit, leg and face
badly bruised.
WARNER GOoDALE of Lapere. seyere-
ly bruised.
MRS. WARNER GoODALE. face cut,
body bruised.
A. e. ROBERTSON of Walnut. leg bad-
ly cut, hand crushed and shoulder bruised.
JOHN RIEGEL of Pontiac, compound
fracture of the leg.
A half dozen others were more or less
bruised.
The cause of the accident is yet in
doubt President Heudrie of the Detroit
and Oakland railroad said this evening
that the responsibility of the accident had
not yet been fixed. According to the
schedule, a car leaves each end every
hour and there are three sdings along the
road. To-day the cars were behind time.
The one bound southwark for Detroit had
passed an outward bound car at the
switch two miles from Pontiac, the crew
apparently being ignorant Of the fact that
another outward bound car was approach-
ing them less than two miles distant, al
though il is claimed they should have
known it from orders. sent from Birming-
ham. The weather was foggy, and the
rails slippery from the sleet which had
been falling.
The collision occurred at gravel pit.
about midway between Pontiac and Bir-
mlngham, at the foot Of two steep grades,
down which the cars ran at full speed.
The impact was terrific. The cars were
driven half through each other ana
crushed to pieces.
Supt Savage was in the motorman's
vestibule operating the outbound car.
Both his legs were cut off and his body
was frightfully mangled.
Motorman McHugh, who stood behind
Supt Savage, narrowly escaped similar
fate
John Kelly was evidently the only pas.
| senger who saw the north-bound car ap-
preaching. He rushed for the vestibule
| door. and he and Motorman Whitehead
were struggling together to get out of the
| door when the crash came. Both were
| killed. Kelly's head and shoulders We're
| jammed out Of the vestibule window and
| his neck was broken. Whitehead's head
was cut open and his chest crushed.
Had it not been for the stout construc-
| ton of the cars, both of which were new,
| il is doubtful whether any of their occu-
| pants would have escaped alive. AS 10
| was nearly all of the fourteen passengers
| In the south-bound car suffered some in
| jury.
The company's officers are investigating
as TO the responsibility of the disaster.
| and a coroner's jury has already been im-
| paneled.