The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-01-12
TROLLEY CAR DASHED
DOWN A STEEP HILL
LARGE NUMBER OF PERSONS
WERE INJURED.
None Of Their Injuries
Are Of a Serious Nature-A Car
Was Coming Down the Grade from
Quincy to Madison Avenue When
the Sleet Covered Condition Of the
Rails Caused the Motorman to Lose
Control Of It-Crashed Into a Tel
egraph Pole.

at the corner of Madison avenue and
Pine street, which, were 1t not for
two very remarkable circumstances
would undoubtedly have resulted in
great loss of life. AS 1t was all, ex-
cept two. of the passengers on the
car, about thirty in number, were
more or less injured. several of them
rather seriously and the car itself
was completely demolished and lit
orally smashed into the proverbial
kinding wood. Those more or less
seriously injured were:
ROBERT CROOp, sos Fifth street, Dun
more; several ribs broken and right
leg sprained.
SAMUEL COLWELL, Potter street. Dun
more; several large gashes OH fore
head and scalp.
MRS. GEORGE CHuBB. Butler street,
Dunmore: badly bruised.
MRS. o. ]. MILLER, Dunmorc; gashes
on head.
MISS MARY M'COURT, of Monroe ave-
nue.: cash on forehead.
MISS HELEN MCOURT. Of Monroe
avenue; cash on back of head.
The following were among the other
passengers on the car who We're slight
ly cut by flying glass: John Watrous.
Of Dunmore; Miss Van Cleft. Dun
more; d. NJ. Spacer. 1910 Washburn
street; p. B. Walton. of Williams
port; Joseph Bush. Dunmore; Mrs.
James Coldewood and daughter, Avo-
ca: Mrs. Siegel, Dunmore: James
Golden, Dunmore: T. Halleck. Dun
more; John White, Dunmore; John
Oswald. Scranton.
GAP vyJ,rr r,JyrEn
The wrecked car was No. $50 of the
Laurel Hill-Taylor line inbound, and
in charge Of John James, motorman.
and John Farley, conductor. The car
stopped at the corner of Quincy ave-
Eue and Pine street. at the head of
the steep hill running down to Pine
street, for the purpose of taking on
passengers. The car was filled with
passengers and n number were stand
ing on the rear platform.
One OF the large Washburn- -Drinker
cars had just turned into Pine street
from Madison avenue when the mo.
torman was alarmed to see the Lau-
rel Hill car come tearing down the
hill and Motorman James making a
desperate effort to stop it's fight.
The motorman of the Washburn car
with remarkable presence Of mind re-
versed the power and backed into
Madison avenue just in time to avert
what for moment seemed almost 4
certain collision.
The shower of sleet which had lust
begun had rendered the rails so slip
perry that despite a generous supply
Of sand used the Laurel Hill car could
not be controlled and it dashed at
lightning speed down the hill. The
passengers, a large portion Of whom
were women. became panic stricken
and made desperate but futile efforts
to escape from the car as they looked
forward and saw the steep hill in front
of them.
In the meantime the car continued
on its course and just before the cor
ner of Madison avenue, where the track
turns, was reached the motorman real
izing that any further efforts on his
part would be useless and that he ran
good chance of being killed, jumped
off the front end Of the car.
LEFT THE TRACK.
The car jumped the track at the
corner. but instead of going straight
down the hill took an oblique course
and ran into a large square trolley
pole on the southwest corner, just in
front of the residence Of Prof. Sullivan.
The manner in which the car struck
this pole is undoubtedly the most
fortunate feature Of the accident.
The front corner only Of the car
struck the pole, but even this force
was sufficient to completely wreck it.
The roof was torn off and thrown to
one side: the right side and front end
We're stove in and in fact about all that
remained intact was the trucks and the
floor.
The force Of the shock threw all the
passengers on the floor. and the ma
jority were injured by the small pieces
or flying glass from the broken win
dows. Nearly every one was able to
extricate him or herself from amidst
the tangled wreckage, and the doors
or all the houses in the Immediate
vicinity were at once thrown open to
receive the injured ones. DR.. Lucius
Kennedy, senior surgeon at the Moses
Taylor hospital, was promptly on the
scene, and administered to the needs
of the cut and bruised.
The eye witnesses of the accident
saw that If the car had struck the
pole suuarely at the speed it was GO
ing. that there would have been loss
of life, as the pole would have un-
doubtedly poughed it's way straight
through the car. Had the car gone
straight down the hill the possibilities
are also fearful to contemplate, as the
pave was slippery.
The onlv parcon MO v,oc ;,,;
ously was Robert Croop, of sos Fifth