The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-03
MoT0RMAN MET HIS DEAIY
HURLED FROM HIS CAR TO ITRoz-
EN- PAVEMENT/

"""S =" /nfnke Up LOST
Time Motorman fairy Lopez At
tempted to RS a Curve at High
Speed at Narnnrd and CASTOR
streetS<Ms Car Left the Track
and Se5unted the Sidewalk, Throw
lEG Lopez Upon His Head and Kill
ing Him Almost instnntIy-Mr. &.
o. Godfrey BndIy Injured and
other Passengers Bruised and
shakcR-CorOner's Jury Returned
Verdict of Accidental Death.
Alotorman Harry Lorer of the Savannah,
Thunderbolt ana Isle Of Hope Railway
was almost Instantly killed, and TWO ras-
seneers were injured, one of them Sc
riously. by the derailmeut of car AT Bar
nard and CASTOR streets yes lerduy morn
ing. The mo,orman's skull was crushed
and his neck was broken.
The accident appears 10 have been indi-
rtct.y che result of the severe cold spell
and directly from Che csreiessness or folly
of The motorman in whose death it result
ed
Closed car No. Il was coming down Bar
natd street on lbs third trip with Motor
man Lo2er and Conductor Hodges in
charge. There were about dozen passen-
gers on board, two or three of whom were
standing on the Ie1r platform. The morn
ing air was very cold and the motormen
probably suffered worse from it than any
ore else, exposed as they were on The open
plato ms Of he cars. and facing the rush
Of The cold air Every motorman on the
lines can give testimony to this effect, and
che o her serious and possibly fatal acct
cert resulted from this, the same cause
during The day
Loner and Hodges. who had been on
about two hours, were so chilled that they
stopped Che car a Tenth street. and spent
aboul three minutes warming themselves
a a fire which some boys had built near
she track. 1t was the effort to regain The
time lost at this point that resulted in the
accident a title later. 1t is also known
tfat Loper had taken two or three drinks.
As he was a man of tempera' habits and
fine hy sique this may or may not have
contributed to the recklessuess or negli-
genoe which caused his death.
All the witnesses agree that the car was
coming down Barnard street a an unus-
ually high rate of speed Between Castor
and Huntington streets there is a curve
in the track, which swerves 10 the east
ward and returns to the original line at
Castor street. Al the reverse point of the
curve at CASTOR street the tracks are on
a level with the shell pavement which was
hard and stiff with frost. 1t is natural
also TO suppose that the rails were Slip
perry. Ail these circums tances doubtless
contributed to the accident which followed
As the car struck the reverse point Of
the curve little south of CASTOR street
no ma Dp
felt slight jolt but neither they nor the
motormen realized what was in store Tor
them The car continued en- the lire Of
the track for some thirty or forty feet
with undiminshed speed, leaving the track
at the middle of CASTOR and dashiRg d az
onally across TO the northwest corner
where 1t landed upon the pavement with a
crash that sent the passengers together in
heap and throwing those on the re3r
platform with the conductor 10 the pave
ment SO great was the momentum Of
the car thai il crushed the granite curb
ing of the sidewalk and landed the entire
truck upon the sidewalk with the front
end of the car only a few feet from the
corner house.
AS the car left the track the motorman
was seen by several witnesses to The ac-
cident TO fall from the pldtto-m, str kiag
upon his head on The frozen plveme mt
Whether Lopez jumped to save himself
as he saw the car crashing toward the
sidewalk, or whether lie lost his balance
when the car sWerVed flOn the direct in
and was thrown on his head The witness $
were undecided The accident Occurred
so suddenly and was followed by sucn
confusion that it was impossible even for
those who saw 1t 10 come to a conclusion
on this point. From the force with which
ne struck the ground and the fact that he
struck on his head and not on his side the
PROBABILITIES are that he was hurled from
his position by the sudden change in The
direction of the car An exam nation of
the car after the accident showed that the
brakes had not been applied nor had the
current been turned off. This leads 10
che supposition thai the moto,man BOSS
bly, had his hands in his pockets because
OF the cold, and this supposition POSSIBLY
explains why he did not slacken the spe I'll
OF the car as il approached the curve
The surrounding nsignb0rhood vas
aroused by the shreks and oatcries of ths
rassengers, several Of whom wee LADIES.
ne people IN the corner house again.t
which the car came so near crashing
thought there had been an earthquake.
Naturally there WAS the greatest clnfu-
sion and excitement Bcsid Notofr1ao
Lopez, Mr.. c. O. Godfrey who had been
standing on the rear platform, was thrown
upon his head and severely stunned aad
Mr.. J. j. Mcmahon. yong n. phav OF
Mr.. godfrey, and Conductor Hodgts. were
all more or less stunned or bruised
Some of The passengers had suffered slight
bruises, and all feared they had been more
seriously hurt than afterwards 80, ed TO
be the case
AS soon as the excitement subsided IL
was seen that Mo orman Lopez was dam
gerousy and perhaps fatally hurt ana
Mr. Godfrey ALSO appeared o be seriously
injured. hurried calls were sent in aN
directions for phys clans. and the police
ambulance was summoned. Or. j. WEIGH
se.Daum, WHO ives on Gordon street near
by, was the first 10 reach the scene
Lopez was unconscious DR.. WEIGH
selbaum inquired of those who were car
ing for the injured man if ne were still
alive. and the reply being in the afirma-
tive, he ordered him placed in the police
ambulance, when had responded with
unusual promptness, and taken 10 the Sa-
vannah Hospital. TIL was done but
when The ambulance reached he hospital
the man was dead. The body was then
taken in the ambulance to the undertake
ing rooms Of Coroner Goette, where an in
quest was head lalcr IN he day.
DIR. Weichselbaum al once gave his at