The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-12-21

could ascertain the names Of the child
or its parents. All the injured were in
this first car and those who were
scalded walked to the hospital to have
their injuries dressed That so few were
hurt at all and only so slightly injured
the nature and extent of the accident. 1t
is certain that others were scratched and
bruised, but they went away without
making their injuries known. So impos-
sible did it seem that so many had es-.
capped that Captain John Kelly ordered
Policemen Burns and Galway of his sta
tion to make thorough search of the
wreck They went into the tunnel and
carefully searched all the coaches and
reported that no one was in any of them.
AS soon as the crash came the panic
stricken passengers rushed out of the
coaches and scrambled up the sides of
the steep cut to a place of safety. Many
took the Summit avenue line Of the
North Hudson County Railway Company
to the ferry In short time the COM
pany ran a train from the depot to the
scene of the wreck and brought the pas
sengers to the boats. A small army of
men, armed with all the modern wreck
ing tools, was soon at work on the wreck,
but made little progress upon the debris
The police guarded them in this work and
no one was permitted to come near the
mouth of the tunnel. At noon the loco
motive of the east bound train lay on
the side where it fell between the tracks
and the following passenger coach also on
it's SIDE lay on the west bound track.
Upright but off the rails, was the second
coach, partly in and partly out of the
tunnel. while scattered about was a raft
of broken timbers. twisted iron, shattered
glass and splintered woodwork.
The wreck completely blocked the road
and paralyzed traffic on the Erie and its
branches. No trains were dispatched
from this city and the incoming trains
which at that hour of the morning fol-
low each other in rapid succession, were
held up at the western end of the tunnel
until they extended for miles out oyer
the meadows. The passengers on the
east bound trains were transferred to the
trains of the Delaware, Lackawanna and
Western Railroad at the west end of the
tunnel and carried into Hoboken. No att
but the Buffalo express, which leaves this
city at 915 o'clock. was taken over the
Weehawken Branch to the tracks Of the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western over
which it ran through that. roads tunnel
to the western end where it was again
switched over to the rails OF the Erie
and finally sent on its way much behind
time, All the emorning passengers began
to gather in the Erie station In this city
and to besiege the train men with ques-
tons as to when the next train went.
TO all inquiries the employees said that
the tracks would be cleared by evening.
No definite Information of the cause of
the accident could be obtained at the
office of the Erie Superintendent at the
Pavonia ferry. The Superintendent rep
resentatiee said that the accident was
caused by a rock falling from the roof
of the tunnel upon the track in front of
the east bound train. 1t was thought
that the severe frost had loosened the
rock 1t was an accident, the official
said. against which every precaution had
been taken but could not have been
guarded against absolutely.
No one was allowed to enter the tunnel
or come within any distance of the
wreck policeman who had been in
said that he saw on both tracks. in
distance of from 100 to 300 feet from the
eastern mouth of the tunnel, a half doz-
en- big boulders which had dropped down
from the roof. For hundred feet in the
JuuuGi lIUIu Lie Hlouth tno idHiodu LICE
were torn up and the roadbed all in ridges
as though it had been turned with
plow.
There is some speculation as to just
when all these rocks fell. AS the hour
of the morning traffic through the tunnel
is the heaviest, it is certain that train
must have passed over the spot not more
than five minutes before the Greenwood
Lake train came along. One theory is
that the Northern train struck the rock
first and threw it over on the opposite
track in front of the rapidly approach
ing Greenwood Lake. But from what the
policeman who was in the tunnel says it
is evident that large section of the roof
fell in on both tracks.
FLAT LOOTERS NOT FOUND