The Jersey City news., 1902-09-15
ENGINE BURSTS
IN BERGEN CUT
Engineer Is Killed and the
Conductor and Fireman
Are Badly Hurt.
GREAT RUSH OF PEOPLE
Causso of the Accident Is Not
Known-Takes Hours to
Clear the Tracks.

Near the Boulevard bridge over the
Pennsylvania Railroad Cut at about one
o'clock yesterday one of the company $
big freight locomotives exploded. The
roar of the explosion was deafening, and
could be heard within a radius of near
ly mile. q
Engineer George Lutz, fifty years old,
of Newark, died a few hours later in st.
Francis Hospital.
Fireman James J. Dooley, of No. Al
Gardner avenue, this city, was terribly
scalded. He is in the City Hospital.
Conductor Walter Weber, who lives in
Trenton, was taken to St. Francis Hos
pital, badly scalded about the face and
suffering from several broken ribs.
Engineer Lutz besides being badly
scalded was mutilated.
The scene of the accident was about
three hundred yards west of the Boule-
ward bridge, and the train had scarcely
reached the cut proper. 1t was rounding
the big curve in that vicinity. Sloping
embankments stretch away in various di-
rections and form a mammoth amphi-
theatre.
Few pedestrians were abroad at that
hour, it being dinner time. A railroad
employe standing near the Boulevard
bridge saw the train rounding the curve.
The big locomotive appeared to be strain
ing and tugging in. its efforts to bring
around the curve the long train of heav-
lily laden freight cars. 1t had slowed
down" almost to a crawl
SEES THE EXPLOSION.
Suddenly the man saw the locomotive
was enveloped in a dense cloud of smoke.
simultaneously there was loud roar
and crash and through the cloud could be
seen black objects hurled with terrific
force in a southerly direction, while out
from beneath the cloud of steam came
running toward him the truck of the
boiler The top of the cab was sent
many feet into the air and it fell ON the
tracks.
Engineer Lutz was blown some dis
tance in the air and landed to the south
three hundred feet away. Fireman Doc
ley was blown about half that distance in
the same direction, while the body of
Conductor Weber, who is supposed to
have been on the tender, was found on
the tracks nearby.
Bent and twisted portions of the boiler
landed in various places after a skyward
fight The tender truck and the train
followed the boiler truck two hundred
yards before the brakes were applied.
Momentum carried the boiler truck about
four hundred yards.
TRAFFIC. DELAYED.
Both east and westbound freight
tracks were more or less strewn with
debris and no traffic could pass over the
eastbound track for several hours. The
westbound freight tracks were soon clear
ed Tie trucks and tender of the ponder
Gus demolished locomotive had to be
taken apart and hauled away. 1t took
nearly FIVE hours to do this. The acci-
dent did not interfere with passenger
traffic
a few moments after the explosion pa
troll wagons with reserve policemen from
the Third, Fourth and Seventh precincts
and hospital ambulances began to ar
rive.
The crowd grew and grew until at one
time fully five thousand people thronged
the Boulevard bridge and the adjacent
slopes. Captain JOHN Kelly took COM
mand Of the police reserves. They had
their hands full in keeping the people
away from the tracks.
RUSH TO GIVE AID.
Drs. Culver, Snyder, Freil, Lefferts.
Pendergast and Hornblower, who live in
the neighborhood, ran to the scene as
soon as they heard of the accident and
gave aid to the three wounded men be-
fore the hospital ambulances arrived.
Fathers Delehanty and Preston of st.
Johns r. G. Church administered the
last rites for the, dying TO Fireman Doo-
ley The Rev. d. ]. Walter Thompson,
OF the Westminster Presbyterian Church,
was also present, and did all in his power
to relieve the sufferings of the Injured
men.
1t is not known what caused the ex-
piosion. There was plenty of water in
the tender and the locomotive was con-
sidered to be in first class working order.