Evening star., 1902-01-08

proceeded. Suddenly there was a terrific
crash and we were hurled from our seats.
The shock was followed by the roar of es-
Gaping steam and the cries of the wounded.
"a score of men passengers got out of
the windows and to the front of our
train. The confusion and noise were awful.
Our locomotive had ploughed half way
through the last New Haven car. I saw
several women taken out of the first
wrecked car"
Eugene HerOld's Statement.
Eugene Herold of Rochelle Park, one of
the passengers on the Danbury train, gave
this account of the accident:
I'VE were sitting quietly in the next to
the last car, and there were only one or two
unoccuped seats There was the usual
morning crowd. There were five cars.
There were several women in my car
and also in the last car. We had been
stalled at 9th street for some time. Sud-
denly there came a terrific crash. The
lights in the car went out. There was
roar of grinding steel and wood and a
chorus of shrieks. L looked back and saw
the car behind telescoping over the rear of
our car, and through that mx-up plunged
a roaring locomotive.
81 was thrown on my face by the jolt and
felt some blood splash over my forehead.
Sitting smoke and steam seemed to arise
from all sides, and looking back 1 could see
mangled persons crawling about through the
mist. And then suddenly the car took fire
where the locomotive was
Our one idea was to escape. I found a
friend of mine right in front of me. He
cried: Open the windows, for Gods sake!'
L turned to the window and found the
glass had all been shattered by the colli-
sion. We climbed out. l saw several per-
sons almost covered with blood crawling
about
The response of the police and fire de-
partments to the call was prompt and
within incredibly short time nearly 300
firemen, ambulance surgeons and train
men We're in the smoke and steam filed
tunnel working desperately to get the bod
les of the dead and the wounded passen-
gers from the wrecked trains. Above the
scene of death on the driveway on both
sides of the tunnel were long rows of am
balances, fire engines and hook and lad
der companies.
Help From the Passengers.
In many instances the uninjured and
those whose injuries We're slight rendered
splendid aid, while others, bewildered by
the shock and darkness, groped their way
along the walls, seeking an exit. Some of
the passengers walked through the tunnel
into the Grand Central station. while
others made their way to the stairways
below the south end of the tunnel
The bodies of the dead and many of the
wounded We're hoisted through the open
ings in the roof of the tunnel, placed in
the waiting ambulances and rushed to the
nearest hospitals. No attempt was made
at identification. Conflicting reports from
various institutions, aided by Implications
from other places caused the first account
of the disaster to place the number Of
killed and injured at an exaggerated figure
The tunnel in which the wreck occurred
extends from 55th street. just above the
Grand Central station, and is about two
miles long. 1t is under Park avenue and
there is an air hole in each block Com
plants have been made for a long time,
however, that it's ventilation was insuf1-
cient, and the New York Central has been
considering plans for the use of electrical
power in the subway so as to do away
with the smoke and steam from locomo-
tiveS.
Railway Managers Statement
j. H. Franklin, manager of the Harlem
division Of the New York railroad, made
the following statement:
I'VE are Investigating thoroughly, but
We are first taking out the injured and
having them cared for, and until that Is
done the investigation cannot proceed
quickly.
so far as can be learned the wrecked
train was stopped by the block signal sys-
TEN, because of something wrong ahead
L don't know or have not yet found out
what was the matter ahead. A flagman
jumped off the train, taking red lantern
and railroad torpedo. He put the torpedo
OIL the track and waved his lantern to
signal any train that might come up be-
hind. Whether the engineer of the COM
ing train saw the f1agman, saw the lantern
or heard the torpedo, if it went off, 1 don't
know, and the flagman says he does not
know. / cannot now tell who was the Tag
man or engineer of the train
The railroad officials say the wreck did
not take fire.