New-York tribune., 1903-08-09
FIRE TRUCK DEALS DEATH
TWO KILLED; MANY HURT.
End of Ladder Noes Dozen Cro1Cd
on Side1CaLk.

on SidezcaLk.
One and a boy are dead and several
others are seriously injured by having been
swept off their feet by the projecting ends of the
ladders on Hook and Ladder Truck No. as it
turned the corner at Fortieth-st. and Ninth
ave, yesterday afternoon.
THE DEAD.
Forty-ninth- st, the assistant ianitor of school
est ded in r RooseTelt s IL HosPa in % the Evening
THE INJURED
BERGNER FREDERICK William forty-nine years old,
York Hospitals fractured and right thigh broken;
Thomson Nev~YoTt Hospital cuts face and
BLUMENKoPF. Abraham nineteen years old pedler of
No i34 Anen-st; NewYork Hospital fractured right
FTLLEY Ferdinand seventy-tu two years old Of No $40
sey4nth-ave.; Roosevelt Hospital; two scalp wounds
MuTGa 4II Louis out ttsix old me24aRio cham Of Mercy
York Hospital; scalp wound cut on left foot and
sET EdwaTd fortytYo old Of a,2 & West t FG5 or
jured.
Roose2 te4 h5sPa 5seFs o later Sa taken hoe scalp
wound and injury 70 right arm.
About dozen other persons were attended
by ambulance surgeons on the scene, and then
taken TO their homes Among them were Rosie
ffth-st. who received slight cut on one of her
limbs; Roger Moore. forty-two years old. of No
501 West Thirty -fourth-st., who cut over
the right eye and Sidney Gordon hfty-ive years
old. of No 254 West Thirty -eighth-st., whose
left foot cut.
The truck its way TO a fire at No. 5lS
West Thirty -ninth-st. 1t running west
through Fortieth-st from Eighth to Ninth ave
On the north and south sides of Fortieth-st.
near Ninth-ave were wagons. In order to avoid
running into the vehicles the tillerman, sitting
on the of the truck had to make a wide
swerve. In doing so the end of the ladders pro-
jecting from. the rear of the truck swept over
the sidewalk on the southeast corner where
crowd of about fifty persons were standing.
Men and boys were knocked off their feet and
piled up against the brick wall of house on
the corner. The truck then swerved the other
way, and narrowly missed crashing into the
window of a saloon on the opposite corner.
ELEVATED PILLAR NARROWLY MISSED.
According to several persons who witnessed
the accident, the tierman, William Duffy, ap-
parently grew excited, and the truck made an
other wide swerve. narrowly escaping crashing
into one Of the elevated pillars in Ninth-ave.
The truck then went on to the fire.
+ The air was then filed with the cries of the
injured and a big crowd gathered at the scene.
Acting Roundsman Sheehan, of the West Thir-
ty-seventh-st station, telephoned TO the Roose-
Welt and New-York hospitals for anbulances
and alss ss1nfeNea the reserves from the w est
Thirty-seventh-st. station. The injured ones
were carried into the drug store at No. 942
Ninth-ave. Some of them, however. were
stretched on the sidewalk when the drug store
became crowded.
Ninth-ave at that point was crowded with
pushcarts along the curb for the Saturday night
market The ambulances and the fire engines
on their way to the fire caused a small panic
among the pedlers. and many pushcart was
knocked over and its contents strewn on the
pavement The corner on which the accident
occurred was covered with blood from the
wounds of those who had been injured and the
floor of the drug store presented similar spec
tacle The crowd was so great that the Ninth
ave surface cars were blocked. and even an
elevated. train was stopped, the motorman evil
IDENTIFY thinking from the screams that some aw-
full accident had happened.
The fire to which the truck had been going
was small one. and Lieutenant Rockholdt, who
was in charge of the truck, returned as soon as
the flames in a chimney had been eXtlngulshed
With him was William Du1ry, the tll4erHan'
and George Brown, the driver Of the truck
They were Immediately arrested and taken to
the West Thirty -SeVenth-st. station As soon as
GilTs death was reported to the police, Coroner
Scholer was informed, and went to the station.
After being told the details of the accident he
paroled the two men in the custody of Lieuten-
ant RockhOdt. He and Duffy refused to discuss
the accident. Brown when questioned said: 4
don't know what happened. L don't look be
hind"
Acting Roundsman Sheehan said later that he
and a number of others, who were standing on
the northwest corner of Fortieth-st. and Ninth
ave- when the truck went along, were forced
to Jump into the side door of a saloon, to es-
cape being struck by the projecting ends of the
ladders
Truck No. 4 is one of the new models 1t
weighs four tons and is drawn by three horses
Among the apparatus which it carries is eX-
tension ladder, ninety feet long when extended
and fifty feet when on the truck 1t this
ladder that struck the crowd on the sidewalk
More than half of the injured were the
way to hospitals when police patrol wagons and
hospital ambuances began to arrive. AS quick
ly arrived 1t was loaded and sent away.
After all the injured had been taken from the
street the private houses were searched, and
all victims were taken out and carried away
An examination Of the walk after the acci-
dent showed that many Of the wooden supports
which extended three feet beyond the wall, were
rotten. They were about two and half inches
thick and about six inches wide. They broke off
flush with the wall.
President Potter of the Philadelphia Baseball
Club out of the city when the accident
CURED. William j. Shettsline, who is in charge
of affairs at the grounds in Mr. Potter's alb
sence. was overcome by the accident He had
nothing to say except that there not the
slightest suspicion that the supports were weak.