The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-02-20

Former Contained Nearly One Hundr ed
High School Pupils and Eight of
Them Were Killed and Many Injured
-Motorman Could Not Control the
Car ms 1t Dashed Down a Steep Grade
the Tracks.
Newark, N. j., Feb. ia fast ex~
press on the Lackawanna railroad cut
through trolley car crowded with
high school children at the Clifton ave-
nue. crossing to-day. Eight were killed
and score or more injured. The mo-
torman Of the car, who stuck to his
post, will die, and the engineer of the
express was so badly hurt that there
is little hope of his recovery. Both
the express and the trolley were on
steep grades, going at right angles.
The express was signalled, and the
crossing gates were lowered, while the
trolley car was yet half way down the
hill. The naotorman shut off the power
and applied the brakes, but almost i'm
mediately the car began to slip along
the icy rails. 1t gained tremendous
momentum and at the bottom of the
hill crashed the gates, directly in the
track of the on-coming train. The To-
comotive ploughed its way through the
trolley, throwing the children in every
direction.
The dead are: Viola Ill, II years;
Maude Baker, 16 years; Ernestine P.
Mueller, Is years; Mabel E. Karsch-
ner, II years, Tiffin, o.; Alma Loehn-
berg, 16 years; Rosebud Kohn; Ella
Werpupp, 10 years; Evan L. Eastwood,
Jr.. 16 years.
The injured: Peter Brady, motor
man of trolley car, skull crushed, will
die; Oscar Backliff, engineer of train,
head crushed, probably fatally; Jennie
McLelland, 16 years. skull fractured,
other injuries, probably fatally; Flor
ence Doll, ankle broken and badly hurt
about head and shoulders; Mabel
Smith, IA years, head injured; Freder-
ick Allsop, injured about head and
body; George Smith, coIored, leg frac-
tured; Carl Raquet, cut about face and
bruised about body; Maud Van Valen,
17years, bruised about head and arms;
Walter Buermann, II years, ribs brok-
en-; Edith Fox, Pauline Rich, Marion
Lyttle, Margaret Conmerford, Frances
Nevius, Helen McCord, Aline Coursen,
Nina Bull, Lillian Gergahty, Marion
Price, Frederick Lindsley, Emily
Knight, Arthur LulIand and Jacob
Wallack gss s4s yE%t}. .<S- ~
The accident. happened within three
blocks of the high school building and
in the car at the time were nearly one
hundred scholars.
AS many as thirty others had man.
aged to throw themselves from the car
before the crash came.
The trolley was one of the specials
which every day bring the children to
school. 1t had more than its ordinary
loading to-day, owing to the cold. ii
contained every child that could
squeeze inside and others stood on the
rear platform.
Because this car had been so crowd
ed, many who were waiting for it be-
fore the hill was reached could not get
on, although some climbed on the front
platform with the motorman. A. score
or more children were compelled to
walk and they followed the car tc
school. They say that when the car
was still less than half way down the
hill the railroad gates began to drop
Peter Brady, the motorman, promptly
shut off the power and applied the
brakes. The speed of the car was
checked but it continued to move slow
1y down the incline.
There was no thought of danger
Then it began to move faster and fas-
ter.
The ice covered rails afforded no hold
for the wheels and although Brady
jammed his brake harder and ther
swung ON the reverse, the momentum
. of the car grew at every yard and the
car shot down toward the railroad
When it was right at the gates the ex.
press thundered into view. Warned by
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