The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-09-07
SHOCKING TROLLEY CRASH.
CARS COLLIDE ON CURVE AT PELHAM, ". H.

Chance to Jump-Four Killed, Ntne-
 feen Seriously injured and Nearly
 Fifty others Cut and Eruised-Msn
 aud Women Become Hystericai.
 Haverhil1, Mass, Sept. 6.-Through a head-on collision to-day between two electric cars. each running, it is said. at rate of more than twenty-five miles an hour. four persons were killed and nineteen so seriously injured that they are under physicians care, and several of these are expected to die. As there were seventy passengers on the two cars many others received cuts and minor wounds which did not prevent their reaching their homes. The aeci- dent occurred just before noon on the line which runs through Pelham, N. H., between Lowell, Mass, and Nashua, N. H., and one of the cars, which was conl- ing from the latter city, was nearly fill- ed with people on their way to a sum- mer resort. @
 The collision was due, according to the officials of the road, to misunder- standing of the starters orders by the motorrnan of the car bound for Nashua. The car starter endeayored to rectify this mistake by sending a man to shut off the power and trying to recall the Nashua bound car but failed As usu- al in such cases, the accident occurred on curve, on either side of which were long stretches of straight track. The dead. as reported up to 10 o'clock to- night. were as follows:
 Charles H. Gilbert. fifty years, Canal street. Nashua, N. H.
 Gabriel sCollette, seventee years, dry goods clerk. son of Frederick Collette, Nashua, N. H.
 George c, Andrews, ffty-six years, postmaster, Hudson, N. H.
 Samuel Mays, motorman on Nashua car. Hudson. N. H.
 The dead and seriously injured were all on the Nashua or east-bound car. Gilbert sat on the front seat and was instantly killed. Collette died four min utes after being taken from the wreck; Postmaster Andrews died while being removed to the hospital at Lawrence, and Mays, the motor1nan, died at the Haverhill hospital this evening. As the accident took place at some distance from any large city the injured were distributed among the hospitals of Lowell.
 The accident occurred on the Hudson, Pelham and Salem division of the New Hampshire Traction company, electric railway. The car from Nashua carry ing fifty-four passengers for Cannobie lake. a summer resort, approached the curve quarter Of a mile west of Pel- ham Center ct terrific speed. aeeentuat- ed by a down grade. The cars met on the curve. neither motorman seeing the approaching car until too late to avoid collision Neither was there time for the passengers to escape by jumping when the cars came together with a force that threw the Westbound car di- rectly upon the forward part of the oth- CT. crushing the top of the car down upon the passengers, and pinfoning those occupying the first three seats in the Wreckage <
 Persons who witnessed the collision < stated afterwards that it came so unex- pectedly that 1t seemed some minutes < before the passengers realized what shad happened. All were silent and the pass engers made no outcry, appearing to be completely dazed by the shock. Near the accident were a number of campers who at once rushed to the scene. With croWbars and other instruments the wrecked roofs of the cars were pried llp and the imprisoned passengers released & As the work of rescue proceeded the passengers gave way under the strain and both men and women became hys- terical. The injured messengers were carefully taken from the wreck while their groans and cries added to the gen eral confusion. Not one of the passen- gers on the two cars escaped injury of some character although a number were not seriously hurt,