Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-20
CRASHES INTO RAV|NE
Another Electric Street Car
Meets Disaster.
ONE SKULL FRACTURED
CONDUCTOR MAY DIE - NO PAS
sENGERS WERE ABOARD.
Car No. 4O6 on City and Suburban Line
Falls Over Embankment
at Laurel, Md.
ONE SKULL FRACTURED

The brakes on car 4O6 of the City and
Suburban branch of the Washington Rail-
way and Electric Company's lines failed to
work when Motormon R. w. Brightman
turned the crank to stop the at Laurel
this morning at 5:56 o'clock, and the heavy
vehicle rolled off the end of the track and
down a twenty-five-foot embankment. Con-
ductor j. o. Lamb was thrown against
the seat posts as the car plunged down
the bank and was seriously hurt The
motorman was not hurt. There We're
passengers on the at the time of
the accident
Mr.. James B. Lackey, the secretary of the
street railway syndicate states that the
accident was entirely due to the fault of the
motorman, who failed to apply the brakes
and coasted his down the embankment,
probably through sheer enjoyment of the
sensation of going through the air SO fast.
Motorman Brightman declares the brakes
did not work.
The accident occurred just beyond the
Laurel station of the electric road. 1t will
be remembered by all who have ridden
as far Laurel these cars that in
building the road the engineers filled in
deep ravine a few feet, in order that
there might be room made for a switching
station JUS beyond the passenger station.
The ravine is not so deep as il is an
preached from the street, but the fill made
by the railroad company levels off the
slope from the street and makes almost
sheer descent of twenty-five feet to the
bottom of the ravine. The tracks of the
City and Suburban line are laid almost to
the end of the fill and at the end of the
tracks was placed the pole from which
the trolley is stretched and by which it is
braced.
Crashed Into Ravine.
In addition to this form of backstop
there were laid at the end of this track
two cross ties one from under each track
and across the other track Under ordi-
nary circumstances the cross ties would
be sufficient to stop a car and prevent it
from rolling off the end of the track and
the trolley pole would appear to make this
assurance doubly sure
Car 4o6 was one of the first of the heavv
cars used for suburban traffic to be sent out
TINS morning. 1t is supposed to leave Iaurel
in time to get those suburban citizens into
the city whose business requires their nres
ence as early as o'clock in the morning
When Laurel was reached and the Station
was passed the motorman waited until he
STRUCK the switch to use his brakes The
car was moving at an ordinary speed at the
time The conductor, it is supposed was
standing In the rear door of the car lust
What ms position was is not definitely
known. The motorman was on the front
end, and, according to his story when he
saw the car approaching the end of the
tracks he made every effort to bring it to a
halt. His work was in vain, however The
car continued on. When the cross ties
placed across the track were reached thew
were broken and pushed out of the wav as
though they had been straw The beayy
trolley pole snapped in three pieces like a
match when struck, and the car continued
on Its way. plunging over the edge of the
fill and bringing up at the bottom of the
ravine with crash, right side up
MOtOrman Brightman states that he triad
to work the brakes up to the very moment
the car left the edge of the fill. He man.
fully stuck to his post and went to the bot
tom of the ravine with his car. He saw
what was coming and braced himself for
the crash, and. fortunately, escaped with
no hurt more serious than a slight cut on
the hand.
Conductors Skull Fractured.
The conductor, 1t is believed was standing
in the rear door of the car, and was evil
IDENTIFY engaged in making up his accounts
or doing something that engrossed his at
tention, for it is believed that the first
knowledge he had that something was
wrong came when he was thrown violently
into the car. He was found lying on the
floor of the car unconscious, with blood
flowing from two ugly-looking wounds in
his head. He was carried to the station and
sent to this city on the next car and con-
veyed to the Emergency Hospital
DR.. Charles G. Stone, the surgeon of the
railway company, LOOK Charge OF the III
jured man at the hospital. On examination
the surgeon found that the conductors
skull was fractured at the frontal bone and
that there was serious laceration about
three inches long in the back of his head
There was no other injury and the patients
condition appeared to be good. The con-
ductor was Immediately placed on the oper-
ating table and an emergency operation
was performed by the surgeons connected
with the hospital Throughout the operation
the injured mans condition appeared to be