The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1905-09-15
CARELESS MOTORMAN THE
CAUSE OF BAD WRECK

family. They we're in a rear room
when the accident happened, and, hear
ing the crash, Mrs. Grove rushed into
the front TO learn the cause. The
sight that met here eyes so astonished
her that she swooned. There in front
of her window was an elevated car, the
end of the platform less than two feet
from the cornice. A yelling, swearing,
struggling crowd of men and women
were on the platform, and already half
dozen men were climbing in her win
dow. Down on the street just below
her was the ruins of the second car,
from which came pathetic appeals for
assistance. Over a hundred persons
passed from the car on the structure
| through the Grove apartments and
those of Mrs. Hamilton, next door, to
the street. Aid was not long in coming
to the sufferers of the wreck, as firemen
and 20 ambulances were soon on the
scene. Every surgeon for blocks around
hurried to reinforce the hospital work.
ers, and as fast as the injured were
taken out they were attended to and
hurried to the hospitals.
Coroner Scholer was soon on the
scene, and, after questioning Switch
man Jackson and the train crew, or
! dered them locked up pending the re-
suit of the inquest. Later they were
arraigned before Magistrate Moss and
committed without bail. Jackson is
charged with homicide, but no charge
! is made against the others, it being un-
derstood that they are held as wit
nesses only. No statements was made
| by any of the men, on the advice of
w. G. Douglass, counsel for the Inter-
borough Rapid Transit Co.. who was
on hand to look after the interests of
the company.
Supt. Frank Hedley of the INTERIOR
ough Rapid Transit Co., made the fol-
lowing official statement: at would
have been impossible for Towerman
Jackson to have thrown the switch
while the train was passing around the
curve. That curve is guarded by pat
ent coupling bars that catch the flange
of the wheels, so that it would be i'm
possible to throw the switch after the
train had gotten partly in it. 1t is a
device for just such an emergency.
The yellow signal on the track
means clear track around the curve
and the green signals means clear
track down Ninth avenue. Jackson,
the towerman, says that Kelly, the mo-
torman, while running a Ninth avenue
train, displayed Sixth avenue signals,
and he showed clear track around
the curve, and that Kelly evidently
paid no attention to the, signals and
took the curve running at 80 miles an
hour
The first car, motor, very heavy in
build, did not leave the track at the
curve for this reason, but the second
car, light trailer, when it reached
the curve left the tracks and over
turned.
Jackson has been in the tower for
six years and has never had an acci-
dent and never made mistake.
Despite the fact, however, that Jack
son says that Kelly had Sixth avenue
signals displa3 ed, when we visited the
car after the accident the front motor
was found to have Ninth avenue sig
nails displayed"
In spite of the horror of the scene 1t
was not 80 seconds after the fall of the
car before thieves were about. Pa
trolman Edward Moran, one of the first
to arrive, found man trying to take
the pocketbook from an injured wom-
an. The woman was pinioned in the
wreckage and was very weak, but she
was holding on to her pocketbook for
dear life. Moran had no time to arrest
the man, but he swung a blow at him
which caught him on the jaw and laid
him fiat. Then he piled in to help the
injured. Afterward Moran remembered
the man he hit and is now looking for
him in the hospitals. He is sure he
was taken to the hospital after he hit
him.
There were many instances of hero
ism and unselfishness noticed. One ne
gro who was caught by the legs under
the trucks of the car, and must have
suffered awful pain, calmly superin-
tended the work of getting him out.
A man and woman who were taken
out unconscious recovered their senses
while lying on truck at the curb, and,
getting up, did what they could to res
cue others. A number of truck drivers
came up and offered to take people to
their homes
The accident caused a complete tie
up of both the Ninth and Sixth avenue
lines for four hours. Passengers who
were on trains prior to the accident
were taken from them and taken by
surface cars, or walked to the subway.
At some of the stations on the Ninth
avenue line ropes were strung across
the stalrways leading to the stations
and placards tackled up, reading; "Acci-
dent. Trains not running"
The blockade diverted the bulk of the
rush traffic to the subway. All the ex-
presses were pretty we'll filled by the
Al I,I