Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1905-09-15
TEN KILLED IN Il" WRECK
Bad Accident on Ninth Avenue
Elevated Road in New York.
ERROR CAUSED ACCIDENT.
Forty Persons Were Badly Hurt When
Train Falls Into the
Street.

NEW YORK, Sept. 11.-Ten persons
| were killed and more than forty in
! lured by the derailment of an elevated
train at Fifty-third street and Ninth ave-
nue. today.
/ The dead are:
! AUSPACH, JACOB NJ. a merchant and
member Of the Newark \. j., board of
| SCHEIBLE, ERNEST P, an electrician.
NORRIS THEODORE, colored.
CORCORAN, JOHN.
! NEUGUS, SOLOMON. employed BY the
! Mutual Chemical company.
! MG3ARTHY, CORNELIUS, laborer-
LEES, WILLIAM, an electrician.
| BAH, JOSEPH, a policeman
| COOPER, JAMES.
AN UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN
Ihe train was q south bound Ninth
avenue local and should have continued
on the straight track instead of being
switched to the curve by which Sixth
avenue trains proceed on F'irty-third
! street from Ninth avenue to Sixth ave-
nue. a Sixth avenue train had Just
passed and the switch to the curve was
! open Owing TO this open switch the
hrst car of the Ninth avenue train took
the switch, just barely staying on the
rails and turning into Firty-third street
instead OF going down Ninth avenue.
caused by SWltcnman.
The switchman, it is alleged, when he
saw. his blunder, turned the switch back
again as If to send the train on the
straight track down Ninth avenue, AS
soon as this was done the train was
wrecked. The second car got around
the turn, but the third car, owing to the
| switch being changed, was thrown off
the track: 1t fell into the street, turn
ing completely over and landing upside
down.
The fourth and fifth cars also left the
rails. but did not fall into the street.
The fourth car struck with terrific force
against the building at the southwest
corner of Ninth avenue and rested
against a fire escape. This building IS
occupied III part by Mrs. Grow, whose
family was at breakfast. The passen-
! gers in the fourth and fifth cars were
able to save themselves and get to the
street in safety by climbing through the
| windows of Mrs. Crows apartments,
from the fire escapes against which the
fourth car rested.
Policeman Describes Wreck.
Policeman Edward Moran, who was
injured, was standing beneath the struct-
| ure when the accident happened. He
leaped when he heard the crash over
head and escaped death. Il turned
around and saw the car coming to the
street." he said. 1T fell with a crash on
its forward end. The bottom cracked
and the sides shivered and opened out.
The people were damned forward, hold
ing to the straps and mixed up together.
When the sides broke out they were
scattered all over the street These were
the lucky ones. Those who could not get
out were the worst injured.
Il saw there was awful work ahead.
so | ran to Fifty-first street and turned
in an alarm. Then | sent in a call for
! all the ambulanceS and asked for police
| reserves.
LAS l ran back I called for help from
! wagons of all sorts. When l gor back
the street was strewn with injured peO-
! pie. We lifted them into grocery wag-
ons, trucks, anything handy, and hur-
ried them to Roosevelt hospital Many
of them were women. They had tainted
and it looked as if nearly all were dead.
Dig Out the Victims.
when the fremen came they We're
dragging people out of the car. The fur
ther down they got into the mass of hui
manity the slower the work became and
the more serious were the wounds Of
! those rescued.
FINALLY axes had to be used to get
the people from under the Wreckage. At
that stage they began to pull out the
| dead"
The excitement among those in the de-
| rallied cars on the structure as they real
lied what had happened became intense
| In the forward car the men, deeming the
motorman was responsible for the
| wreck, attacked linn and tried to
beat him. He was dragged from
! his seat, but he shouted for fair
play and convinced the crowd that it
was the switchman and not he that was
responsible.
Arrest Train Crew.
Coroner Scholler has caused the arrest
of !. w. Johnson, the conductor of the
train; Timothy Higginson. J. McDavitt
w. l.. Berry and d. Clark, the four
guards.
Motorman Paul Kelly, address I'M
known. and c.. A. dickinson. the switcn-
| Ninth avenue, have disappeared, the po-
| lice say. and cannot be found.
Many persons were badly hurt. Among
them are:
Seymour Rowe, a bookkeeper, fractured
skull.
Charles Dobson, scalp wounds, injured
! back.
Rose Olmstead, scalp wounds, Commissions
! of body, and shock.
Henry AkpoIy, skull fractured and in
juries to chest and body. Part of the fall
ing car struck him.
Unidentified man, about So years, uncon-
sciOuS, fractured skull.
Barbara GrelI, % years. Western Union
! Telegraph operator, suffering from shock.
4 policeman found the head Of Il man
! lying on the elevated tracks. The head
! was that of a man about % years old.
Joseph Bach, policeman, badly crushed;
will die.
Elizabeth Minor, Nyack. leg crushed so
that umputation was necessary; will die.
Pat J. Gilligan, 500 West Fifty-sixth
street. left side crushed in.
Lincoln Eckstein, legs crushed.
Bridget Mcmahon, internal injuries and
William Nieubeu tT, 219o Eighth avenue,
| skull fractured.
Wrong Signal Given.
During the coroner's preliminary ex-
animation, Conductor J. w. Johnson
said:
| Coroner, you can 90 up on the elevat-
/ ed road at tifty-ninth street and Ninth
avenue and see for yourself. You will
! find that the signal is yellow and green,
which means that the south bound Ninth
avenue train has the right Of way and
clear track"
The head found detached from the
! body was that of Solomon Nugast. He
had been sitting at the front end of the
car which jumped into the street, when
! sharp piece of board or metal severed
his head from his body as Clearly as
| though done with al axe. Both head
and body were found on the tracks, but
several yards apart.
TAFT IN NAGASAKI.
! NAGASAKI. Sept. II, p. m.-Sec-