The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1906-10-30

Passenger Dives Into Water For 7us-
band, Bringing Him Up After Saving
Three Strangers.
Atlantic City, N. j., Oct. 30.-The to-
tai number Of dead in the appalling
wreck of the electric train which,
loaded with passengers, plunged into
the Thoroughfare, the waterway sepa-
rating this city from the mainland, 10
now placed at tifty-three. OF these for
ty-nine bodies have been identified,
two bodies remain unclaimed in the
temporary mortuary, and two people
are known to have been drowned, but
their bodies have not been recovered.
Wrecking cars, with derricks. sue
ceeded In bringing one Of the two sub
merged cars to the surface and divers
working in relays brought up bodies
until their fearful task was completed
and they reported that no more dead
remained either inside the second car
Or in the water and mud anywhere In
the vicinity.
coroner's Jury Probes Wreck.
Interesr now cenrers In the work Of
the coroners jury, of which State Sen
ator Edward S. Lee Is foreman. They
have made careful inspection Of the
SCENE Of the wreck and the drawbridge
at which the train left the rails.
Il am certain Of criminal careless
pess," Coroner Gaskill declares in his
formal statement, land shall place
the blame where it belongs"
The disaster. the worst that has hap
pened since the terrible meadow wreck
BIZ July 80, 1896, occurred at half past
3 o'clock in the afternoon The train,
made up Of three heavy vestibule cleo
trio coaches, which left Camden at !
o'clock in the afternoon, carried prob
Ably Lightweight passengers. as that
number Of tickets are held by the CON
duetor
Cause Not Definitely Known.
The cause of the wreck has not been
established. 1t was probably due eli
kher to defective rail or the breaking
sf some part of the superstructure Of
the first coach.
1t has also been suggested that the
arawbrIdge which had just been
closed after the passage Of yacht,
may not have properly locked the rails.
All theories, however. are as yet purely
speculative.
General Manager W. W. Atterbury
Of the Pennsylvania railroad arrived
On the scene and will make thorough
investigation into the cause of the ac-
rident Until this investigation shall
have been made Mr.. Atterbury de-
cIined to make any statement.
Il arrived at the drawhrIdge," said
the coroner, shortly after the accident
The raiIroad officials claim to be at d
loss to explain the cause Of the wreck,
Several important facts were brought
out by our inspection. | found the
end of the drawbridge tracks higher
than the ends of the other track. Con-
BequentIy it was impossible for train
travelling fast to avoid jumping and
being in danger of leaving the rails.
No Guard Rails on Bridge.
"That the wheels of the train had hit
the ends of the rails with terrific force
was shown by the battered condition
of the rails The condition of the rails,
however, is at variance with the state
ment made by the bridge tender. Ac-
cording to Mr. Atterbury, the bridge
tender told him that the bridge had
Just been closed and that he had gone
to the other end Of the draw to remove
the danger flags which had been placed
there when The bridge was about to be
opened. The Bridge man told Mr. At
terbury be vas positive the tracks were
perfectly locked MY investigation
shows this not % have been the case.
MY attention has been called to the
fact that there are no guard rails OF
any kind on the bridge. Had there been
they might have prevented the train
from plunging into the Thoroughfare
even after 1t had jumped the tracks,
viii find out II the law requires pro,
lection Of this kind"
While running at a speed said to
have been moderate and not unusual
the first coach left the rails. and drag
ged those following 1t over the ties for
distance Of fifty feet Suddenly
swerving, the first two coaches plunged
over the side of the bridge into the
water twenty feet below. The third
coach struck heavy abutment. broke
its coupling and for brief time hung
perilously suspended over the water.
Brief as was this period. however. IL
gave more than score Of passengers
an opportunity to escape Nv the rear
door. Then the car slid of and fol
lowed the other two into the water II
IL believed every one in the rear Of
third coach escaped alive. though al
were more or less Injured
The accident was witnessed by many
persons on shore, and assistance was
promptly sent from Atlantic City Lit
tie could be done however, toward
saving the lives Of those imprisoned II
the submerged coaches The water q
the point where the train plunged Il
was not deep enough 70 cover tht
coaches At first. but as they quickly