The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-10-29
snscisl % lie washington Herald.

special 10 Tie Washington Herald
Atlantic City. \. J.. OCT. sS.-Out Of
eighty passengers on a Pennsylvania Rail-
road electric train running from Cam
Den 70 this city over ffty-fve we're killed
today. when the three cars making up
lae train hurled through an open draw
bridge over the -Thoroughfare. and were
submerged in twenty feet Of water.
Eighty persons were known to have
been on the train OF this number twen-
ty-three were rescued. Twenty identified
dead bodies have been taken TO the
uorgues. and three other corpses lie
alongside them.
The majority Of the victims were Phila-
deIphians of for a holiday
It was the most horrible accident that
Atlantic. City has ever known. and one Of
the worst wrecks in the history Of rail-
roadine. Although the accident hap
pened before 2:s0 O'clock this afternoon,
The exact number OF killed and injured
cannot be given with certainty, even at
this late hour. for tho reason that the
submerged cars cannot be entered until
tbe tide goes cut, and the dead are stIH
lying there in heaps.
Eighteen Dead Taken out.
Tie third car was not entirely sub
merged. ana eighteen bodies have been
recovered from that. because Of the fact
that tae eerpses have deated through the
broken windows and risen to the surface.
Twelve ere identified and six are un-
identified.
Eighteen injured have been taken care
sol at the Atlantic city Hospital and by
private persons. Five other survivors
have been accounted for. The rest OF the
eighty aboard the electric express arc
IN al probably in the tangled heaps
arougl which the waters OF the Thor
oughfare are gurgling
So tie estimate Of fifty-fTc for the dead
is believed to be conservative, and the
fatalities may run as high as sixty.
Train Plunged Twenty Feet.
The draw Of the electric road over the
TloToUghfare had been opened about half
an hour before the express arrived 90 per
init an Inflated yacht called the Sinbad.
20 pass. The Sinbad had been abandoned
al sea by her crew and vas washed up on
renwlck island shoals. Her owner found
ter ana was bringing her back. When the
bridge closed behind tho Sinbad the rails
did not lock properly. The aanges Of the
wheels on the express struck the outside
IF the rails. and in q moment the whole
train had been whirled over and dropped
into twenty feet Of water. Alarm bells
were rung all over town. and Atlantic
City became hystericaI with terror
scott Among the Dead.
With Motorman Walter Scott at the
controller. the train left Camden at l
o'clock. due In Atlantic City at 80
James Curtis was the conductor in
charge. and r b. Wood tie brake
man. Both OF these men escaped
Scott is a. the bottom Of the Thorough
1are. There we're threa cars in tho train
light rigid steel cars, with double doors.
which opened by means OF patent
handle, and once they were closed the
passengers were made prisoners. as efec-
tuaIIy- as TbDugh they had been fastened
with a paddock Only the crew OF the
jrnin. who knew the continuation. could
operate the handles. and even they could
90 nothing once the cars were. sprung or
bent. Il was these patent doors which
gave rise 10 the belief that tho cars were
locked and prevented many escaping who
might otherwise have done so.
According 70 the conductors statement.
there were seyenty-seven persons on
board. exclusive o. the crew. making
eighty souls all told. Scott was taking
his train through on time. he was an
experienced motorman and had been
working on the new third rail electric
line ever since it replaced the PennsyI-
vania Railroads West Jersey branch a
month ago. He knew every foot OF the
rails. and the alarming lightness OF his
train did not terrify him in the least
Goes sixty Miles an Hour.
Past crossings and around curves the
three steel cars leaped and swayed at
speed sometimes reaching q sixty-mile
rate. It was the light motors, according
10 railroad operatives. which made these
electric trains dangerous They needed
the massive weight CT the locomotive to
hold then safe to the rail
Be that as Il may. they held 70 the
rails until they arrived at the drawbridge
over the Throughfare. The Theroughfare
is'a narrow neek OF ddewater which sep
<aratest Atlantic City from the mainland.
The railroads cross It on drawbridges
which are guarded By watchmen in signal