Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-10-29
SEARCHING FOR BODIES
Continued from Page ~

by jumping through a window. The
other two cars are under thirty feet of
water.
The train consisted of three Of the
new electric cars, with which the road
has been equipped. The line is oper-
ated by the third rail system. The
trains began running a month ago, re-
placing steam trains. The run from
Camden to this city has been made in
an hour and a half. The wrecked train
was in charge of Motorman Walter
Scott. He is described as fully ex-
~perienced and a regular man, running
daily.
/ The i'll fated train left Camden at I
o'clock and was due here Mt 2:30. II
came through. without mishap until the
trestle was reached, when it slowed
down to take a drawbridge. 1t was
then running, however, at a good speed.
The accident occurred about one mile
from Atlantic City. The bridge itself
is nearly a mile long. The train kept
to the bridge for about 200 feet, when
the forward car broke through the
guard rail and plunged into the water.
Most of the passengers were Philadel-
phians.
John Dougherty of 2239 Brandywine
street. Philadelphia, was severely in
jured. He broke his way through the
window and escaped after being in the
water.
John Taylor Of Camden was among
those who went overheard with the
cars, but kicked his way through a
window of the rear car and swan to
the piling of the bridge. where he was
brayely rescued by j. f. De Ford, a
railroad a
Charles Kessler was one of the first
on hand and displayed a cool head. He
secured an ak, jumped on top of a
submerged car and cut through the
roof. He could not release many under
the circumstances, but he got some of
the women out to safety.
The old man who attends the bridge,
in speaking of the accident, declared
that the bridge had been opened about
thirty minutes before the train came
along. A yacht passed through. He
says that he saw that the bridge was
properly closed and that the tracks
were inspected. He cannot explain
why the rails spread as they did.
The most horrible sight of the disas-
ter was that OF the third coach, which
completed the train and which was
held suspended for thirty seconds by a
projecting beam in the bridge. The
coach was tipped N end, and after
many passengers had escaped the car
dropped and, falling in a mud bank,
was not covered by the water. Several
persons were caught in the coach and
drowned. Their cries were hearthreak-
ing. A rescuer, jumping on the roof.
caught a woman's wrist through a
ventilator and held it until the rising
tide claimed her life. When the coach
went into the water a fat man was
stuck in one of the windows. b He was
filled with hope when he found his
head was above water. Presently,
however, he discovered that the tide
was rising, and he made desperate
struggles to gain liberty and life. Two
men on the roof pulled his arms in
VAIN, and all his striving was useless.
He grew crazed with despair and.
%thrashing the water with his arms.
prayed and cursed alternately until the
tide swept over him. His body was
cut out an hour later. His struggles
We're so terrible that the flesh on his
sides was torn away by contact with
the window frame.
Thirty-eight bodies have already been
taken out, six of them being women.
Motorman Scott stuck to his post
and went down with his train. Con.
ductor Curtis also persisted. The third
trainman, Brakeman Wood, proved
himself a hero. When the train left
the rails and was humping over the
ties Wood ran to the rear door of the
last car, threw it wide open and held
it for the passengers to escape. He
held the door open until the car slid
off the bridge and went into the wa
ter with it. He then swan to the
shore. His action in holding the door
/ open probably saved many lives.
When the third car dropped into the
water Henry Roemer was in the act
of crawling from a window. Freeing
himself with IN effort and being a
strong swimmer, Roemer set about to
help others. Swimming along the side
of the fast sinking car, he kicked out
the glass and thus gave several pas
sengers an opportunity to escape. One
man was caught in a window and was
drowned before he could eXtricate him
self.
An Italian named Marco Bona was
rescued from the third car, but died
later from his injuries. Boats soon
swarmed about the spot where the
cars went down, their location being
marked by the tops of their trolley
poles.