The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-02

sNORE, IttV, HfIlF fHU
NJ HNRS tVD SmAsI I0ss
tasyas ffsm 1sspug mead sWr tsppss
sNeasRef tsps esWant stfe Srsw f'V''d
Waa itgwlWa fhausaWss tseid ~ M
ItsWadwa o, tine Wltap NJ Wust tsf

WFHHHWag 1--WE NsSHu w WstN w
imtlns tho hotuewari IRISH huut In tho
subway last evening q ny,1fmsn ran =
train N slant eafs. e'upav, iNto a fous caf
train which had hepn laid 40 IN what u
callrd She slofaee ~ mldd'e track bon weer
tho loai aBsl 10th stfept s%latiuna w tho
broadway branch UHe ~ ~" dead cnts
Sas lultsd N tho track aaainat tbs third
fa.l. causing a shof, cifuuit Hnd ae''ina hfS
~ tso ~ tho dead cata
IN less time than u taker 10 toll u the
subway Tor BLOCKS was hlled With ainohe,
the cars lila ae,l. trains we're held up and
the hrcnen had . u lively Hghi
No one waa hurt, but ra-senEers o,
stalled trains In the p,nOks sone wsrc badly
frightened Tsmperr wsre finlcd all along
the line by The certainty ~ delayed dinnefa
aud there was great excitement at the
stations and on tho trains.
TRAFFIC on the Broadway line north Of
iOad street was blocked for over three
hours and for a brief period there WIS
delay IN the 1anox avenue branch, When
n was all over. Frank Hedley manager OF
the Peterborough system, said that the
damage was about $1,000.
II was about AS O'Clock when the eight
empty cars we're run ont OF the Ninety
sixth street station To the middle track
The other four cars had been standing
there for some time. The a furtnert
north was at iOeth street.
The eight SWITCHING cars were in charge
Of a mar named Palmer and he bumped
the motor car into the dead cars. II wasn't
q very great jolt. Palmer was ongratulat.
ing himself on the fact that there seemed
TO be little damage. Then flames spouted
from one Of the dead cars. In a lily there
was "a good sized blaze. The lights In the
10th and iO3d street stations went out
The smoke rolled along the tunnel in sitting
volumes as far IA the 10th street station.
Just at that time an uptown train passed
the blazing car. The lights on the train
instantly vent out. Women screamed and
men scrambled to get to the doors. There
was a general panic. According to +. E
Brown, an Mspector for the New York
Fire Insurance Exchange, who was on the
train, he was knocked down, carrying a
woman with him to the floor. Many other
passengers on the train, which was Gro wded
were upset. Eyeglasses were broken,
clothes were torn, shins were barNei, and
il IN a wonder that no one was really hurt.
Everybody scrambled out Of the train
when II pulled into the 10th street station.
BY that time the smoke was thick and
was curling up into the street. Bicycle
Policeman Durham and Policeman Mo
Adam saw it, and dashed iAto-the station.
They found men and women running ain.'
lessly through the smoke, an d they jumped
in to straighten things out.
Al.,,t tla arnn fitpn u downtown train
pulled into the station. The lights on 1t
went out too. Then they started up again,
went out and again blinked. Roundsman
Cullen Of Inspector Sweeney's stan and
Sergt. Coleman OF the telegraph bureau
were on the train. They got OF, saw that
something was wrong down the line and
started down to find out what it was. The
smoke drove them back and /they helped
get the crowd that left the train to the street.
In the meantime some one turned in a
fire alarm and the subway employees had
been very active. There are a number Of
switches OF brakes, as explained by Manager
Hedley later, which serve to cut of the
electric power from sections of track. This
was done at once. The current was shut
of between Ninety-sixth and 10th streets,
40 that the section became safe for the fire.
men to work In when they fought their
way through the smoke to the burning
cars.
At first the firemen tried to get through
the 10th street station, but the smoke
was too thick for them. Then the men Of
Truck %. one of the first to arrive, headed
by Lieut.. Hagan, pushed a couple OF lad
ders down through the light shaft at 10Sth
street. One after the other, the firemen
climbed down and were driven back, stiled
by the smoke.
After a little rest and fresh air, however,
they went at 1t again and kept IN until
they got a couple Of streams to bear on
the two cars, which were then burning
fercely. After that, it wasn't long before
the fremen had the blaze beaten, although
it took quite a little work and considerable
water to quench the fire entirely.
In the hour that it took to accomplish
this trains were piling up below Ninety
sixth street. Some trains that got above
Ninety-sixth street on the Broadway branch
were halted in the tunpel for over half an
hour and we're then hauled back to Ninety
sixth street. This caused some grumbling
and much u~neasiness, especially among the
women.
To relieve the congestion Broadway
trains were switched to the Lenox branch
at Ninety-sixth strest and continued up
town.. Other Broadway trains we're
switched to the downtown track.
At the Ninety-sixth street station there
was a good deal Of %grumbling by persons
who could not continue to their homes
along the Broadway division clear up to
K~ingsbridge. Many OF the passengers
thought that they should get transfers to
the surface lines. They didn't. The ticket
sellers had no instructions and these was no
one in authority who would give them.
Rumors of two trains loaded with passen-
gers colliding, with many killed and injured,
we're circulated on the street. A crowd Of
5000 collected, mostly women and children.
and there was a pitiful state Of alarm among
the families Of downtown business people.
To add to the general tieup, the Broadway
surface cars we're stopped the firemen having
run hose across the tracks. This was an
other cause for grunbling on the part OF
those who had left the subway expecting
to get surface cars.
According to some Of the firemen the cars
that burned were copper sheathed outside