Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-10-29
Awful Accident Overtakes
Passengers Near At
Iantic City.
RUNNING AT HIGH SPEED
Scores of People Known to
Have Met Death In the
Wreck.

Atlantic City, NJ. j., Oct 2e.-Fifty-
three persons are positively known TO
! have lost their lives in the waters Of
the thoroughfare yesterday when an
electric train jumped the rails on the
drawbridee over that waterway.
OF this number AZ have been ldenti.
| fled, two are missing, and four yet re-
/ main in the morgue unidentified. The
two missing are known TO have per-
! ished.
Atlantic City y. j.. Oct 29-As the
details of yesterdays terrible wreck
on the electric line Of the West Jersey
! & Seashorc railroad developed dur
| ing The night. the disaster became
more appalling The total number of
persons whose lives were snuffed out
almost instantly will probably be &C.
with nearly a score injured of whom
several of them. it is thought will die.
Forty-efght bodies have already been
brought TO the surface. There were 81
] persons on the train. 10 passes and 20
fares
swept OFT Into the Atlantic.
| twenty-five of this number have
been accounted for. which, with the
bodies recovered. brings the total to
%. This leaves Is persons not ac-
| counted for and who are supposed to
have been drowned II is possible
some Of these may never be found "A
, it is the belief OF divers that some Of
the bodies hoated through the broken
windows out into the thoroughfare and
were carried by the swift current out
into the Atlantic
Early This morning trains brought
many persons from Philadelphia and
other towns. anxious TO learn if dear
ones had been swept to death by the
awful disaster. The dead thus far
identified were residents either OF
! Pennsylvania or New Jersey.
Scene Of the wreck.
The wreck. which occurred al "A
drawbridge which spans the thorough
/ fare of small waterway about "a mile
outside of the city. just on the eastern
edge Of a meadow was directly due TO
the draw failing TO work properly. The
fishing schooner Sinbad had Just
passed through the drawbridge. As
the schooner was entering the draw
the electric train hove in sight and
/ started 10 cross the meadow from the
! direction of Pleasantville Before the
draw had swung into position. three
cars which were running at u high
rate of speed. washed onto the trestle
With Lnrch.
With a lurch the forward car left
/ the rails and dashed into the guard
| rail. the other two cars following. At
| the point where the cars jumped the
/ track the top of the trestle is nearly 20
! feet high The first two cars were in
/ stantly submerged but the third car
| caught on an abutment and remained
suspended II was this car from which
nearly all the injured escaped
The news of the disaster was quick
| ly telegraphed 10 this city and i'm less
| than an hour the work OF rescue had
been begun. At the time of the acct
dent, the tide. which rises about 10
feet. was running in and the work OF
the divers was necessarily slow IL
was not until several hours later that
the divers were able TO make any pro-
gress
The AwfnI Evidence.
Then the awful evidence of the dis
aster became more apparent. When
lue TWO cars slIuCh tue VI thO
waterway. they stood almost on end
and the first man To descend reported
the victims were packed in the lower
ends Of the submerged cars so tightly
IL was difficult TO move them
One by one the bodies were carried
to waiting train and laid side by side
later TO be borne TO the city and placed
| in the Empire theater. which was
| pressed into service as a temporary
morgue. Thousands of persons quickly
| gathered at the scene OF the disaster.
and "A score of boats soon surrounded
/ the spot where the cars disappeared,
| but they were unable to render any
aid. and could only await the arrival
| Of the divers.
At the morgue the scenes were pa.
thetic Persons who had friends on
the ill-fated cars crowded about the
door and with difficulty were restrain
ed from forcing their way into the
building.
Lost Entire Family.
One of the most heartrending Incl
dents was furnished by Frederick Ben