Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-11-02
.F|FTY-THREE ARE DEAD,
STRING OF CROWDED ELECTRIC
COACHES PLUEGES OFF TRESTLE
INTO SEA AT ATLANTIC CITY.
FORTY-SEVEN IDENTIFIED.
Divers Recover Victims and Theater Is
Turned Into Morgue Where Pltitul
Scenes Are Enacted.

Wbridge over the waterway. VI lHis
number forty-seven have been identified,
two are missing and four yet remain III
the morgue unidentified. The two miss
ing are known to have persisted. They
are young men named McElory and
Burch.
There were ninety-one persons on the
train, fifteen passes and twenty-slX 1ares'
Cause for Disaster.
General Manager w. w. Atterbury
of the Pennsylvania railroad said this
afternoon: Il do not believe that Stew
art, the bridge tender, said anything like
what has been attributed to him regard
ing the lacking up or alignment OF the
rails. 1t is not fact that when the
draw is swung the rails have to be reset.
This drawbridge is of the latest i'm
proved type We have nothing to con
ceaI. We don't know what caused the
wreck, and | don't think we can know
until we have seen the trucks of the
derailed cars"
When asked the direct question as TO
his idea of the cause of the wreck, Mr..
Atterbury said: Perhaps a broken
flange or a broken part Of the cars gear
gave way
The early morning trains brought
many persons from Philadelphia and 9th
q dear one had oeen swept to death by
the awful disaster.
Story of the Disaster.
The wreck occurred at the drawbridge
which spans the Thoroughfare, a small
waterway about one mile outside of this
city, just on the eastern edge of the
meadows and was directly due to the
draw failing to work properly. The fish
ing schooner Sinbad, which was recently
wrecked off winter quarter shoals light,
q short distance from the Delaware
breakwater had just passed through the
draw.
AS the schooner was entering the
draw, the electric train hove i'll sight and
started across the meadow from the d.
rectiOn of PleaSantyille. Before the
draw had swung into position the three
cars, which were running at 2 high rate
of speed, dashed onto the IreStle. With
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
twenty feet high. The first two cars
were instantly submerged. But the third
car of the train caught on an abutment
and remained suspended. 1t was this
car from which nearly all of the injured
escaped.
Tide Handicaps Rescuers.
The news of the disaster was quickly
telegraphed to this city and in less than
an hour the work of rescue had been be-
gun. At the time of the accident the
tide, which rises about ten feet, was
running in and the work of the divers
was necessarily slow.
1t was not until several hours later
that the divers were able to make any
progress. Then the awful evidences of
the disaster became more apparent.
Whnu no StplIaly tho lnttop1 of tbn
waterway they stood almost on end and
the first man to descend reported that
the victims We're packed in the lower
ends of the submerged cars SO tightly
that it was difficult to move them.
Theater Is Morgue.
One by one the bodies were carried
to a waiting train and laid side by side,
later to be borne to this city and placed
in the Empire theater, which was
morgue. Thousands of persons quickly
gathered at the scene of disaster, and a
score of boats soon surrounded the spot
where the cars disappeared, but they
were unable to render any aid, and
could ouly await the arrival of the div
ers. At the morgue the scenes were
pathetic.
Persons who had friends in the i'll
fated cars crowded about the room and
with difficulty restrained from forcing
their way into the building.
Divers Completely Exhausted
The divers were so completely ex-
hausted by their continued efforts that
they were compelled to suspend opera
lions short time before daybreak.
Their work was particularly arduous
bause the wrecking crews, which
had been summoned to the scene of
the accident, were unable to raise the
Tho I'm b;ol,
was run out upon the long trestle. with
the added weight of the wrecked cars
suspended from the crane, was more
than the bridge could sustain, and it was
feared the stress would cause IL to col
lapse.
An attempt was made to cut the first
and second cars asunder and lift sin
broke at the first attempt, and on the
second the already twisted car buckled
Couldn't Raise Wreckage.
The attempts to lift the coaches were
then temporarily abandoned and all eff
forts were directed toward getting the
bodies of the victims out of the wreck
age. When it is certain that no more
bodies are in the tangled and twisted
coaches they will be broken up and
pulled ashore.
One of the most heart-rending incl
dents was furnished by Frederick Ben
ickert, who lost his entire family, a wife
and two children. Benickert was not
notified until too late to catch the train
and he hurried here in an automobile.
When he saw the bodies of his wife and
two little boys lying side by side on the
floor Benickert collapsed and had to be
carried from the building. Benickert had
intended to come with his family yester-
day, but was unable to get away.
Snapped Runs and Dies.
Walter Scott. the motorman, was
killed because of his anxiety to spend a
part of the day with his wife here. 1t
was Scott's custom to run only as far
as Millville, but today he snapped runs
with another motorman and his death
was the result.
At 10 o'clock today wretched and suf-
fering persons seeking lost ones were
permitted to enter the morgue. Most
heartrending We're the scenes, and men
who had worked with strong arms and
hearts to bring the bodies from benea til
the waters in the thoroughfare were
moved to tears.
Among the most pathetic cases was
that of Samuel McEiroy of Philadelphia,
who. after a sleepless night. found his
family wiped out by the disaster, his
wife and 5-year-old daughter lying dead
in the morgue and his 3-year old boy
missing. When the officials making rec
ord of the Identification asked for his
address. the broken hearted man replied ::