The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1906-11-01
THREE TROLLEY CARS
PLUNGE INTO 4 RIVER
Enormous Death List % Re
suit Of a Appalling
Wreck.
DISAPPEAR in
Although Heroic Efforts Are Made to
Save Passcngsss, Scores OF Thorn
Perish in the Awful
Trap.

Atlantic City. N. J., Oct. SO-Nine.
teen bodies have been brought into the
~improvised morgue. and a diver. who
has made q thorough inspection OF the
submerged cars. stated that at least
thirty bodies were still In the coaches
AT this hour 1t Is impossible to identify
any OF the newly recovered bodies. The
total dead recovered nov number for
ty-four.
This awful condition. the result OF
O railroad accident even worse than the
Meadow wreck Of July 80, 1896. sent
about eighty persons to sudden death
Sunday, catching them like rats In O
trap.
The cars Of the electric train OF the
West Jersey and Seashore railroad
lines due here at 2;30 o'clock jumped
the track on the trestle bridge over the
Thoroughfare river and before any
one could get out they We're hurled to q
watery grave. The trestle is about fit
teen feet above the water and the drop
to the water required several seconds,
giving time for the passengers, women
and children, to see and III their
fate.
Whole Town Excited.
The entire city was thrown into q
state OF excitement. Fully 5000 people
crowded the Meadows and the trestle,
many relatives and friends crying out
In despair. asking for loved ones.
Chief of Police Maxwell had a Gordon
of police swung around the death cir
Gle and Chief Black, of the fire depart
ment, called out his men n made
them police temporarily.
The accident vas due to a rail
turning In" This twist threw the first
car off the track and into the water.
the result was that the second and
third ears were dragged with 1t and
the rear portion struck a piece OF
the abutment, hung for a short time
and then slid into the water.
But this brief stop saved several
lives. A number of men n a few
women leaped out of windows and
the rear door, either into the water
or caught hold of a post and were
rescued.
1t was stated that fully so to LOO
passengers We're aboard
Among the passengers We're twenty
men of the Royal Artillery band, who
were Oh their way here from Phila-
delphia. One or two bodies of the band
men We're recovered early in the after
noon.
Charles Kessler, a merchant, was the
first to reach the scene OF the wreck.
He secured an ak, jumped on top OF
the submerged car and began to hack
the roof to liberate the imprisoned pas
sengers. h task was a difficult one
and he was unable to rescue many. He
managed to get some women out and
above water.
Heroic Service.
The third trainman, Brakeman Wood,
proved himself q hero. When the train
left the rails and was humping oVeT
the ties Wood ran to the rear door OF
f1-o- 1nxE .n,a -. ~ mr. ~ MI ~ IN - -,
held it for the passengers to escape.
He held the door open until the car
Slid off the bridge and went into the
water with it. He then swan to the
shore. His action in holding the door
open probably saved many lives.
When. the third car dropped in the
water Henry Roener was in the act of
crawling from a window. Freeing
himself with an effort and being a
strong swimmer, Roemer set about to
help others. Swimming alongside the
fast sinking car he kicked out the
glass and thus gave several passengers
an opportunity to escape. One was
caught in a window and was drowned
before he could eXtricate himself.
The accident was witnessed by many
people, and rescue work was prompt.
Many strong swimmers e~ndeayored to
dive to the submerged cars in search
Of bodies, but so strong was the tide
Liz VI iolSSa w dNESiDt. . L ioICGSiOiI-
al divers were then secured, who
donned their armor n went down.
But even they were unable to do any
thing against the tide tina swirled
around the sunken cars.
Only Trolley Poles in Sight.
Beats Don sWarmed about the spot
where the cars went down, their loca-
ton being marked by the tops of Their
trolley poles. Although the cars got
power from a rail they carried trolley
poles to take power from above if
necessary.
AS quickly as a body was brought
out or loated to the surface it was
removed to the city morgue.
A Camden physician, whose name
is not as yet known, together with his
wife, was in the first car, and both
are believed to be among the dead, al
though the bodies have not peer re-
covered.
One instance of q heroic and almost
miraculous escape from the first coach
is the case of David Enley, of Camden.
Enley reached Atlantic City suffering
from severe bruises about the face and
body and carrying in his lacerated
arms the S-year-old Helen Gilbert, also
of Camden.
AT the first intimation of danger
Enley leaped to the platform, taking
the child with him. AS the coach
plunged downward he sprang into the
water and succeeded in swimming
ashore with the little one
Many Saved Themselves.
Most Of the passengers in the coach
were able to help themselves and with
the arrival of assistance from the city
they were removed to hospitals.
Perched on the roof of the last car
the rescuers found Conductor Curtis
almost craZed with terror and fright.
He was bleeding from several cuts on
the e. and was otherwise injured.
When asked how the accident hap
pened his only reply was Good Cod,
what is it?"
When finally induced to talk he
could give no clear story. When asked
about the number of passengers he re-
Piled that he had counted 10; then
he said $50 and finally that he did not
know exactly how many. Eighty-eight
full fare tickets were found, however.
and from this fact it is taken that the
total number of passengers correspond
with the number of tickets.
Stories of terrible experiences are
told by those who escaped death in the
submerged coaches.
Woman Tells of 1t.
A Mrs. McDonaid, off p~h:!aaeInhia.
who was in the third car. had the fol.