The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-11-21

Atlantic City, N. FIFTY live
were blotted out in an instant herr
when two coaches from Camden OF
the new electric line jumped from
the trestle bridge over the Thorough
fare and sank "a mud in twenty fee
Of water. The passengers were
caught like rats in a trap, and only
four men in the two cars succeeded
In saving their lives. They burs
windows with their hands, and fore
ing their bodies through the open
ings came to the surface after the
cars had been immersed almost
minute.
The line is known as the West
Jersey and Seashore Railroad, but it
Is the property of the Pennsylvania
Railroad. Electricity was substituted
for steam only a month ago, and the
third rail is used. The run from
Camden to this city is made in an
hour and a half, and the train was
On time.
The most horrible sight of the ap-
palling disaster 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 on
end, and after thirty 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 were
drowned. Their cries were heart
breaking. A rescuer, jumping on
the roof, caught a woman's wrist
through a ventliator and held it I'M
til the rising tide claimed her life.
When the coach went into the water
/ fat man was stuck in n Of the
windows. He was filled with hope
when he found that his head was
above water. Presently, however, he
discovered that the tide "a 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
eraZed with despair, and t%hreshfng
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 tht flesh on his
sides vas torn away by contact with
the window frame.
Coroner Gaskill, after inspecting
The bridge, said that what he found
Indicates, he thinks, criminal negli-
gence on the part of the corporation
or it's employees. The tracks on the
irawbridge are higher than those on
the trestle, and the condition of the
ends of the rails on the draw show
that this condition has existed right
along, and that the ends Of the rails
have been battered by the wheels
striking them. Another thing, there
were no guard rails along the tracks
On the bridge. The Coroner is con-
vinced that had there been such
guards or even an iron railing along
the side of the bridge all the cars
would not have gone into the water.
One car hitting the guard railing
might have gone through, but the re-
sistence would have been enough, he
thinks, to have stopped the second
car and, as a result, the third.
The train went over as a result OF
the spreading of the rails. But after
leaving the tracks it travelled for 100
yards along the trestle work, and 1t
Is believed that Walter Scott. the. mo-
torman, must have become u%nnerved,
as he had sufficient time to set the
brakes and bring the train to a stop.
He went down with his train, how
ever, and the truth never will be
known. The tracks were examined
only a few days ago, and it was
thought they were safe.
The Thoroughfare trestle IS one
mile long, with a drawbridge in the
middle. The drawbridge had been
open just before the train ran out on
the bridge. A yacht passed through
the draw. Scott slowed down as he
approached the structure. A signal
was set against him, and he had al
most brought the train to a stop,
when the draw was dropped back
into position, and he got the signal
of a clear track. He turned on the
power, and the train gathered mo-
mentum. The speed at the time the
cars went from the rails was about
ten miles ar hour. -
The first car was the first to leave
the track. Engineers report that the
rails appear to have spread under it.
The other two coaches were dragged
from the rails and the train went
running along the wooden floor of
the structure. Several times the cars
were kept from going over the side
by a heavy iron guard rail. There
were a dozen men crossing the bridge
on foot, and they said that at the
moment the coaches left the tracks