Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1906-10-29
RAILROAD ACCIDENT.

TERRIBLE RAILROAD ACtlDENI.
Scores of passengers 1.-The estimates
varying now from SO to SO--are buried
in three coaches OF the Pennsylvania
Electric Railroad aud West jersey Sea.
board Line, in from 20 to 30 feet OF
water. in The stream which separates
Atlantic City from the mainland and IL
known az the Thoroughfsre. Or the "a
passengers reported TO have left Camden
at l O'Clock yesterday afternoon IN the
fated express-and there we're possibly
more--not more than thirty bad been
found at 8 clock last night or account
ed for. The wreck apparently exceeds
in loss Of life the coliision on an excur-
sian train with an express train In the
Meadows within short distance OF yes
,erday afternoons disaster, July 30,
1896, in which 40 lives we're sacrificed.
The cars of the electric train jumped
the track on the tteatle bridge over The
Thoroughfare, and before any one could
get out they we're hurled to wstery
grave. The trestle lie about fifteen feet
above the water and the drop to the
water required several seconds, giving
time for the passengers-meo, women
aud children--to see and calculate their
tate. ~T les
Fourteen bodies, all told. had been re-
covered up to midnight last night. Hope
of getting the bodies out Of the two for
ward cars was temporarily abandoned.
The. divers said they could not work IN
the swift current aud had to wait for low
tide. .c -
| The accident is one of the most grue-
some in railroad annals. The survivors
are mostly men, only three or four women
managing to get out. Entire families who
we're on their way TO the shore were
caught 10 the trap and wiped out without
q chance at rescue. ~
1t occurred while the train was running
at high rate ofspeedy just as it took the
draw OF the bridge over the Thoroughfare
outside Atlantic City. The train had
reached the center and the wheels Of
the forward coach we're entering the tracks
fixed to the draw. Itsppears that the rail
which was an outside one on the right
hand side coming down ust have been out
of plump about an eighth of an iucb. The
sharp fange OF the electric train caught
this and twistedIit inward. Had itspread
instead OF twisting inward the accident
would not have happened. This twist
threw the first car off the track and into
the water. The result was that the
second and third cars were dragged with
1t, aud while the third car was descend
ing the rear portion struck q piece Of the
abutment, hung for short time and slid
into the water. But this brief stop saved
several lives. A number Of men and
few women leaped out of windows and
the rear door, either into the water or
caught hold OF posts, and were rescued.
The wheels had run over the trestling
for 200 feet, crushing the heavy timber
aud tearing up the rails Motormsn
Walter Scott, standing at the lever, felt
the jar aud, according to people in the
train, st once applied the airbrakes
with foil force, but it was useless. The
car crashed through the timber guard
rail and plunged from the bridge in-
to the river. The motorman went
down with his car and Is believed
TO be still at the bottom of the
waterway gripping his lever. The
second car slowed up, but the couplings
held, and it was dragged down behind
the other sinking out of sight. The
third car also held and was dragged off
the bridge, bur the rear. end caught on
| the abutment. The trucks Of this car
smashed through its bottom like paper,
and several bodies, are believed to be
still pinned under the tons OF steel
Passengers in the FIRST two cars we're
caught lie rats and drowned. About
half dozen were thrown against the
windows with force enought to smash
the glass, AMI they managed to get
through. When the first rescuers ar
| rived on the scene these were seen float
ing or hanging on the wreckage. Men
in boats went to their rescue st once
but we're unable to reach all, and two st
least went down before help could reach
them. ..-,-. ..- ...
Atlantic City, Nd, Oct. ETH
latest estimate of victims in the draw.
bridge wreck places the number of dead
at seventy. Fifty-uine bodies have be- n
recovered
Only today did there cone full real-
zation of the awfulness of the calamity
when the three,car electric train of the
West Jersey and Sesshore electric rail-
road plunged from the drawbridee
spanning the Thoroughfare, tidewstcr
stream separating Atlantic City from the
mainland. -' '-.r
With the bringing to the surface oil
scores of bodies of those who had died so
miserably at the bottom of the creek,
and the heartrending scenes sttendir G
their Identification came the appreciation
of the extent of the great disaster.
What most has horr6ed every one On
the scene is the awfulDess OF the fate Of
tbs victims Caught in the cars, locked
in by lever moved doors, which they
could not open, the helpless pleasure
seekers were drowned miserably.
The cars sank quickly and in few
moments the last of ithe entrapped VIC
Tins had yielded up the struggle.
The estimates ofy-the number who
persisted inbhe disaster are bs sed upon
comparison OF thesaist of survivors
with the conductor Sstktement of his
complement OF passengers. Nineiy-two
passengers are belieyfds to have been iu
the three cars. Over a score of these
have been accounted for, most of them
having been rescued suffering from severe
ininriea few NAV have ascanad with