New-York tribune., 1906-10-29
under water some distance Dev1to. haVihs 'i'o
furthest to fail. was on top.
TRAINMAN SAVES MANY

TRAINMAN SAVES MANY.
Tina ,rainuan 90 the third car was a man
named Wood His life saved. and by MS
forethought he saved many. He ran to the rear
Of the car when he saw the first two were III
trouble and threw open the rear door he mao
ft open and held thus when the front enc
went out the water. Had the ooor oeei
closed many more lives would have been iost' se
the wrenching OF the would have prevented
the door being opened Wood stood at the door
passing persons TO safety until the car sid OIL
He clung 10 the iron railing until he was
dragged into the water. He then SWAN TO the
bridge pier and was hauled out.
Men tried to dive into the cars but were
unable 60 do so owing TO the swiftness OF the
tide Professional divers We're obtained and
donned their armor, but they also found that
the tideway was too great. They managed to
cut two or three holes in the roofs Of the cars,
and through these efforts TO recover the bodies
with hshhooks and oyster tongs were made.
The positions of the cars marked by the
trolley poles which stuck into the air. The cars
were equipped with both contact shoes and
poles As the searchers occasionally brought
I'D a body there was a great crowding up Of
boats TO see it. There were several narrow es-
capes from upsettings during these rushes.
When the tide falls IN the morning the upper
pected that all OF the bodies will be brought
out then.
'It is hard to recall just what took place after
/ fell" said Devito tonight In the City Hospital.
s-There was no time to think and every one acted
on instinct and that prompted every one TO try
TO reach the top OF the struggling. clawing
heap. The bodies OF the struggling ones were
fesrfully tangled.
.sBeing near the top, I was fortunate enough
to get my arms free. I caught hold of a part of
the seat above me and drew myself clear of the
mass. I was stiH submerged to the hiF- and
my legs were caught by others in the water.
Then others managed to draw themselves to the
seats. and windows were broken and some OF US
got out"
Two-thirds Of Devitos band believed to
have perished There were thirty members OF
the band in the rear car. They were coming
here to play on Young's pier and were about TO
begin the engagement.
Several OF the bodies taken out have been in
TIE uniform Of the band. Several of these have
been identified. but owing TO the fact that the
bodies are not all being taken to one place,
but are being distributed among the various
undertaking establishments. well as the
rorgue. the fdentiications are necessarily slow.
J. s. Deford. a trainman. was on the mead
ows, about fifty yards from the bridge when
the accident occurred.
Il looking out of my bunk window and
noticed the electric express It entered the
bridge" he said. las looked it give a
twist and the next instant the whole train
go over into the water. At this time the tide
had Just started TO run IN. I hurried over do |
what could and caught two bodies and saved |
one man. AS were all working hard the tide |
began to rise, and the cars, which first showed |
the tops of their roofs gradually disappeared. I
can well imagine the horrible state Of affairs |
that existed within the cars.
4 saw woman's hand sticking out through |
ventilator in the roof of the first car, and
the sight almost made faint There were
hats, coats umbrellas and every sort of wearing
apparel floating around on the surface.
IT was not long before crowds began to ar |
rive and the work Of rescue began. Charles |
Kessler was the first to jump in and act as
leader. He could not make much headway how |
ever About this time John Cooney, diver, ar |
rived and hastily donned his diving suit He |
went down and made a survey Of the situation
and tried to break the windows and pull out the
bodies It was dark by this time and he had
10 Quit AS the electricity shut off, we :
could get no electric lights to work by, and the
wrecking crew had to work as best it could.
AID RUSHED FROM CITY.
All the hospitals and police stations were i'm /
rnediately appealed to. and every available am
buIance and police patrol wagon hurried to
the scene. Physicians. policemen, fremen and
civilians responded to the summons for help, |
and Mayor Stoy and chief of OF the de-
partments hurried out and took charge Of the
rescue work.
After the injured had been removed and prop
ery cared for the rescuers turned their attention
to the dead, and before midnight fourteen bodies
had been taken out of the water. The first five
bodies were placed on a special and con-
veyed to the passenger station in this city Here
q crowd Of several thousand persons collected. |
and as soon as It became known that some Of
the dead had been brought there was frantic
rush TO look at them.
With difficulty the police held the crowd In
check. ard the bodies were taken 10 a nearby
nrehouse. and finally 10 the several undertake
ing establishments Subsequently all bodies
were taken in charge by the police, and as soon
es they were identified they were turned over to
the undertakers The unidentified dead were
removed TO the morgue.
BOATMEN HELP.
Among the first TO respond TO an appeal FOR
help were number Of boatmen who with the,-
boathooks and graphing irons, set to work pull
ing out the dead. They rendered valuable sar
Woe. and took all sorts OF risks in their efforts
TO reach the bodies. Like others who had en-
ceavored to get the bodies from the suhn,eroea
coaches however. the boatinen were NOT vary,
successful, as most of the dead were pnnea
down beneath the seats OF the coaches or other
wise held beyond the reach OF those on the eur
face OF the water.
When IL became evident that the bodies coula
not be reached by the use OF graphing irons.
divers were sent for, and upon their arrival the
t1f .ipc Tho