The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1906-11-03

least 60 Sunday excursionists Sunday
afternoon when train on the West
Jersey & Seashore electric road, a
new line of the Pennsylvania rail.
road, plunged from the high trestle
spanning an arm Of the sea between
Atlantic City and the mainland and
was submerged in 30 feet of water.
There were not less than SO passen.
gers on the train. This the tickets
collected show. The total number
may have been more; one estimate
places 1t at 10.
OF all on the train not more than
25 escaped. or these a dozen are so
seriously injured that they cannot re-
cover.
Forty-four Bodies Recovered.
Forty-four bodies. had been recov-
ered Divers report there seem to be
nearly as many more In the cars,
which lies half buried in the mud at
the bottom of the Thoroughfare the
mile wide stretch of water spanned
by the trestle.
No more CHASTITY wreck than this
can be imagined. The train was a
new one, consisting Of three huge
vestibule cars, carrying crowd OF
Sunday holiday makers. 1t passed the
drawbridge midway across the tres
tie. Then it plunged suddenly into
the water.
All in Two Cars Perish.
nh oo,,.o a. eth ,,navnIoinad The
facts point to negligence In closing
the drawbridge. Officials of the road
blame the bridgetender.
All who were in the first two cars
and they were crowded, persisted,
There were men, women and children
in the tumble of corpses In these
cars. They never had a chance to es-
cape.
Divers who have gone down and
peered through the windows of these
cars. They never had chance to es,
sight.
tumble OF Corpses In the Cars.
This downward plunge of 40 feet
from the trestle hurled the passen
gers to one end of each car. To many
death must have come after agonizine
suffering.
The electric trains are not only
yestibuled but sealed by doors at eacf
end. The windows are thick, immov
able glass. The cars were simply 81
many traps. from which there was M
hope of escape. Those who were con
scious after the first shock mus
have remained alive while the watel
crept slowly in and blotted out theil
hope.
An hour after the wreck the story
of the picture of what was beneath
the water was brought up by John
w. Cooney, an Atlantic contractor
Cooney is an old diver and volun'
teered to go down and fasten der.
rick chain under one Of the cars.
An old diving suit was secured
from somewhere. There was no air
pump, so an old beer pump from a
neighboring brewery was brought
into service.
Horror a Diver Saw.
81 could only stay under few min
utes," said CooSey. 1T was too nor
rible. The first two cars have been
wrenched apart from each other and
are sunk in the water and mud at an
angle of about as degrees. The for
ward ends had been driven fast In
the mud, and the two cars are hall
turned on their sides and about seven
feet apart.
81 peered through window OF the
forward car. The face Of a dead child
perhaps four years old, was pressed
against the window. 1t had a cash
across it's forehead. I saw the body OF
a man in some sort OF uniform
wedged up tightly In one of the pack
age racks. Bodies were piled up in 9
great heap at the forward end Of the
car. At the top of the heap | saw the
form of a woman. A pair Of diamond
earrings glistened in her ears. never
saw such horrible spectacle In my
life.
"The car seemed pretty much In
tact, and the people were all plunged
in heap at the forward end by the
shore"
Elements Make Tragedy Greater.
The few who escaped were passen
gers on the third car. Most of those
who escaped were members OF the
Royal Italian band, which was on Its
way to fill Sunday nights engage
ment in Young's Pier. Most of them
were together in the rear car. Their
escape was so narrow that most OF
them are unable to describe 1t.
It seemed as II all the elements
combined to make the tragedy great
er. The tide began to come In right
after the accident. The higher the