The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-25
CAR OGSHVS DOWN MOUNTAIN,
OVE aAN kIILgD Avn GLEtEN
INJtRED NEtH ORtNNE
n va 90 Q Triai TRIP ~ re-, the ssahe'
ant tire ItssAss HsVe Wsy WHese
the asade II s'stpes, The msad Rams
90 me slguataiH N Q s,sslshi Zine

~ the OanRp Mountain this morning
. trolley car ~ tho Orange Mountain
Traction Company Ryt OFT ~ control aud
nan away down tho mountain slde, One
man was almost Instantly killed, ancthsr
probably fatally inIurcd and eleven others
hun In q grVaier or lesa degrrc The llne
has Just been built. The cars we're recslved
only this morning and the sculdent hap
pened on the initial trip Of tho new line
made for the purpose 81 teS'inR the brakes
Tho line was not to DO opened to the public
for a week. The man killed was Patrick
Burns Of ii5 Bergen street Newark, a mem
bar Of the construction gang of The Public
SerS - Corporation. The injured included
the following:
George Bernius. Valley road, West Orange,
Harry Coo. 2i9 Washington street. Newark.
son OF division superintendent OF the Public
Service Corporation.
Henry Dowd, lOi Washington street.
Newark
Patrick Flood. Albany, N. Y, inventor Of
patent safety brake with which the car was
equipped.
Herbert Greenwsy, iOi South Ninth street.
Newark
Peter Marth. Albany. n. v. employed by
the United Electric Company OF Albany.
Edward A. Peterson. 1874 Hudson street.
Newark
Harry Preston, Newark.
Albert Puse. 5is Valley road. West Orange.
John Qusyle, ~ Central avenue. Orange.
left arm shattered and internal injuries.
In Orange Memorial Hospital; may die.
Thomas Sivers. Albany. y, Y. employed
by the United Electric Company Of Albany.
Unidentified colored man who went away
after the accident.
All of those injured jumped from the
car as 1t dashed down the steep mile Of
track Landing down the mountain, and.
with the exception Of Quayle, who 10 in
the hospital. and Bernius, who Is being
treated at his home. all were treated on
the spot by physicians and we're able to
60 about. Edward A. Peterson Of 1874
Hudson street, Newark, the only man who
stayed on the car to the end Of the mac
ride, escaped with two broken teeth.
The road was formerly operated as a
cable road with two cars. 1t rnns directly
up the Orange Mountain, a distance OF q
little over a mile, In an absolutely straight
line, The steep grade varies from Is
to 20 per cent. The cable road WAS
abandoned because it was too expen-
sive, When it vas proposed to Use cleo
tricity there was considerable adverse
comment because it was insisted that there
was no brake strong enough to hold a heavily
loaded car on such a steep grade. Frank
Brewer, president Of the traction company,
insisted that an accident was almost im-
possible, and he said to-day that safety
appliances had been provided which would
bu xa laap ,tcaI had tho Iipa l,aap nran RI
the public. Flood was engaged to equip
the cars with his brakes. A safety cable
was also provided running over drums
at the top OF the line and arranged 30 as to
counterblance the cars as they went up
and down. This was not in use to-day.
Flood was engaged by Mr.. Brewer to take
charge of the work and Sivers and Marth
we're brought down with him from Albany
to break in the men who were to be en-
ployed on the new line, they being experts
in the Use of safety brakes. Soon after
7 o'clock car l02 was placed on the rails and
It wes decided to make a test trip up the
mountain and try the new brakes. Quayle
Is an inspector in the trolley department
OF the Public Service Corporation and
experienced in handling cars. The men,
beta,of the construction gang got aboard.
Bernius and Puse happened TO be standing
at the foot Of the mountain and they were
invited in for the first trip. Quayle took
hold of the controller with a man behind
him to explain the workings Of the brake
and Sivers and Flood were also on the
platform. AS the car went up the hill
Flood had it stopped at intervals and the
emergency brake applied. The purpose of
this brake is not to stop the car when it is
in motion but to hold it after it has been
stopped by the ordinary brakes.
The brake consists of a tongue which
touches the rails under the front wheels,
serving a double purpose OF blocking the
wheels and applying friction directly to the
surface Of the rails. 1t worked all right
until the car reached a deep cut at the
summit of the mountain where the grade
is the steepest. Here the car started
to go back, very slowly at first n then the
emergency brake gripped the track and
slipped of, with a series Of jumps which
made Quavle reverse the controller. Soon
he shouted:
MY God, she's got away from me! I
can't stop herr
The car gained a frightful speed in a few
hundred feet and the men in it began to
Jump for their lives.
Sivers and Marth jumped of first. the
former landing in a olump Of bushes while
Marth fell on the stone ballast and received
some bad cuts. Burns and Bernius jumped
at Gregory avenue, which is half way down
the mountain, leaping off from the rear
platform. Bernius suffered a lacerated
scalp and his legs were skinned from the
hips to the knees. Burns, who jumped
from the opposite side, fell on his face and
ploughed across the roadway, his head fetch
ing up with a smash against the little station
of the old trolley road at Gregory avenue,
crushing his skull. He was alive when
picked up and lifted into the ambulance.
Quayle. who was right behind him, fell on
the ballast and was unconscious when
picked up. Peterson was finally left alone
on the car. He stayed on the platform,
holding fast to the rail az the car dashed
down the tracks. He says he preferred
taking his chances Of being killed outright
at the foot OF the road to a lingering and
painful death by Jumping.
AT the foot of the hill the other car was
standing and the runaway crashed into it,
lifting it up-teu fret in the air and tossing
il into n lot Dlinininp the hotel of Fran X