The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-02-17

New York. Feb 16.-Rushing along at
speed Of fully nifty miles an hour. drawn
by two of the new electric motor engines
recently installed by the New York Cen
trdl Railroad, apparently bent on making
q record run, train No q, known as the
White Plains Express and Brewster Spe-
ciaI, which carried hundreds of passen-
gers. was wrecked at the Woodlawn
curve, nine miles north Of the Grand
Central Station, at s.93 tonight.
About thirty lives viii pay the penalty
of the speed attained by the motorman
in charge of the doubled motor, and near
ly 100 injured were taken from the
wrecked cars. Of whom thirty-three were
seriously, and several fatally, injured
Motorman and Conductor Arrested.
The motorman, James Stanchfeld. OF
White Plains, was arrested on the order
of the coroner. Stanchield's assistant,
Charles Summerville, was not arrested.
l. W. Hopkins. the conductor, was ar
rested by the police. Stanehield said:
The train was going about forty-five
miles an hour. Suddenly there was JOLT
then there came a dragging behind, and
everything stopped. could not account
for what had happened
SummevilIe. Stanfeld's assistant. said
that he did not know anything about 1t.
Hurled Through Windows 20 Death.
Four OF the five cars in the train were
hurled on their sides. unable to take the /
steep curve at the Woodlawn road at the /
terrific rate the train was travelling
At least a dozen Of the passengers were /
hurled TO almost instant deafh as the /
train hit the curve. being thrown bodily 4
through the windows Of the cars in which /
they were riding Their bodies were /
strewn along the roadbed for 30 yards /
behind the spot where the wrecked i
coaches landed.
Only the first ear, combination smoker /
and baggage car. remained upright. Even 4
this car WAS thrown from the rails and /
bumped over the ties for a distance Of 200
Yards before il came To a stop. The two /
heavy motors Of the train remained on /
The tracks
ElectTOcuted ON Third Rail-
Death in the sudden form came TO many
OF the victims Some were killed in
stantly by the force with which they
struck the ground Others were hurled /
against the charged third rail, their
bodies being jammed immovably between
the charged rail and the railroad tracks. !
electrocution. the moment these victims !
touched the deadly rail, fortunately end /
ing their sufferings Immediately.
At the Moshula roadway police station
nj midnight sixteen bodies in temporary /
story of the disaster. other bodies were /
at the hospitals, whore they had died I
of their injuries
IL was The worst railroad wreck in the /
history Of local railroadng since the /
Park avenue tunnel disaster several years /
ago. At the three hospitals in the Bronx. I
Lebanon F0rdham. and Morris Heights. /
the victims We're carried. several Of them /
at the point Of death.
Many of the Victims Women.
1t was over an hour before all the 4
bodies could be removed. Many of the /
victims We're women. who had been at /
tending the Saturday afternoon matinees. /
OF the sixteen badly mutiated bodies /
taken 90 the Moshula roadway station 4
eleven were finally tagged as women /
-Four men and one child make up the I
list Of those instantly killed in the dis
aster.
Five are reported dead IN Lebanon Hos /
ptal; two are in FOrdham Hospital and /
seven other bodies are reported I'm the
other hospital morgues in the Bronx and /
Harlem.
Only two of the woman victims of the
initial crash had been Identified early this
morning. so badly mutilated were the
: bodies. and four of the men were iden-
titled by the communication tickets found
in their clothing.
Car Snaps on Like Whip Cracker.
party of young women in the rear
car We're students at a private girls
school Nearly all these young women
We're killed or moEtany hurt In fact.
scarcely any one in the rear car. escaped
death or fatal injury.
At II o'clock there were sixteen bodies
in the Bronx Park police station. excl,-
sive of those who had died on the way
to hospitals and in the hospitals. The
police estimated that there must have
been more persons killed whose bodies
had been torn to pieces and not yet re-
covered.
Superintendent Ira Mccormick. of the
Harlem division says he believes the
wreck was caused by the splitting Of a
rail, due to the weather Coroner Schvau-
nckc was inclined TO accept this view
The passengers said that the rear car /.
had left the rails as though il had been
snapped off Ike the cracker on the end
of a whip.
ValunbIes Scattered for Seven Blocks.
Probably the names or all the injured
will never be known. Many men and wo-
men who got out with slight cuts and
bruises hurried up the embankment and
ran into houses in the neighborhood
They waited long enough to have their
wounds bathed, and then hurried to trv (
20 find friends who had been hurt or
killed
Edward Schumway. of White Plains.
VINO is employed by New York realty
CONTINUED on FIFTH PAGE