The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-12-31
Fatal Railroad Accident.

injured were all from Lnls nelgnDornoO
and were known to the majority of on
citizens The train that leaves Noun
Holly at 1853 every morning carries CON
muters from each station between Pembel
ton and Camden. Nearly all of ther
were ON the train Friday morning, a.
though some were fortunately detaine
by various reasons. The smoking ca
was the favorite place for many of thes
passengers, and because of the regularit
with which they appeared certain seat
were considered the property of the indi
vidual rider.
On Friday morning everything appears
to be going as usual and soon after takin
the elevated road at Camden there was .
sudden stop, crash, and death followe,
in their wake. The Mount Holly trail
had run into the rear of the Atlantic Cit,
express, which had been held up near tn
terminal. The latter was a heavy trail
with vestibule cars and large engine
The Mount Holly train was light and tn
result was that the tender of the engin
was pushed back into the smoker with
force that crushed the car like so mucl
paper. Running back as far as six seat
it stopped. Passengers In other cars wer,
not thrown around with great violence, il
fact some of them did not know there haC
been any unusual happening until the,
got out. The sight that met their eyer
was one that will not soon be forgotten.
Running to the front of the train they
saw a crushed car. On one seat tightly
wedged between broken tirbers sat mar
on whose lap were two dead bodies. Help
was at once summoned and those who had
been killed or hurt were taken from the
wreck. The dead were James Jacob Gar.
barino, of Mount Holly; G. P. Sontgen,
of Stanwick; and Theodore L. Webster.
of Merchantville.
Through some coincidence all of the in.
jured people were from Mount Holly and
points below here. William H. Mason,
Sr., had his leg broken at the ankle,
his back injured, head cut, and
received some bruises. ]. K. Mendenhall,
Of Lumberton, received Commissions and a
dislocated hip. G. FL. Brown, of Moores-
town, was bruised on the legs and back.
|. Dayton Roberts, of Moorestown, was
also bruised. William H. Dobbins and
Harry l. Cooper, of Mount Holly, were
badly shaken up. They at once went to
fn oid In -,
ferers, and after that work was done they
came home. Then came collapse and
they suffered greatly from shattered
nerves.
There were some miraculous escapes
William B. Abbey and son, from Mount
Holly, were hurled to the top of the car,
but escaped with slight bruises. Dobbins
and Cooper sat together with Mr.. Webster
facing them and Jacob Garbarino in the
seat behind them. The two latter were
killed while Dobbins and Cooper were
thrown out of their seats and escaped
with their lives.
Paul Smith, lad of six years, was on
the way to the city with his uncle. The
latter was not hurt, and the boy landed on
the tender as it came blowing through the
car. So quickly did the accident happen
that tuere was scarcely cry or groan.
The cries of the little boy were the first
sounds to be heard. Willing hands soon
released him. 1t was found that he had
been badly bruised. This little boy is the
grandson of the late Lucius L. Ayres, of
Mount Holly. He was able to be taken
home.
The morning was quite foggy and the
engineer is said to have attributed that
state of affairs as the reason for the coils
ion, but that explanation will hardly
stand. The brakeman of the Atlantic
City express ran back with a flag as the
rules require, and he says the Mount
Holly train came on him so suddenly he
was compelled to jump out of it's way. In
addition to this signal which the engineer
should have seen there are two block
signals which his attention should have
been directed to. One is what is called
distance signal" and is set to show that
a danger signal is also against a train.
Whether the engineer ran past both of
these signals has not been made public,
but that he did go by one is certain. He
says he was running at rate of speed
not exceeding eight miles. but if it was a
foggy as he claims and with the know
legde that the Atlantic City train goes
into the Camden station on almost the
identical time that his train does, he
should have been more than usually eau
tious.
But it is doubtful If the ''fog idea" will
go. There are those who were on the
train who, on alighting as soon as the cars
stopped, got together and began to talk of
the cause of the accident. One remarked
that the fog would be held responsible
and they all took notice of the condition
then and compared the distance they
could see. Not one but was able to dis
cover objects 80 yards away and one gen.
tleman says he could distinctly see the
buildings near by. Another additional
item in this connection is the fact that the
engineer of the Atlantic City express saw
the signals and obeyed them. Another
point that is worth considering here is one to
which attention has been called more than
once and that is the mean cars that have
been run on this section of the road for a
long time. 1t is evident the smoker was
flimsy car.
William II. Mason and ]. E Mendenhall
are in Cooper Hospital, Camden, and are
doing fairly well. Mr.. Mason's fracture
is so inhamed that it has not been possible
to set it thus far. He held up bravely
until yesterday, but then his nerves suf
fered and he is not as well as desired bu
his condition is not dangerous. Mr.. Men
denhaH is severely injured but it il
thought he will come out all right in time
The death of Jacob Garbarino has cas-
gloom over the town. He had livet
here since he was a small boy and hi
nature was such as to gain him man
| friends. He took an active part II
athletics at one time and was Away
ready to lend helping hand in any enter
prise. He leaves widow and two chill
dren, one of them but few weeks old
He was employed in Philadelphia bank
One of the strangest happenings in con
nection with this disaster is the decisio
of County Physician Jones, of Camden
who declares that there was no crimins