The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-07-08
TRAIN HITS AUTO
WEALTHY PATERS0NIAN IS
KILLED.
Christopher Horandt's Car Struck at
Unguarded Crossing of Jersey
Central.

KEYPORT. July S.-Left unguarded,
as usual, a dangerous crossing on the
stone road that leads to the Jersey
shore was the scene yesterday of a fatal
automobile accident, the machine crash
ing into the fender of an engine. Chris
TOPPER Horandt, of Paterson, vice-pres-
ident of Corbett Bros. silk Company, of
Totowa, was killed; his daughter Ruth
and her cousin, Rheinlander Binder,
were badly injured. and Mrs. Horandt
was slightly hurt. The accident &C.
CURED when the driver tried to cross
the tracks of the Atlantic Highlands
division of the Central Railroad OF New
Jersey. The machine, which was
dragged many feet by. the engine, was
wrecked completely.
The stone road" as it Is called, is
used by hundreds of autoists every day.
1t is the ~favorite t~horoughfare for those
going to or coming from Long Branch,
Asbury Park and other seashore re-
sorts, and the crossing has been re-
garded here for years as a o dan
gerous one. Nevertheless no fagmen
ever has been stationed to guard it, and
the only protection to persons crossing
the road has been an automatic bell
on a post. Occasionally the bell rings
WAlEn I'LL aAO 0RPAO oSAAAAA6s oAN
whether it did so yesterday has not
been learned
Mr.. Horandt and his family and the
cousin were returning from Asbury
Park when the smashup occurred.
They had spent the morning n part
of the afternoon at the resort, and were
hurrying along the stone road to their
home. Preceding them by several yards
was another automobile, which crossed
the tracks safely. Following them was
another machine, all being in the same
party. ;
From the road ii is almost impossible
to see a train approaching. The only
warning has been the bell, and If it
fails to ring or those In the autos or
carriages do not e 1t, the first view
of the oncoming train is when the
tracks are almost reached and when 1t
is too late to stop an automobile that
is going ever at a moderate speed.
Because of the great rush from New
York to the seashore resorts special
trains were run all day, and no effort
was made to maintain a regular sched-
ule. 1t was into m of the special
trains that the automobile smashed.
1t is not known at what speed Ho-
randi, who was driving the machine,
tried to cross the railroad tracks. From
the fact he did not reverse his power 1t
is believed either he did not hear the
warning bell or that he believed, he
could get over the tracks before the
train reached the crossing. Both train
and auto reached the danger spot al
most at the same time, for h utomo-
bile struck the fende of the engine. So
great was the impact that the auto was
swung completely aroun and then was
dragged along by the engine unit 1t
was a wreck.
Horandt was thrown from his seat
and fell under the wheels of the auto
mobile, His skull was crushed and al
most every bone in his body was
broken His daughter Ruth, who was
on the rear seat with her mother, was
httled forty feet in one direction, while
her cousin, Binder. who was in one of
the front seats, was thrown an equal
distance in the opposite direction. Mrs.
Horandt was not thrown out of the ma
chine and escaped with a few slight
bruises.