The Mena weekly star., 1908-10-22
STREET CARS MIX UP
ONE KILLED AND TWENTY-FIVE INJURED ON TRooST AVE,
 KANSAS CITY.
OIL FROM LEAVES ON RAILS THE CAUSE
Injured Scattered From Ninth Street to Ninteenth Street-Runaway Car Took TWO Others With 1t for Ten Biocks--Men, Women and Children In the Wreeks.

Tn the WreckS.
 Kansas City, Oct. 20.-Two runaway street cars, locked together by the force of a collision, sped backward down the Troost avenue hill south of Twelfth street at 9 o'clock Monday morning. The wrecked mass with it's load of screaming, panic-stricken pas sengers fighting to get out, crashed into a third ear just south of Fifteenth street. One man dead, at least 25 per sons injured, several of them danger ously, and three trolleys wrecked this is the result of the spectacular smash-up.
 It started on the steep grade be- tween Tenth and Ninth streets. A northbound car had almost reached the summit of this hill when it stopped. Then the wheels began to slip and the car slid backward. The motorman tried brakes and sand in vain. Autumn leaves were on the tracks and the oily paste ground out of them, made the rails slippery. Back up there and catch us easy" the conductor of the lead car shouted to the motorman of the car behind.
 The man at the lever of car No. 2 promptly reversed the power. But he | decided not to take chances on the "easy catch" He sped his car back ward as rapidly as 1t would go to avoid a collision.
 | Men of the fire department at | Eleventh street and Troost avenue, | hearing the roar and the changing of bells, turned out all three wagons and racing beside the cars threw coats. axes and bars of iron under the wheels of the runaway to check it's speed. | At Twelfth street the cars were not more than dozen feet apart and go- | ing at terrific speed. The bells of both cars and the fire bells of the | three wagons mingling with the roar | of the car wheels, made din that was almost deafening. The wagons and horses and cars crossed Twelfth street In cloud of dust.
 Near the foot of the grade at Thir- teenth street they crashed. The in- | pact hurled passengers a dozen feet I and heavy iron beams. pieces of l trucks, windows and doors and bits of | glass flew in all directions. But the wreck did not stop with | that The momentum of the two cars | was only checked little by the col lision. not stopped. Women were shrieking in mysteries, men were jumping out of the windows and roI- | ling against the curbstones. The broken motors were flashing red and white lights and smoke mingled with | the dust cloud.
 The men of the fire department wagons never paused in the work of throwing obstacles under the wheels | of the runaway wreck. At Fifteenth | street their work was beginning to tell And at Fifteenth street they found another cool headed man tt help them. The roar of the wreck had been heard from Twelfth street by o. J. Blickhan, an upholsterer
 with shop at l510 Troost avenue. He | ran out with wooden clamps and when the cars passed stuck them under the ! wheels.
 | It was timely aid. Coming up the hill from Sixteenth street was a third | Troost avenue car w. Jones. the
 motorman, looked up to see this roar
 Ing, changing cloud of dust approach ing, and for a moment stood paralyzed | with fear. He reversed the current,
 but had no time to begin a backward
 race.
 The wrecked cars crashed into this
 .hird car.
 The middle car was telescoped by
 the impact from both directions. The
 third car--the south one of the three
 was shot over the hill, carrying among
 it's injured gray-haired man who was
 so bruised and mangled that he died
 before he could be lifted from the
 wrecked car. He was I. l.. Smith of | Nevada, Ia.
 The other two cars. after series of
 bumps over the obstacles. stopped at
 the crest of the slope and delivered
 their cargoes of bleeding, screaming
 passengers.
 Then half dozen ambulances raced
 up and down Troost avenue from
 Twelfth street to Nineteenth street
 and lent aid to the injured men and
 women.