New-York tribune., 1908-02-24
SIX HURLED TO DEATH.
TRIM RUNS INTO STAGE.
Basketball Player and Friends
Killed at Crossing Near Nyack.


road between Nyack and Spring Valley meet
I claimed six victims early yesterday morning.
and one more may die out of the party Of nine
struck by the southbound Mountain Express
Whose fault it was may never be known There
is spntered gate at the crossing, which the
gateman says smashed by the team drlv-
ing through it, but two OF the survivors at the
North Hudson Hospital. in Hoboken. say that il
broke as it fell on top of the stage. and that 1t
had not been swung down INTO position
The party started early in the evening with
another stage containing five others to go to
the Nyack Opera House to a basketball
game Those in the first stage were four women
and four men beside the driver Not long after
midnight one of the stablemen, employed 0y
George Young whose livery stable the rig had
been hired was awakened by the pounding OF
hOOfS at the door. Thinking the party had re-
turned. the man threw open the doors, but only
the team, with the splintered pole dangling at
their heels. were there. The horses we're not hurt.
but lathered with foam from fright Knowing
that serious accident had happened. he
reused another helper, and they and Mr. Young
drove back over the road meeting the second
stage just before the railroad was reached.
-Four killed outright. and two more died
before the hospital was reached
Not one of the party had escaped The splin-
tered wagon found scattered along the track
for rods and the body of Nelson May. the young
man who had been driving, fully two hun
dred yards down the track 1t not found
for some time which gave rise to the hope that
he had not been hurt and might have fed in
fright.
VICTIMS OF ACCIDENT
The dead
R H1 Hsa9 Mis-. dream ppe;ss9 srSf gfrs Of e
the Palmer Drus Company; died the train al Ho-
REITH George thirty years sperinendens
q the spring VALLEY ieIsPhone o1ee and manager Of
sHINN {feorse thirty-eisht ola carpenter
SINGER. Miss eighteen old, Of
SINGER Miss Edith twenty years old. sister Of Mss
The injured are:a
injuries and contusions. eordition serious
the basketbaT team; both arms. Isft leg and skull
fractured: may die
Ieannete Palmer back and head injured and internal
All those hurt and injured belonged to the
best known families in Spring Valley The
basket ball team much a social orsani-
zation as an athletic one. and all the better
known young people in the place either be-
ionged to it were ardent supporters Of it.
The team at Nyack of it's strongest
rivals. and the local feeling made it a matter
of pride for all those who could do 50 to attend
the games between the two.
III
bers of the victorious and their support
ers climbed into the first stage 70 return to
Spring valley the others remaining for some
little time and starting for full half hour
, after the first stage had left Nyack
The road home in good condition. and
May drove fast the team would go Just
as the stage reached the crossing the south
bound Mountain Express. which is reported 20
have been making UP lost time. came in sight
The gateman says that the gates were lowered.
but at any rate the packed stage kept on. and
an instant later was poised high up the cow
catcher of the locomotive The engineer had no
opportunity to slow down. and the train ran for
several hundred yards, the wheels squealing as
the engineer gave the air to the train
For an instant the stage held almost intact.
and then it dropped to pieces. The injured fell
off to side. but those who were killed there
the Singer sisters. young May and Mr. Reith-
fell beneath the wheels of the locomotive
SEARCH FOR VICTIMS
As soon as the train could be stopped il was
brought back to the crossing. and the search
for the dead and injured began Miss Palmer
and her brother. Mr.. Shinn. Miss Bird and Mr.
Dfeteren were placed on the trair and rushed 20
the terminal at Hoboken. The bodies had been
flung far out TO either side and it almost
full daybreak before they were all found Young
Mays body found last OF all. two hundred
wards down the track. and scarcely reCOgniZa ble-
The others all mutiIated so that identihca-
ton had not all the members Of the party been
so well known, would have been almost inpos-
sible.
The bodies were taken back to Spring Valley
early in the morning The whole village was
thrown into mourning by the accident Tire
general feeling at Spring Valley is that the road
was at fault and that the party did not have
sufficient warning. The gate the further side
of the track not broken. and the Spring
Valley people do not believe that if il had been
down when the stage struck the frightened
horses could have hurdled il with the dangling
pole.
The bodies Of George S;hiun and Miss Jean
nette Palmer were taken to an undertaker's es-
tablishment in Weehawken. where they re-
manned until relatives claim them and
take them back to Spring Valley on a late after
noon train
GATEMAN ONLY WITNESS NOW
The inquest probably will not be held until
after the funerals of those killed. time in
the middle of the week The only available eye
witness is the gateman. Kelly. as those in the
hospital are in far too critical condition 10 bs
examined cr give a coherent account of the ae-
cident He said that when he got the signal to
close the gates for the onconing express he
heard the noise made by the approaching stage
and the party. He says that he dropped the
gates he shouted warning TO them. but they
kept
II appeared TO him. he says. that young May
thought he could easily clear the track before
the train reached the crossing. but undereSti-
mated the speed of the express The coach
plunged through the gate after il had been
dropped. he says. The horses got clear OF the
tracks. but the locomotive struck the body OF