Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-06

torman Of our train had not figured. AS 1
| understand It, he was to have waited for
the regular train at some place. Of which
| do not know the name. hut this special
/ train upset everything. and as the motor
man thought he had q clear field he con-
| tinued down the road.
Crash Was Sickening.
THE crash was sickening. 1t sounded
! just like the report of cannon. Our
/ train did not seem to me to be running
SO fast. but the special was. and when
| they came together every man. woman
| and child was thrown pell nell about the
/ car My daughter was wedged in be-
tween two seats and l found that 1 had
been badly cut by the glass from the
| windows.
| MY wife was fortunate. She was
| thrown from her seat. but landed clear
| and escaped with bruise on her face.
As soon as could I rushed to the rescue
Of my daughter. and while was doing
my best to get her from between the
seats two sailors whom I noticed riding
lin the smoking compartment came to my
assistance. and the three of us got her
out. De discovered she had broken her
ankle. Otherwise she did not receive a
scratch do not want another such ex-
perience."
Escape Was Miracle.
1T was awful" Miss Campbell said.
and l feel so sorry for the poor people
who lost their lives That father. mother
and myself were not killed instantly IS
miracle We were sitting about the
center Of the when the crash came.
and all of us We're thrown forward in
our seats. | thought that l was going
clear through the door bu, the EeNt mo-
ment l landed between two seats and
remained there. wedged as tight tight
could be. The impact was awful.
People were piled on top OF each other.
and the cries of the MANNED and dying
were heard on every side. I thought
surely that would get killed. and
thought that mother and father would
meet a similar fate. but what should
happen but father was the first to reach
me. Next came two sailors. who occu-
pied the smoking compartment. and the
three finally managed to eXtrirate me
from my rather perilous position. 1t
was fearful. and l never want another
such experience"
Condition of MI. Slaughter.
1t was stated this afternoon by the sur
seons at the hospital that the condition
of Mr.. Slaughter was most serious 1t
was feared by them that the sight of his
left eye had been destroyed, and he had
sustained serious cuts about his head
and body and internal injuries which
make his recovery almost impossible.
While almost on the verge of delirum he
constantly inquired for his children. He
was told that little Ruth was dead and
all through the night he begged that he
be permitted to see her. The body was
sent to the home of her grandfather
shortly after the accident occurred and
her brother was also taken there TO he
cared for. Many symrat hizing friends
made anxious inquiries about Mr. S!augh-
ter cOnuit ion during the night
He is one OF the best known street car
officials in the state of Maryland and
was connected with the steam road be-
tween Baltimore and Annapolis for more
than twenty years prior to the time the
electric road obtained the right to use
the tracks leading out of Annapolis
Little attention was given to the two
smashed and derailed cars or the obstruc-
ton of trafi1c for some time after the ac-
cident. Vice President and General Man
ager Shanahan after he had been fully
satisfied that all the passengers had been
taken from the wrecked car made as
much of an investigation as was then
possible to determine the cause of the
accident. He found that the two cars
were running at high rate of speed,
probably more than fifty miles an hour.
when the collision occurred. and that
they had met on curve. The fact that
prevented an even more terrible accident.
as railroad men said they thought the
cars would have rolled over an embenk-
ment had they met on the straight track
only short distance away.
Cropping In the Darkness.
Both cars fell to the north of the track.
leaving the passengers to scramble about
in the darkness and grope their way to
the ends of the vehicle as we'll as they
could. 1t was then that the screams and
gfoans or the wounded and dying gave
evidence of the awful consequences of the
disaster Lights were soon procured and
the work OF rescung the victims was
carried on without any delay
While Mr.. Shannahan says he was in
formed that MOtorman Wadsworth passed
the siding on which his car should have
gone, II is stated by others that Motor
man O'Neil had received orders to stop
at Bests Gate and that he had gone too
FAR with his car. Many OF the employees
OF the road expressed the belief that the
accident was due TO the action of the mo-
torman on the regular car and not to the
action of Wadsworth 1t will take the of
fetal investigation before a coroner's Jury
10 determine the cause of the disaster.
Statement by Mr.. Shanahan.
'Wadsworth came to the employ Of ,h.
company from Ohio Mr.. Shanahan said,
and was regarded as being one of the
best men on the line. having served on
the slnSle-track high-speed roads about
cuyhoga Falls Ohio. Our train dispatch
ing system is precisely the same as that
IN vogue on the steam roads and there
was no reason in the world why the ac-
cident should have occurred
Wadsworth was seen by Star report :
or at his home, 1881 Benning road this
afternoon. He was taken there at ,
o'clock this morning unconscious, suffer
ing from bruises. cuts and a bad shake
up. He said that he could not remember
anything about the accident except the
first crash. The surgeon who is attend
ing him said that he would be unable to
use one of his legs for SIX weeks
Wadsworth declined to say anything
about the orders under which he was run
ming his car, but a woman residing in
the same house stated that as
Wadsworth had regained consciousness
he aid that he had received orders to
go ahead" Conductors and mOtormen
around the W. r. and A. terminal say
Wadsworth is a very careful man
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