Evening star., 1909-04-16
FATAL AUTO JOY RIDE
One Man Dead, One Dying and
Two Badly Hurt.
SMASHED UP AGAINST TREE
One Man Tries to Run Away and
Collapses When Caught.
ANOTHER'S LEG IS AMPUTATED
Machine Taken Unknown to Owner.
Riders Defy Police When
Told to Halt.
ANoTHER's LEG IS AMPUTATED

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, April leone man was
killed. one morta1ly hurt and two badly
injured, of four automobile mechanics
who smashed into a tree in Central
Park, on an early morning ride today.
The smash made q tangle OF wreckage
of a big forty-fve horsepower touring
car that the men had. been driving at
terrific speed.
At $50 o'clock this morning some per-
sons standing at Columbus Circle heard
a loud crash like an explosion. at some
distance inside the park. Policeman
Armstrong, stationed at the Columbus
Circle gate. with an employe Of the Cir
Gle Theater, named Schrader, ran up the
the sound.
they found q mass of wreckage heaped up
against the trunk of large tree. Three
men were found in or near the wreck.
They were identified as follows:
Dead: Mathew Kant. chauffeur. en-
ployed by the Moon Motor Company, 1851
Broadway.
James Fogarty, $50 Union avenue,
Bronx; fractured skull, will probably die
Ernest Feyer. 3S4 West 56th street.
fracture of right leg. later amputated
at Flower Hospital.
A fourth occupant of the car, James
Hall, 327 livingston street, was thrown
Hall Caught Running Oh.
Policeman Armstrong, seeing Hall rum
ming away from the scene. caught him at
| the Goth street subway station. Hall was
badly cut about the head and arms. He
collapsed after being caught.
Feyer and Hall were mechanics employ
ed by r. NJ. Owens & Co., dealers in au-
tomobiies, neighbors of the Moon concern
at 1853 Broadway. Fogarty was employ
ed with Kant by the Moon Motor Com
pany.
| Dr.. Power was summoned from Flower
| Hospital, and was assisted by DR.. r.
johnson. who has Offices near the Circle.
Feyer and F'ogarty were hurried to Flow
er Hospital. Feyer's leg was Immediately
amputated. LOSS Of blood endangered his
| life. He. as we'll as Fogarty, is likely
| to die.
There was some delay in attending the
men. as they were pinned In the wreck
| age. 1t took some minutes OF work to
| remove the remnants OF the car. Some
of the rods in the car chassis had buried
| themselves in the wood Of the tree and
were deeply embedded.
Under the wreckage was found the body
of Kant, terribly torn and mutilated. He
had been instantly crushed to death. He
was identified by letters found in the
pocket OF his coat.
Car Had Been Stolen.
The car was identified as belonging to
Philip Carpenter, a lawyer of Riverda1e.
y. Y, and IL Broadway, New York city.
Mr.. Carpenter, on Learning of the acci-
dent, said he had just bought the Far
and had no idea that 1t was in use. 1t
is not yet known how the mechanics pro-
cured the car for their fatal ride.
For nearly two hours before their mis-
hap the four men must have been ca
rousing through the park at sixty
mile gait Policeman Armstrong report
ed that at o'clock this morning the
same car passed him entering the park
gate and he noted the number.
The occupants answered summons to
stop with a hoot and an extra burst Of
power They looked irresponsible and in
no condition to be speeding high-power
car.
| The body of Kant was conveyed to
| the arsenal All three injured were
placed under arrest in the Flower Hos
| pital. James Hall. the least hurt, will
be taken to the Yorkville police court
later in the day if his condition allows.
to explain what happened.
Automobile men who came over from
at the smashup said that they had never
| seen anything like such complete
wreck in the automobile races Not a
| part OF the whole machine seemed to be
| intact. The mass bore the air Of having
| been crumpled up. like paper box.