The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-27
Especial from United Press.)


 | Seymour, Dec. 27.-Although Coron- CT Mix left New Haven early this morning to investigate the cause ot the derailment of southbound car No 236 from Waterbury for this town yes- terday, which plunged over a 40 foot tembankment into the Naugatuck river l drowning Conductor Marcus Donovan l and Motorman Fred Beard, he had not | arrived at the scene of the accident at 12:30 o'clock It is believed that travelling was so bad that he was de- layed
 The bodies of the conductor and the motorman were recovered shortly af- ter , o'clock this morning by a wreck ing crew of the Connecticut company from AnSonia- Efforts were made last night to raise the submerged car with out success Finally a strong cable was thrown over a pulley, one end being attached to the vestibfde of the car and the other end to a car on the tracks skirting the river By this means the front end of theScar was rasied sufficiently for the crew to climb out on the roof and break in to the yestibule and recover the bod les of the men, The bodies were talk en to a nearby farmhouse where they will be viewed by Coroner Mix when he arrives
 The five passengers. Miss Alvida Pe- terson of 419 North Main street, Wa terbury, Mir. and Mrs. Charles Madi- son of Beacon Falls and two men who refused to give their names, were res cued after struggling in the water for several minutes Mrs Madison and Miss Peterson are sisters.
 MT Madison is superintendent of the suo-station at Beacon Falls used to furnish power for the trolley line be- tween Seymour and Derby.
 The accident happened dur<ne the fierce snow storm that made travelling difficult and dangerous. The car No 236, one of the heaviest on the lines of the Connecticut Co.,. had left Nauga- tuck and had reached the last switch before enterting Seymour. At this point the tracks are six feet from the steep embankment which drops almost perpendfcularly to the Naugatuck riv- turned the block signal and jumped back on the front vestibule of the car.
 The frog was. frozen and the car stuck when Beard made his first at tempt to pass on- He reversed a short distance and then went ahead with more speed The front wheels struck the frog and instead of proceeding onto the main track turned to the right, rested for a moment on. the edge of the embankment and then plunged head-first down into the wa ter. f
 Beard and Donovan were caught like rats in a trap in the water fill-
 
 for their lives. The car plunged through the thick ice and and struck head-first on the muck at the bottom of the river with the rear quarter protruding out of the water The water at this point is deeper than 1 1t is for miles on either side and over | half of the car was buried in water | and slime. At the time of the accident MT. and | Mrs. Madison were standing in the | front of the car watching the motor | man and Miss Peterson was sitting | on one of the front seats. The two other passengers were seated in the ! rear. Before any of them had a | chance to realize what had happened | they heard a crash and were strug- yling in the water which poured in the broken windows.
 The two men. in the rear managed | 10 grasp the seats and draw them selves out of the water, but MT. and Mrs Madison and Miss Peterson sank 70 the bottom MT. Madison came to he surface first and on looking around 1 md not seeing his companions des- paired of escape for them or himself. As he afterwards said to his friends:
 >At that moment, l had no hope md gave up the idea of rescue. swallowed a lot of water with tHe Gea of making the end come as quick y as Dossible.'' l The instinct of self preservation however, continued his struggles and |, )y chance he managed to grasp a window sill. Miss Peterson also seiz- T.