The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-09-20
NECK BROKEN
 IN BICYCLE COLLISION
Rider Speeds Headlong Into
 Wheel Ridden by Tommy Downey's Brother
DEAD MAN WAS IN FAULT VICTIM IDENTIFIED
 BY HIS UNCLE


 entage. met with almost instant death while riding his wheel at speed be- meath the viaduct at East Main street and East Washington avenue. shortly before o'clock. this morning. With out needing any other vehicle. or bicyclist. the il1-fated young man rode his wheel catercornered from the right hand side of the street to the left hand side. and collided with the bicycle ridden by John J. Downey. clerk with the Crane Valve Co.,. and well known baseball player, a brother of Thomas Downey of the Cincinnati Nationals. Downey, who was descending the steep grade in East Main street. rang his bell and applied the coaster brake on his machine. But the other rider did not seem to see or hear him. The cycles came together with a smash and the forward wheel of Downey's bicycle caught in the crank shaft of flung to the ground after their heads had come together. The young Po- lander was hurled 12 feet. and, ap- parently. struck on his head. for he coming extinct about ten minutes after the accident. The only mark on him was on the upper lip where his teeth cut through his lip. An examination showed the young Polander to have a broken neck and a fracture at the base of the skull. Downey's wheel was demolished while that of the dead man escaped without damage. Downey suffered slight scalp wound and aft CT he recovered from the shock he sur- rendered himself to Policemen Thomas Ivers and Edward Bolger. who were both upon the scene and eye witnesses of the collision.
 The patrolmen accompanied Downey to the second precinct station where he told his story. It was coroborated by the officers. Capt. William Anderson released the young man upon his own recognizance. Downey was much dis turbed over the death of the young man. He could not understand why entered that section of the street lying beneath the viaduct. Downey's own wheel. with the brake applied, had been almost at standsfil when the tinued to ride on the right hand side of the street until he had reached the East Washington avenue side of the viaduct he would have been able to turn toward the west and pass to the rear of Downey's wheel and other vehicles that were coming down the steep incline.
 The tracks were elevated at this point to eliminate grade crossings and there is a steep grade running down
 
 sides of East Main street The dead young man rode westward through Crescent avenue, passing the plant of the Bridgeport Brass Co. and then cut beneath; the viaduct with the intention of continuing westward in Barnum avenue. He was travelling down grade, as was Downey, who was travelling in southerly direction in East Main street. The spot is one of the most dangerous in the city and the Ctn yu0rIx the rai1rnad Sh11fS off a II view of the much travelled East Main street to those intending to cross on East Washington avenue and Crescent avenue. It was at this spot on the that Chief Mooney and his driver were run down about two years ago by a rapidly moving trolley car.
 John Downey went before Coroner Wilson this morning and made state ment concerning the accident.
 To Farmer; reporter Downey said that he saw the dead man turn into East Main street from Crescent ave- nue and that he was on the east side of the street, but suddenly turned his wheel toward the west side and rode. head on, into him.
 Officers Bolger and Ivers told Capt. Anderson that Dowr1ey2 had done all in his power to avert an accident.
 The dead man was taken to the un- dertaking rooms of Rourke & Rourke in the ambulance and up to noon he had not been identified.
 There was nothing about the cloth ing he wore by which he could be identified. The only identifying mark to be found is that the middle finger of the left hand is missing.
 The dead man was of splendid physique and weighed in the neigh borhood of 16G pounds and standing about 5 feet Il inches in height. Dow ney. the young man who had a mira culous escape. is short in stature. and will not weigh over 140 pounds.
 Andrew Easencer, of 5 Green street, went to the morgue this afternoon ana identified the body of the dead man as the remains of his nephew, Victor Easencer, aged 19, a nativ of Austria, who boarded with him at his home The deceased was employed at the Union branch of the Bridgeport Brass Co. in Housatonic avenue.
 GRAND MASTERS DAY