El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-21
TWO DEATHS AND ONE BADLY
INJURED IN A STREET CAR ACCIDENT
CONTINUED From Page One.)

central Irart Of the car and I went
! through, thinking THAI my hrotherin-
la was following. 1 turned to see If
| he was following and l saw the motor
man following instead. I did not know
what had happened till 1 found Smiths
body by the side Of the tracks 1t was
! the $40 car and happened just as we
! had left Stanton street The car must
have gone full block while the box
was flaming, 1 think"
G. o. HOrner Describes Accident
Il was seated at the end nearest the
exit" said c. o. Horner, a passenger
who seems to have the clearest details
OF the affair in his mind. t'Nobody
seemed 10 be very excited from what
saw except the women 1 saw Mr.. and
Mrs. J. II. Laurie come through the
car and saw Miss Reilly (Mrs- Laurie's
sister, run past them. l grabbed her
by the wrist as she was on the step
ard Mr.. Laurie called to her to be care
full But she pulled away from me and
stepped off backward. the back of her
head striking the ground with great
force 1t is not true that she Jumped
over the railing. / suppose the two
men jumped from either SIDE of the
front as they were seated, but / do not
know. The front of the car was so
fitted with smoke that L could no: see
Their bodies were on either SIDE or The
track They were dead when we reached
them, the woman and the man, and
Weldon seemed unconscious L did not
see the mtorman. He must Lave *tayed
in the front of the car. nor did / notice
the conductor, for he was back or me-
Accident Is Common.
There is little doubt that motorman
Able did his duty and stuck TO his post
TN IN
attempt to shut off the current. Accord
ing TO the street car people, the turnout
is an unavoidable thing, minor ones Of
ten occurring. From the trolley wire
the current runs to the controller boxes
at either end OF the car, a shut off
switch being placed overhead above each
box. The most common turnout occurs
in the overhead box, there being safe
ty fuse in the larger box. But in the
case last night, the current must have
jumped past the salty fuse. burning out
the larger box. In fighting the flames,
the motorman was unable to shut off the
current from in front, but this was done
by the conductor at the rear. The dow
ering of the trolley would also have i'm
medately extin guished the fire, but the
breaking of the switch connection was
the more prompt method, it Dis explained.
Railway management IS satisfied that
the accident was unavoidable, it being
caused only by the unexplained cross
ing of wires and the creation of short
circuit
1t is evident that the car only pro-
crossed less than half a block before II
came to a stop and the flames ended The
street car people say that the car stop
ped at Stanton street, but passengers de-
ny this. Elmer +. Gray, a local contrac-
tor. was a passenger on the car going
to visit a sick friend at Hotel Dieu- 1t
is said that he missed his corner and the
motorman had just started to put on
breaks in nearing Kansas street when
the fire broke out
The Dead and INJURED.
1t happened that two physicians were
almost Immediately on the scene. DR.. c.
F. Braden. from the hospital and DR..
F. W. Gallagher, from his residence
nearby, arrived soon. The town physi-
clans pronounced dead the bodies of Mr..
Smith and Miss Kelley, and a hurried
examination of Mr.. Weldon caused fear
Of a fractured skull. But this morning
DR.. Bradeh says that the patient is prob
0bly uninjured save for bad brfise over
the left eye. The man is still comatOSe !
On account of the normal brain concus-
sion caused by the fall. At the hospital |
be has only given his name and has been |
Identified by his brotherinlaw. F. L. |
Pitman. a local livestock commission |
man. Mr.. Pitman says that his relative |
was going to the home Of q friend for |
dinner at the time of the accident. Mr. !
Mr. Weldon is in Ell Paso to buy cattle |
to stock his Kansas rancn. He has a |
wife and family now in Denver and they !
have been notified
Miss Reilly Visitor.
For number of months Miss Kelley |
las been visiting her sister, Mrs. James /
4. Laurie, at 1913 Rio Grande street Mr..
Ind MIS- Laurie were with her at the
lime returning home for the evening