The Washington herald., 1911-07-12

will be large and perhaps record-break-
ing.
But beyond all these circumstances
watched half-clad men tug franticaIly at
women who had got part way from the
car windows but who apparently could
not release their limbs.
But the thing that came most clearly
out of the nightmare was the crying of
children who were hurt.
Broken Up Queerly.
As was seen later, when the full light
came, the train had broken up Queerly
The locomotive apparently left the track
at the intersection of the cross-over
switch with the inner east-bound rails
had rocketed along the ties until 1t struck
the viaduct, and had then plunged over
still keeping upright, until it rammed its
pilot deeply into the soft dirt Of the
side yard of Mrs. Horan's house. 1t car
ried with IL the tender and the first bag
gage car, the car full of little trout that
were under the care of four Bureau Of
Fisheries men.
The coupling between the first car
and the second baggage car had brok-
en-, evidently, since the second bag
gage car did not go over the VIA
duct. 1t hung teetering on the edge. But
the third car, the day coach, was thrown
over hard, landing on its side, and then
settling against the stonework, to be
crushed by two Pullmans that tumbled
after It. That was the feature Of the
wreck that puzzled the railroad men.
Supt. c. N. woodward and his assistants.
They explained 1t somewhat on the
theory that when the train broke the
switch 1t was the cars in the center Of
the train that caught tie full force of
the throw-off. At any rate, the day coach
and three Pullmans Immediately behind
Il went into the cut, while the two rear
Pullmans, occupied by the st. Louis Ma
tionaIs, stuck to the embankment, al
though one of them. the next to last,
was derailed.
The Fisheries Bureau car struck ground
on its fore end, which was crumpled
then came to rest with a Jar that
loosened all of its fittings and threw
tankfuls of infant trout all along the
cut Ground into the dirt after the
wreck were thousands of tiny fish that
had been on their way to grow up hap
PLY in New England ponds. All Of the
fisheries men were hurt, but none Of the
four killed.
The wonder Of the wreck was that
anybody got out of the day coach alive
| Catching as It did the pounding of the
heavy Pullmans, its wooden structure
crumpled like pasteboard. There wasn't
seat in it that held to its fastenings.
The floor was forced up when the car
was squeezed against the viaduct, and
spIinters and broken metal fixtures trans
fixed and held many OF the passengers
| Some were fortunate in that only their
clothes was caught, but there was one
woman through whose body an oak
splinter five feet long had been driven.
Pinned in Their Berths.
The three Pullmans settled together
better, of course, than the comparatively
himsy day coach, but their sides were
torn open, their roofs were warped and
broken, and the iron work of their run
ming gear had jammed up through the
flooring. In them people were hurt by
being pinned~to berths.
1t was Mrs Horans son James who
got here with a friend of his, Harry
Flanagan, and gave the alarm. They
pulled fire box near the house, and
the signal brought Capt. Dan johnson
and a crew Of Bridgeport fire fighters
The first thing Johnson did was to cut
of the current from the live wires scat
tered everywhere, and then notified po-
lice headquarters. There are a good
many automobiles in this city, and most
OF them seemed to be on the Job an
hour after the Federal wrecked herself.
The cars were mighty useful carrying
injured people to the Bridgeport and St
Vincents hospitals, but before that their
owners were toiling with the policemen
and firemen and baseball players in as
sisting the many that were hurt.
The st. Louis ball players were hard
at 1t when the police got there. Roger
Bresnahan and his team got thorough
shaking up when their Pullmans did a
stem dance along the ties, but they
hustled out without taking time to
change their pajamas for more formal
attire. They grabbed their shoes and
slid down the embankment without ask
ing instructions from anybody. Bresna-
han shouted orders above the chorus OF
cries ard groans that came from the
battered cars, and the ball players at
tackled the debris with tremendous
energy.
Players Are Heroes.
Being young men accustomed to doing
things, they accomplished a lot before
help came. From the ruins Of the day
coach they removed fifteen or twenty
men, women, and children who were
badly hurt Bresnahan and Harmon csr-
ried over to Mrs Horans lawn a young
woman who had called to them as they
smashed way into the back end Of the
day coach. Other players did heroic
rescue work
At 4 a. m. the police were taking peo-
PIE out Of the wreckage and carrying