The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-08-19
Grade Crossing Accident.


A fatal accident occurred at the PINE
street crossing, Mount Holly, on Friday
f when the wagon driven by Harry Taylor
! of Lumberton, was struck by the Beach
Haven express and he was hurled to his
death. Taylor had been to the lumber
yard of Doughty & Co., and had got a
load of boards which he was to take to
Lumberton. AS he was about to start
out of the yard the noise of the APP
preaching express train was heard. The
lumber ON the wagon extended too close
to the horse and it struck the animal,
causing the latter to rear and kick and
finally to run away. Turning toward
the railroad tracks the horse plunged on
the rails just as the express got there
and the wagon was cut loose from the
animal
The wagon was one of the worst wrecks
seen for a long time. The lumber was
broken into short pieces and strewn all
along the track. The horse ran up the
road a short distance and stopped.
Taylor had cash in his head, both legs
and one arm were broken and he had
other bruises. Death must have been
instantaneous. He was carried nearly
| fifty Yards down the track and some of
the lumber was carried thirty yards
| further.
| Elwood Roberts, who was working
with a section gang digging trench
close to the crossing, was struck by flying
lumber. His left hip and side were
bruised and his hand cut.
| The flagman at the crossing was ON
duty at the time of the accident and he
ran out and struck the horse with his
| fagpole, hoping to swerve it to one side,
but it was of no avail.
| Sheriff Jordan was one of the first
officials on the scene and he at once took
observations. In a short time Coroner
| Worrell arrived At that time the
wreckage along the track was sufficient
to show that there had been terrible
accident. In less than two hours later
when the coroner took his jury to view
the place one would never have known
/ that anything had happened. The track
and its surroundings were cleaner than
they had been for long time and every
vestige of the accident had been re-
moved to the top of an embankment
where they were hidden from view by
some bushes. The reason for this UNI
usual activity may be made clear in the
testimony given below.
Coroner Worrell empaneled the follow
ing jury: S. Earl Assay, Edward T.
Haines, Artillias A. Anderson, Harry
Hawkins, Jr., I. Harry Bowker, Joseph
c. Kingdom.
The coroner's jury met at the court
house yesterday afternoon and heard
testimony on the accident. From the
stories of the eye-witnesses the horse of
Taylor undoubtedly became unmanage
able and ran across the track in front of
the train despite the efforts of his driver
to restrain him. Other points were
brought out that did not affect this case.
One was that the fiagman is on duty
about 10 hours a day, and that trains
cross the Pine street crossing at greater
speed than the regulation thirty miles |
an hour, but it was also shown that if |
the train which caused Taylor's death |
had been going at ten miles an hour the |
result would have been the same. The |
train and the team both got at the spot |
at about the same time.
The jur returned the following ver- |
dict: 1--WE find that said Harry Taylor |
was accidentally killed at the Pine street |
crossing of the Pennsylvania Railroad |
Company on Wednesday, August ID, |
1913, by being struck by train of said |
company, while Taylor's horse was run |
ming away and crossing ahead of said |
train. The Pine street crossing is one of |
great danger owing to conditions which |
obstruct the view of the track and we
insist that safety gates should be placed |
at that crossing and request the coroner |
to send copy of this verdict to the |
Superintendent of the Trenton Division |
of the p. r. r. and to the Public Utili- |
ties Commission of New jersey"