The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1915-01-09
FIRE IN SUBWAY
KILLS WOMAN
Over 200 Are Injured in a
Panic In Cars.
WERE TRAPPED IN HOLE
Firemen Tear Up Street to Reach
Men and Women Imprisoned In
Tube.

@SS
New York's subway was visited by
fire and panic, which sent some zoo
persons to hospitals, caused the death
of one woman and upset the transpor-
tation system of the city.
The fire was said to have been u
to an electrical explosion in a conduit
between the Fiftieth and Fifty-ninth
streets stations under Broadway.
The noise and smoke terrified the
700 or more passengers of two down
town trains stalled nearby, and in
their unreasoning efforts to escape
scores were badly bruised, many were
knocked unconscious and still others
were overcome by smoke.
AT first it was believed that a terri
BILE catastrophe had occurred, and re-
ports reached police headquarters
that at least a score had been killed.
The entire fire department and all
the ambulances in the city, together
with the pulmotor squad were rushed
to the spot.
1t was more than three hours after
the accident that the last passenger
was rescued, and during that time, in
the streets nearby, there was a con-
tinuous procession of flying ambu-
lances and private motor cars, remov-
ing the injured to various hospitals.
The accident was described by the
police as the worst in the history of
the subway.
Fire Chief Kenlon said thai when
his men entered the two trains they
found many of the passengers sitting
in their seats unconscious, others ly-
ing In the a%isles, and everywhere evil
dence of a panic.
The floors were strewn with hats
and torn clothing. Still other passen-
gers were found lying on the ground
beside the tracks. Nearly every win
dow of the cars vas broken.
So serious did the situation appear
for a time that preparations were
made to dynamite the streets to let
air into the tube. 1t was not possible
for several hours to determine the
number of injured.
Hampered in their efforts to reach
the blaze, the firemen dug into the
pavement with their axes and made a
hole above the subway at Fifty-third
street. From this opening belched a
volume of smoke and flame, as if
from a crater. Hose was directed
through the opening and ever hand
extinguishers were used.
For ten blocks the streets were lin
ed with the ambulances that came
from all over the city. A Gordon was
thrown around Broadway by the pc.
lice to hold in check tens of thou
sands of spectators.
In the meantime, from manholes,
ventilators and from the entrances of
the stations at Fffty-ninth and Fiji.
tieth streets came men and women,
haggard and terrified, their clothing
torn n rumpled.
When the train caught fire near
Fifty-ffth street the passengers all
rushed from the cars, and, regardless
of the danger from the highly charged
third rail, struggled toward the two
stations. Behind the flames a long
line of trains was stalled.
DChihu LnC Alot Ialn was q tCA-
car train, each coach packed to suf-
location. The guards at the various
stations had allowed every available
inch of standing ROOF upon the trains
to be filled, and both were damned to
capacity.
Evidences of the ~fierceness of the
excitement which was raging in the
cars of the train while the iremen
and police fought the fire was shown
by the fact that many of the women
had their clothing torn from them.
Some of the women victims were TAX
en- to the hospitals almost nude. ex-
cept for the great coats or mackin-
toshes thrown about them by police
and fremen.
Twenty-Five firemen in one squad
were overcome fifteen minutes after
they entered the subway. Two receiv-
ed broken ribs when trampled by pas
sengers struggling to escape.