Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1915-10-01
Crowded Surface Gar Falls Into
New York Subway.
PEDESTRIANS ARE BURIED
Dynamite Blast Tears Away Tunnel
Snoring and Caused Disaster-Many
Women and Girls Are Victims.

Tween eiSHly-ifS anu ClIS liz ~
othc.s injured when a dynamite blast
in q parity constructed section OF the
Seventh avenue subway in New York
caused all entire block OF pavement
to cave in, engulfing a crowded sur
face car, a heavy truck and many Pc
destrians.
A number of laborers at work In
the excavation were buried under
tons Of debris. Seventy-eight persons
a considerable number of them being
women and girls on their way to busl-
ness, were on the surface car, which
dropped thirty feet into the excaVa-
ton and was partly buried under con-
crete, rails, heavy timbers, dirt and
rocks.
The dynamite blast, which resulted
in the caye-in, was set Off almost Ill
rectly under Seventh avenue and
Twenty-ffth street, according to Chief
Engineer Jones, Of the construction
company. He told the fire commits
sioner the blast had hurled large
rock against portions of the underpin-
ming, knocking this away and allow
ing the pavement overhead and por-
tions of the dirt sidewalks to collapse.
The accident occurred shortly be-
fore s o'clock and more than half or
the injured were women and girls on
their way to business. Although the
surface car remained upright, it was
partly buried under an avalanche OF
concrete, rails, timbers and earth, and
many of the passengers were severely
crushed.
Persons who were in a large Office
building, close to where the car went
down, said there was great roar as
the pavement and portions Of the
sidewalks sank. This was followed a
moment later by the cries of the part
ly entombel passengers and OF Pc
destrians who were either thrown
into the excavation or knocked down.
Men aud wcmcn smashed the car
windows with their bare hands in an
effort to escape, eye witnesses saidr
while pedestrians VINO had been
thrown into the hole struggled to
avoid the falling debris and regain
the street level.
The cayc-in broke water and gas
mains, and within a few minutes after
the accident heavy flows OF gas and
water threatened TIE lives Of the 100
or more persons in the excavation.
Prompt work by city employees in
shutting off the flow Of water and gas
in the broken mains put an end tc
this danger.
Fire ladders and ropes were low
cred into the great hole and police
and fremen began carrying out the
dead and injured, while contractors
employees and others worked furious
ly, clearing away the timbers and
debris that imprisoned many persons
Victims were carried out by police
and frcmen to nearby stores and Of
fees which were turned into temp@r
ary ho%ritais. Nearly all Of these
victims were seriously injured, many
having broken arms or legs.
Vcran Falls Dead on Street Car.
A rlainly dressed mi.dle aged Wo'
man boarded a south-bounl sixth ave
nue. car Ii New York at Forty-second
street.
Nnen the car reached Fortieth
st.ecs she suddenly pitched forward
to tie floor, and when she was picked
Up she was dead.
Il was not Until an hour later, al
the West Tnirlioth street police sta
tior. after S50o30 worth OF jeWe.ry
ami more t:ian $4,000 in cash had
been re:A rnd from the lining OF hel
coYect TIA. her identity was revealed.
Sc IS MS. Annie Vaughan watson
wife Of Henry w. Watson, former con
gressman l:om the Eighth Pennsyl
yania district, whose country estate
is at Langhorne, in Bucks county
Heart failure was the cause OF hel
Gca h.
Mr.. Watson called at the police sta
! ton and nearly collapsed when told
his wife was dead.
The cash found upon the dead. wo
man totaled $i2,1S6.S5; $11,e00 was il
bills of 500 denomination and the re
mainder III smaller bills and gold
pieces, ca&; wrapped separately. The
money was not all together, but the
neat, crisp bills were contained III
double silk water-proofed envelopes
of about $1,000 each.
Seeks $1,000 Damages for False Arres'
Suit was field in Reading, Pa, by
Joseph Weber for his son, N!cnolas
Weby,, against John Klein, his SON
Joseph Klein, and City Detectives
Peter 6. McGovern ami Edward T.
Hallissey for $4,000 damages for al