Norwich bulletin., 1915-01-07
700 in Panic in
 New York Subway
200 INJURED, ONE FATALLY, IN
 STRUGGLE TO ESCAPE.
TWO TRAINS STALLED
Smoke and Acid Fumes from Short circuited Gable Caused Trouble Tie-up of Transportation and Con- gestion of Traffic Ensue.

dent in the ten years history of New
 York'S subway occurred during the morning rush hours today. when 700
 passengers in two stalled trains were
 stricken with panic in the darkened
 tubes by the invasion of dense smoke and acid fumes from a short circulted
 cable. In the ensuing struggle to es- cape 200 persons were 1nJured-one, a woman, fatally. Others were overcome
 and were rescued by police and fire
 to the street, unnerved or hysterical,
 with torn clothes and faces blackened
 by smoke.
 Tie-Up of Transportation.
 AS the result of the accident, the city
 was tonight in the throes of an un-
 precedented tie-up of transportation. It
 was not until late today that wheel
 again turned in the subway. and at
 that time only a limited local service was in operation. The hundreds of thousands of passengers usually car
 ried by the subway were diverted to
 the elevated and surface systems, and when the home-bOund rush began to- night neither system had adequate ia cilities to accommodate the tremen- dous crowds No subway trains were
 running to Brooklyn, and a dense mass of humanity, concentrating at the Brooklyn bridge, prolonged the rush
 hour period for two hours in a struggle IO DOdIu LId1llS anu Cc1IS.
 Congestion Feared Today. The management of the Interbor- ough Rapid Transit company could not guarantee tonight that normal condi- tions would be restored tomorrow and repetition of today's congested con ditions was feared.
 The accident, which occurred be- tween the F7iftieth and Fifty ninth l street stations called out virtually the entire fire and ambulance service on Manhattan Island.
 Feed Gable Blew Out. The two trains. an express and To- 1 cal, both packed with business bound humanity, stopped midway between the stations and the lights went out A large feed cable had biewn out in it's conduit some 50 yards distant, and soon the cars became filled with the stench of burning rubber. This grew unbearable and 1t took little in the 1 darkness to start a panic. The de- mands of some of the passengers that | the doors be opened were refused by 1 the guards. it was said Fights en- sued, followed by a desperate struggle | in both trains to get out. Windows | were smashed and terrified men and women trampled each other.
 Police and Bremen Called Meantime smoke poured up through ! ventilators in dense volumes. Little attention seems to have been paid to this warning until the first of the panic-strickon passengers reached the street. Then reports flew that there | had been a terrible catastrophe, that many had been killed. office and fire men quickly reached the scene, and although it was at length established ] that the reports were exaggerated, they were busy for more than three hours in rescue work.
 Women Half Asphyxiated. They found abandoned in the two trains many passengers, mostly women, half aSpXyiated by smoke. Others had collapsed on the floor of the tube. Some were brought up by means of 1 ladders through manholeS, some through ventilating apertures in the ] street, ordinarily covered with steel grating. Nearby theatres, stores and automobile garages were commander l ed as temporary hospitals for the less l seriously injured, while dozens of ann ! hulanceS carried away to hospitals l these needing skilled attention. Some Of these were reported in a serious condition tonight. Miss Ella Brady, l the only victim to lose her life, died in i an ambulance. Several undoubtedly were saved by the use of pulmotors, physicians said.
 Investigation Started.
 i Investigations to fix the blame for ] the accident were at once started by 1 District Attorney Perkins and the pub
 lie service commission. and word came from Albany that the accident had i started legislative activity looking to
 an investigation of the states super vision of public utilities
 The fact that the smoke and stiffing l fumes caused the trouble led to sug- gestions that steps be taken for the
 more adequate ventilation of the tube General Manager Hedley of the Inter- 1 borough said tonight that no invention
 short circuiting and that similar ac-
 cident could occur at any time.