The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1916-09-16
FOUR KILLED WHEN
AUTO HITS TROLLEY
MR.. MORRELL INGERSOLL AND
THREE LADIES KILLED OUT
RIGHT; TWO BADLY HURT.

injured when the automobile in which
they were riding collided with a Shore
Fast Line trolley car at Ocean
Heights, between Linwood and Som
ers Point, at 4.48 Tuesday afternoon.
The dead are: Mrs. Eugene Killian,
Mrs. Samuel Hay and Miss Bella Ben
nett, of Bayonne, and Morrell Inger-
soil, of Steelmanville.
The injured are: Mrs. William H.
Davis, of Bayonne, serious scalp
wounds and possible fracture of the
skull, and Mrs. Margaret Wolf. of
West Collingswood, sever scalp
wounds.
The party of women, all of whom
are middle-aged, had been stopping
for some time at the farm of Irwin
Myers at Steelmanville, a mile and a
half from Ocean Heights. They en-
gagged Ingersoll to take them to the
Ocean Heights station to catch the
sos trolley to Pl%easantville. They
were to take the train from here to
Collingswood.
The automobile, a ~Studebaker, was
speeding along the road to Ocean
Heights. The road runs into an in
cline toward the point where it is
crossed by the Shore Fast Line tracks.
Both sides of the road are heavily
wooded, and a house stands at n
corner. so that it is said to be impos-
sible to see the approach of a trolley
car for any distance in either direc-
ton. Without reducing his speed, the
authorities say, lngersoll took the de-
cline. When within a few feet of the
tracks he saw the trolley car approa-
ching. He turned quickly to bring his
machine parallel with the tracks, but
was unable to turn sharply enough to
avoid the trolley.
The automobile crashed into the
side of the trolley practically head on,
striking it Immediately in the center
and breaking the air connections, so
that it was impossible for the motor
man to bring the car to a stop at
once. The impact sent the automo-
bile skidding to one side, and its ear
end shifted around and jammed the
side of the car once more. The troll
lev car continued on, carrying the au-
tomobile with it, until the machine
was crushed against the freight sta
ton platform several yards away. BY
this time the hand-brakes had been
applied by the motorman, and the car
was stopped just beyond the Ocean
1lClSlllO PdoOSISNL 5N0SNOS
beyond the freight station.
When the motorman and conductor
reached the spot where the automobile
had been stopped, three women and
Ingersoll we're lying on the ground.
All were dead or about to die. The
skull of each was crushed on n side
of the head, which was in each in
stance badly mangled. A portion of
the brain of one of the women had
oozed out. Their clothing was ripped
and torn, their purses and little be-
longings scattered about. Blood STAIN
ed the ground near where the bodies
lay. The scene was most horrible to
behold. Peculiarly, none of the dead
persons had been injured in any place
but the head, beyond a few scratches
here and there.
The other two women were still
cramped in the shattered machine.
Both were badly shocked and able to
tell. little of how the accident occur
red.
Mrs. Julia Adams, who witnessed
the tragedy from in front of her
house, which lies adjacent to the
Ocean Heights station, says she was
sitting on her front porch when she
saw the automobile speeding toward
the railroad tracks along the road
from Steelmanville. Then she looked
along the tracks and say the approa-
ching trolley car. Realizing that an
accident was imminent. she hurried
from the porch to the roadway, and
waved and shouted to Ingersoll to
stop. She says Ingersoll continued
on, Stacking the speed of his car not
at all. The collision occurred a mo-
ment later.
The Ocean Heights station is what
is termed a blank station, and the
Shore Fast Line ears do not stop I'M
less a passenger wishes to get off or
they are signalled from the station
platform. On this trip there was no
occasion to stop, and the motorman
did not slacken the speed of his a
as he approached the crossing. This
is the customary procedure; the mo-
torman simply did as usual, blew his
whistle sharply when he arrived at a
point approaching the station. The
car was running at a speed OF about
25 or 80 miles an hour.
The dead and injured were placed
in the Fast Shore Line trolley that
soon arrived from Ocean City, and it
was run as a special to Atlantic City.
The dead were removed to an under
taking establishment and the injured
were taken to the City Hospital in
the police patrol. Hospital authori-
ties believe they will recover.
Edward Stanton was motorman of
the trolley and Robert Perkins the
conductor. Both live in Pleasantville.
Mr.. Ingersoll's body was identified
b. his son, Horace Ingersoll, of Pleas
antville, who hurried to Atlantic City
as soon as he heard of the accident.
Mr.. Ingersoll is survived by a widow,
two sons and a daughter. He was a
brother of Calvin A. Ingersoll, a for
mer policeman of Atlantic City. Mr..
Ingersoll was treasurer of Egg Har-
Dor Township, a trustee of Asbury NJ.
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