New Britain herald., 1917-08-14
NINETEEN KILLED
 IN TROLLEY CRASH
(Continued From First Page.)

watches every morning for uniformity and runs between switches are said to have been controlled by telephone on 1 the poles at the switches.
 Negus and Tryon were in sheriff s office at the county building and were not present at the hearing. Conductor Was Drowsy. Conductor Tryon said he had felt drowsy, but had given the signal after ] the car had stopped at the North Branford station to take on a passen- ger.
 The east-bound car, in charge of Conductor Arthur s. Jones of Vest brook and Motorman Harry Morris of New Haven, left New Haven on time. It was filled with passengers going to their homes in Pine Orchard. Stony Creek, Madison, saybrook and other nearby towns. Most of the pas sengers were women, but there were several children and sprinkling of men.
 The car was slowing up for the sta tion, with the brakes grinding, when the singing of the trolley ahead indi- cated that another car was approach ing on the single track. A slight curve obstructed the view, and it was not until the west-bound trolley was on the curve that the passengers realized their danger. The car was running at high speed, according to the stories of survivors and there was little time to- act.
 A few persons on the back platform had time to jump, but those inside had not the slightest opportunity to 1lSf scrambling from their seats when the car was lifted in the air, shot back ward with great force and tipped part ly over. Locked to it in a death em- brace was the west-bound trolley, it's end and sides crushed in.
 The crash, followed by the screams of the injured, aroused persons with in considerable distance of the troll ley station, and they rushed to the scene. What they saw was a mass of twisted iron. splintered wood and bodies lying here and there. Most of the dead were mangled among the debris, and it was hours before they could be liberated.
 Many of the injured were confined with the dead and dying, and it was impossible to give them aid speedily. A hurry call was sent for physicians and firemen and soon several doctors arrived and gave first aid. The in jured were taken from the wreck first and score of automob piles and other conveyances were communicated to take them to the hospitals in New Haven, where they were attended.
 As fast as the bodies were liber- ated they were laid alongside the track in the hope that they might be identified
 While the westbound car, in charge of Conductor Tyron and Motorman Negus, was well filled, it was not as closely packed with passengers as the 1 car from New Haven. Moreover, the 1 fared better. For some ! reason less in number were killed or 1 hurt. Most were bound for New Ha- ven from villages along the line and 1 were persons employed in these ham, 1 lets.
 Ran Past Switch.
 According to the authorities, the trolley for New Haven should have stopped at a switch just east of the New Branford station, and remained there until the car from New Haven stopped at the station and passed over the loop of the switch. Instead, the vest bound car did not even decrease it's speed.
 North Branford is a small village. and difficulty was met in obtaining sufficient physicians. All the avail able doctors were pressed into serV- ice and a call was sent to Gu1lford, Saybrook and. other villages along the line New Haven was asked to send doctors, but by the time they ar rived most of the injured had re- ceived first aid. Many houses were thrown open for their reception. pending their removal to hospitals in New Haven.
 The Shore Line Electric Railway parallels the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and maintains a fast service between villages east of New Haven along the sound. It's patronage is largely local.
 No Relation to Finley Shepard.