Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-01-24
HARRISBURG MEN
in TRAIN WRECK
AT PHILADELPHIA
Three Local Mail Clerks In
jured, One Seriously; Lam
caster Man Killed

Four Harrisburg mail clerks were
injul ed in a passenger train wreck
on the Schuylklli bridge. Philadel-
phia. yesterday afternoon. One man.
George Warfield, 1853 Spencer street,
is IN the Presbyterian Hospital in a
critical condition. James NJ. Ulsh. OF
| Lancaster, a mail clerk, was killed.
The Harrisburgers who were slightly
injured returned last night. They
arc:
Elmer T.. Nissley. 1884 Regina
street, several broken ribs and pos
sible fracture of skull.
John Chubb. 2S6 North Fourteenth
street; IaCerations and injured inter-
nally.
Others on injured list are:
w. y. Bolton. passenger, address
unknown.
George Bradshaw. Trenton, n. J.,
mail clerk.
H. Book, Brooklyn. mail clerk.
L. M.~Helman. 227 Emerald street
| mail clerk, slightly injured at home
| William Il. Brown, 25 years old,
sailor bound for Brooklyn Navy
Yard and in this, city during a
forty eight hour furlough. His home
is in Boston. Treated for decorations.
contusions and severe shock, and
later discharged.
Passengers who were injured, in
addition to Mr.. Lovitt, were ii. II.
Rackard, CT Belaire, Md, and w. A.
stewart. College avenue, Kansas City,
Mo. Both the latter left North Phil
adelphia on a special train.
The injured clerks who remained
on duty were W. A. Hawthorp. l. NJ.
Helman. II. Dernberger and d. Meak-
ley. Scores of passengers who re-
fused to 90 to hospitals were treated
by police surgeons fer nervous shock
and injuries from broken glass.
Two Trains Wrecked
p Two trains bound for New York
and running on parallel tracks were
wrecked. One was the Manhattan
Limited, seven hours late from Chi
cago, and bound for North Philadel-
phia, where it was due at 7.19 o'clock
yesterday morning. A broken brake
rigging on the mai,o ar of this train
caused the wreck.
William A. Gawthrop, chief mail
4. clerk, is reported to have told Off
| cials of the road that he had the
4, toughest ride of his life" in the
2 postal coach. He said that the jolt
= ing became so bad from Downing
/ town, Pa. that he complained to the
t conductor
' Arrangements were made to have
the car examined at North Philadel-
Dnla SIatlOn, BuI at TIE uIFt al SAl Va
] the fridge that spans the West PARK
Y drive leading to Sweet Briar Ma l.
r sitn. the broken rigging deraile1 the
S maiical and threw on the brakes.
? Mail Coach Covers Truck
The mail coach slued around in the
! path of train No. go, an express
, which left Broad Street Station on
: schedule time. The local train sliced
> through the mail car lengthwise and
! halved it as clean as razor cuts
cheese Jemes NJ. Ulsh, West Lemon
street Lancaster, Pa, who was busy
sorting mall was killed instantly.
: Nine other clerks were hurt, five SO
seriously that they were taken to
hospitals The four injured men re-
mained on duty and aided in sorting
the scattered mail Five passengers
wefn irjured. two Philadelphians
among them. The latter are A. A.
Lovitt, SOS New street, whose left
hand was injured. and Walter E.
Brown, n sailor, who stayed at 1925
Brown street during a furlough.
Local Man Talks
Sitting in the accident ward of the
Lankenau Hospital. John II. Chubb,
of this city, one OF the injured mail
clerks. gave his version of the acci-
; dent.
1--WE left Pittsburgh at 4.OS in the
! morning." Chubb said, "and our last
| STOP Hdu btGii OdA. AONN
was to be North Philadelphia. AS
we neared Girard avenue bridge l
not .ced a peculiar grating, grinding
! rcise Before J could decide what
eau; ed ii the craSn came. Everything
, turned black.
Then found myself buried under
, debris. Near me was Ulsh. dead
side o. the car 1 tried to crawl to
, his assistance, but the pain in the
/. injured leg made me faint"
Ten Escape Death
The fact that only one of eleven
, men in the mailcar was killed is re-
garded as "ProvidentiaP' by Elmer
Nissley, one of che injured clerks. He
believes that the limited was run
ming at rather high rate of speed
as the train approached the bridge.
; William A. Gawthrop. chief mail
clerk, was cut shcut the face and
, treated OF the scene by Doctor Han
cock. OF the University Hospital.
Officials asked Gawthrop IL he had
noticed anything wrong in the riding
, of the car.
"I certainly did," Gawthrop re-
piled. II told the conductor that /
had never been so JoIted and bumped
around in my life. 1t got worse after
we left bowningtown, and arrange
ments were made to have the trucks
4
when We reached North Philadelphia.
The Official statement of the Penn
sylvania Railroad attributes the
wreck to the broken brake rigging
, on the mailcar of the limited. Ar
rangemelts to transport the passen-
gers, who stood around help'essly in
six inches of snow, were made with
all possible speed. A third train for
; New York was sent alonV tne tracks
and boarded by those going to that
city.
Stops Traffic
The wreck temporarily checked all
inbound traffic, and train from New
Yorl was stalled at Norsn Philadel-
rhia. Pa ssengers boarded trolley
ears and taxicaps to ride to the CEN
ter of the city.
The impact derailed the engine of
the Manhattan Limited. the mailcar
and the combination club smoker and
baggage car. Nissley and Chubb
saved their lives by jumping a min