New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-02-09
Six Hurt, Wooden
Cars Smashed, i'm
Wreck ON IL" Line
Third Avenue Train Hits
Steel Coaches at I2Oth
Street; Three Inquiries
Seek to Place the Blame

Slx persons were injured, three
wooden cars were demolished, traffic on
the Third Avenue Elevated line was
tied up for more than an hour and
scores of passengers thrown into panic
yesterday morning, when northbound
train crashed into train of seven
dead" cars at 120th Street and Third
Avenue. All cars in both trains were
of wooden constructions
The passengers clambered in fright
from the coaches and made their way
to the 10th Street station along the
elevated trestle.
Motorman Joseph Murphy, of 1874
Caldwell Avenue, The Bronx, was in
charge of the northbound train. Pa
trolman Sidney Slater, of the East
l26th Street station, turned in a fire
alarm Fire ladders were placed against
the structure and the injured helped to
ambulances which had been summoned
from Harlem Hospital
Victims of the Crash
Those hurt are:
Edward Bernard, a cloak operator, of
116 East First Street, decorations of
head and face.
Louis Cohen, guard, possible tract
ure of the spine.
Raffaello Pospitolio. sixty-seven years
old, of $50 East 115th Street, possible
fracture of the spine.
Mrs. Lulu Crawley, It's Devoe Street,
Brooklyn, shock and decorations of face
and eye.
Louis Angus, a clerk, of 1922 Madi-
son Avenue, decorations left hand and
face.
Theodore Buckley, a Waterman, of
1901 White Plains Avenue.
According to Murphy, he saw the
train ahead of him and applied his
brakes, but, although they worked, the
train did not stop. Realizing a collision
was inevitable, he left his post and
raced back through the cars, warning
the passengers as he passed.
Few Of them, however, realized what
was imminent until the crash actually
came. Then wild scramble followed.
Drawing the deadly third rail, men and
women fought their way out Of the
coaches to the tracks and walked south
to 116th Street
Meanwhile the fire apparatus had ar
rived and ladders were quickly hosted
FiremenA mounted them, axes in hand,
and cut their way into the wrecked
cars.
Cut by Splintered Glass
The injured were extricated without
great difficulty and carried down to
smbulances. All of them except Cohen
were hurt by flying glass and splinters
from the wooden cars. Cohen, whose
station was on the platform between
the second and third cars, was thrown
to the rails.
The police of the East 126th Street
station, the Public Service Commission
and the District Attorneys office insti-
tuted separate Inquiries into the causes
Of the collision.
A preliminary investigation devel-
oped that a northbound empty train,
composed of the composite" cars for
merly used in the subway. lay on the
tracks at 120th Street waiting for a
train preceding it to pull out of the
train was run into by q seven-car local
train which had followed it up from
downtown.
The last car Of the composite" train
and the first of the train which ran
into it were badly telescoped and dam
aged. All the persons reported injured
were in the first car of the local train
Policemen were put on guard around
the wreck and photographs of the cars
and switches were taken.
1t was some time before the authori-
ties located Murphy, but he appeared
about noon with John Moulton, attor-
ney for the Interborough company, and
made full statement to the police
He attributed the failure of his train
TO stop to the fact that there was too
much grease on the tracks. He de-
clared he stayed at his post until his
train was within four feet of the rear
car of the other. He. was permitted
10 go with the understanding that he
would return when wanted