New-York tribune., 1920-03-04
Jersey Flyer at High Rate
Hits Newark Local at
Elizabethport; Kills the
Engineers and Fireman
Officials Accuse
Pilot of Express
His Disregard Of Posi-
tive Stop Signal Given
as the Cause of Wreck

The Jersey Filler of the Central
Railroad of New Jersey bored at
high speed through Newark local
at Elizabethport, N. J., late yester-
day afternoon. The engineers of
both trains and one fireman we're
killed. About dozen persons were
injured. The dead are:
Herman Hahn, Dunellen. N. j..
engineer of the local.
J. j. Brodley, Dunellen, N. j.. fire.
man Of the local.
William A. Sell. Hampton juno
tion. N. j., engineer of the flyer.
The following injured are in the
General Hospital at Elizabeth:
Russell W. Schwartz, 326 North
Ninth Street, Allentown, Pa, fire.
man of the Philadelphia Express;
broken leg.
Cornelius Green, negro, 1874 Fisher
Avenue, Asbury Park, N. j., broken
leg and internal injuries.
Russell Vail. 326 East Sixth Street,
plainfeld, N. ].
Miss Elizabeth Stuart, nineteen
years old, Twenty eighth Street,
Bayonne. N. j.
William HOLIDAY, GOT Eleventh
Avenue, Belmar, N. j..
the following injured are in the st.
Elizabeth Hospital:
D1oy al
condition serious.
James Cox, Red Bank, n. ].
William Murray, Newark, N. ].
Disregarded Signal Is Claim
According to representatives of the
railroad at the Elizabethport station,
Sell. the engineer of the express, went
past positive "stop" signal without
iackening speed. He had clear
.traightaway of 1000 feet before
reaching the cross-over where the
wreck occurred. 1t was not until the
flyer had gone 500 feet beyond the
cross-over that the boiler of its loco
motive blew up, throwing the big en-
CINE from the rails and dragging the
first of its ten steel cars after it.
It was about $40 when the smash-up
came The Newark local had dis
charged its passengers from Newark,
taken on those for the return trip and
was backing across the main line to
the switch that leads to the Newark
track. Many persons were on the sta
ton platform and the sidewalks in the
vicinity were crowded, as the Jersey
Central shops two blocks away were
dsgorging the day shift.
From the east came the drumming
Of the flyer, which was not due to stop
11t~ G01l fo1s 1xyn
minutes later Hahn, the engineer of
the local, was backing across the main
line with the fussing leisureliness
which characterizes locals when the
signals are set to protect them from
expresses.
Boiler of Engine Explodes
The distant drumming took higher.
keener pitch and 558, the LOGON otive Of
the speeding express, suddenly loomed
black and distant on the hither side
of the stop" signal. For just an in
slant Hahn and Brodley could be seen
showing frantically at a lever in the
cab of the locals engine.
Then came the crash and sudden
burst of steam which hid both trains,
followed a moment later by another
detonation and another Outburst OF
steam to the west of the crossing.
No. 558 had snapped the locals en-
CINE from the train, exploding its
boiler without smashing one of the
wooden coaches behind it, though
scarcely a window in either train re-
NAMED whole. Five hundred feet be-
yond the cross-over the boiler of 558
had blown up, throwing the engine
from the track One of the ten steel
cars of the express was dragged across
ho ot<r1t l. IL ~%h
We're thrown from the rails, but nons
OF them upset
Pinned Beneath His Engine
Sell was pinned beneath his engine.
1t was two hours before the wrecking
crew could extricate his body. His
nreman, Schwartz, was thrown clean
over the telegraph wires beside the
track but got off with a broken leg.
The engineer and fireman of the local
We're killed outright.
Inc report of the accident given out
by the Central Railroad of New Jersey
stated that Sell was an "old and ex-
perlenced" engineer, but that the cause
OF the wreck was his Disregard of a
positive stop signal set against him. .
All four tracks were blocked by the
wreck and 1T was necessary to divert
,1afhc to the Newark branch The de-
ay was from thirty minutes to an hour.
wrecking crew of 200 was summoned
ron the railroad shops at Elizabeth
Port and set to work by the light of
ssetyIene flares and searchlights. 1t
was midnight before the tracks were
Cleared
Both locomotives were smashed. The
damage was estimated by the railroad
az between $4,000 and $4,000. The
Enief left New York at $40, bound for
tH;anpton, N. j., and was listed on the
timetable as No. 1913.
2.5O Dot D. C.1I