Norwich bulletin., 1921-02-23
8 h Shelton
 Trolley Collision

burned 10 Deatn when Ian
 of Gasoline on Front Plat
 form ExpIoded-25 Were
 Injured.
 Shelton; Conn. Feb. 22.-Eight per- sons were burned 10 death and 25 injured this afternoon when two trolley cars col- lided head-on on the Bridgeport Shelton line, near High bridge, in the southern part of this town.
 A five gallon can of gasoline, which was in the front part of the. Bridgeport bound trolley car. exploded and, caused fierce fire to burn tn. two cars, John J. Phelan, coroner ot airfield C. .ty, declared tonight. The coroner expressed the opinion thar there would have been no loss of life and probably very few in- | jured if the can of gasoline had not been | in the car. Witnesses disagreed as to rthe exact location. of the can of gasoline, said the coroner, some saying they had observed it in the font vestibule with the motorman, iShile others said it was behind a seat in the forward part of the
 car. Coroner PhelaA has the remnants | of the can
 | A hearing on the accident will be held 1 in Bridgeport Thursday, said the coroner,
 and the public Utilities commission wiz
 sit with the coroner.
 | The dead:.
 i Milton Cheritree of Shelton, motormah ] of the Bridgeport boEnd car.
 Edith Wilkinson, years. old, of Shel- | ton.
 Nancy Wilkinson. years old her sis ter.
 Freda Goldberg, 15 years old, of Der
 by.
 Harry Goldberg, 13, her brother.
 Peter Rock, 26, of Shelton
 An unidentified girl and an unidentified woman.
 The collision occurred about 800 feet
 south of a switch, when both cars were travelling at a fair rate of speed Wit
 nesses said there was loud report im-
 mediately following the crash and flames burst out in the wreckage where the two cars were buckled together.
 There were but five persons in the
 northbound car and all were able to get out safely and quickly. The southbonnd car, going to Bridgeport had about 35
 passengers on board. Panic broke out on the heels of the crash as the flames shot
 through the forward part of the car. The
 Goldberg children were seated in the
 front seat of the car and were caught in
 the first sweep of the fire.
 Near the middle of the car was Mrs. William A. Wilkinson of Shelton, with
 her two daughters, aged and f. AS Il men among the passelgers smashed win-
 dows, several of them made efforts to push ,the two little ones out of the car it was said; but the attempt was not i successful, and the bodies of the chil. dren were among those taken to a Shell
 ton morgue. All of the bodies wer.
 charred and Identification of the girl and
 woman whose names are unknown seem ed almost Impossible.
 Fourteen persons are in Griffin hospi- \ tai, Derby. One Of these is Mrs. Wilkin. Practically no hope is held out for hei recovery. An unidentified man of Italian nationality also is in the hospital and i,
 not expected to live. The others injured . are expected to recover. They are: t Mrs. J. H. Brown. Shelton; Mrs. Dt , Martin. Ansonia Mrs. F. S. Sweeney f Shelton; Mrs. Laudino, 15 Jefferson = street. New Haven; MT. and Mrs. Fred 5 erick Sorner Shelton; Miss Amelia Mur : ray. Waterbury; Rosalia Lonero, Shel
 ton Ralph Bernstein, Ansonia; Joh1 F Lofthouse. Derby Antonio Lubrie,s Nev : Haven; Mrs. R. s. Henderson. Water q bury. v Several others who were taken to tn f hospital were discharged after receiving 5 treatment.
 Ii Among those slightly injured were Ste T phen T. Palmer. town clerk of Shelton = mad Dennis Robinson, of Ansonia, conduc tor on the southbound car. The north 7 bound car was in charge of George Mills
 lmotorman, Charles Sherman. conductor . They were unhurt, as were the five pas I sengers on that car. |. e The two trolley. cars were makin C their first trips on the Bridgeport -Derb |. line since tfe snow storm tied up the lin - Sunday. The Connecticut Company of - fees in Derby said 1t was believed or L. ders had been given to the southboun }. car to pass the switch near High bridg, e where the northbound car usually is wait f ing. The southbound car went over tn d switch across the bridge and ha c trave.ed a few hundred feet furthe n when the collision occurred. Connecticu n Company officials said the signal light
 used at the switch were in good order an n were working after the accident Ther - is a clear view of the tracks for mor If than 500 feet either way at the point "a the collision. High bridge crosses a dee If gully. il The collision was seen from a distant 's by a number of persons, includings pa!
 sengers on a Waterbury to New Have l. trolley car, which was across the Ho, F. satonic river. The crew of this car r, ,e ported the crash at the Conn ecticut Con r pany office in Derby a minute or two l; If ter, and calls were sent out for phys 10 clans. = The Shelton fire department was callt i- and Griffin hospital sent its ambulanc m Most of the injured were taken the tv
 miles to the hospital in fire hose wagon IF The work of fighting the fire precedt F. the efforts to get out the bodies. IT ,- flames had gained great headway wh, ,- the firemen arrived and both the trollt \. cars, of the large double truck tyr [, were burned down to the trucks. IT 10 crowd was kept back from the grueson h- scene as firemen, police and physicial ,d removed the bodies from the debris 4 n+ embankment on one side of the trac
 made it difficult for passengers who 2
 out of the cars to reach a safe footing. , Coroner J. J. Phelan hurried here fro
 Bridgeport, accompanied by Dr. Edwa Y Fitzgerald. The coroner obtained t - names of dozens of persons who Were
 the wreck or saw it, and he indicat D,. that the inquiry in0 the deaths wou nj be searching. ed -
 d. AGAINST ANY REDUCTION