New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-01-01
Cars i'm "L''
Crash Set Old
Age Records
One Carrier in Fatal Col
lision Was Built in 1870.
Another in 1881 and a
Third in 1891: All Wood
; Inquiries Under Way
Facts To Be Presented to
Grand Jury: Motorman l.
Held; Victim Identified

Three Investigations arc under way
into the causes of tho collision Friday
night. in which one person was killed
and thirty-nne injured, when a south
bound train rammed another which
had stalled at Forticth Street and
Ninth Avenue. One of these invcsti-
cations is being made by Assistant
District Dineen, with Wow to pre-
senting the facts to the grand jury.
The other two arc being made by the
Transit Commission and the Inter
borough railroad
1t was discovered yesterday that the
eight ars-four in each train-which
were in the collision were built Of
wood and that ore of them was forty
two years old. One Of the cars was
built in 1879, another in 1881, another
in 1S9 four of them in 1908 and one
in 1911.
MotOrman Blamed
"A preliminary report made yesterday
TO Chairman Georrc McAneny. of the
Transit Commission. tends TO place
the blame for the accacnt on Anthony
u; Albraltis, motorman Of the train
which rammed the other.
According to the report, the tail
lights of the stalled train were burn
ing and visible. and inspections of the
cars of the second train. which were
made on December "a and 26. showed
them to be in operating condition. Mo
tormen who had operated this train are
SAID TO have testified that the air
brakes and all other apparatus were
then in working order.
Albraitls, who lives at 10 Maplc Ave
nue., the Bronx, and who has been a
motorman on elevated and subway lines
Tor seventeen years, is under arrest on
the technical charge of homicide. He
was injured in the accident.
Dead, 80 Injured
The casualties as officially compiled
yesterday are; One dead, two passcn-
gers seriously injured. thirty-fivc pas
sengers slightly injured and two en-
ployees injured.
The dead man was identified yestcr
day by Cataldo Mozzola of 537 West
Iwenty-ninth Street, as his brother.
Luigi, aborer, eighteen years old
The Transit Commissions represented
by Commissioner lie Roy T. darkness.
ROBERT Nidgway, chief enginer II. n.
Latey, engineer of equipment and OPP
Grafton, and several inspectors, in its
report, after recting the number of in
cured, goes on AS follows to describe
the manner in which the accident oc-
Cured:
"Motorman Patrick Gallagher, in
charge of the stalled train, claims that
trouble developed on his train when
leaving Fiftieth Street station. At
Forty second Street he went back and
inspected the train line jumpers on all
cars but found no defect.
Red Tail Lights Burning
After leaving Forty-second Street
station he claims that he lost his power
and brought the train to stop with
the rear end near Fortieth Street
Again he went back to lnvestigate she
trouble and was returning to HIS oper-
ating ,cab when his train was struck
by the following train.
The motorman of the colliding train
fAlbraitis) claims that he thought the
stalled train was moving until it was
too late to avoid the collision. No
trouhte, however, was experienced in
making the station stop at Forty-scc-
S''u oNiSSt. A'iIi tlIlO UdtlOD ODJ2lnCU
at the scene o. the accident it is evil
dent that the stalled train was in plain
view with red tail lights burning.
The collision occurred on a slight
up grade, but with enough force to
badly damage the first two cars of the
colliding train and tho last car Of the
stalled train also dcraling three
trucks. An inspection was made Of
the equipment of the colliding train
by an engineer of this department, but
on account Of It's badly damaged con-
ditlon no ai:praAc test could be made"
No Steel Cars Involved
The report denied that there were
any steel cars involved, saying that
the only steel In the construction of
the cars consisted of small 81" beams
under the platforms of the motor cars.
In discussing the steel and wooden
car question, the commissions cngi-
neers said yesterday that there were
2,20o wooden cars. sll told, in Manhat-
;ar and about ] 900 in BROOKLYN. This