Evening star., 1923-08-21
ALPS BUS PLUNGE
K|LLSD. c. WOMAN,
INJURIES ANOTHER
Mrs. D. S. White Falls to
Death With 5 0thers-Mrs.
w. w. Spaid Hurt.
MRS. META MOONEY LONE
ONE OF % TO ESCAPE
Big Motor Car Dashes Across
Bridge Into Precipice When
Bikes Fail to Work.
BY the Associat ted Press,

BY the Associa ted Press.
NICE, August 21.-Five American
tourists and one Frenchman were
killed and fifteen persons injured,
some perhaps fatally, when a sight
seeing motor bus crashed through a
parapet on the mountain road be-
tween Nice and Evian yesterday.
into the River Var.
Eighteen of the twenty-five pas
sengers were Americans. The dead
are: The Rev. Hiram Grant Person
and Mrs. Person of Newton, Mass. :;
Mrs Alexander Sondheimer, Mrs. D.
+. White of Washington. d. c.:
Charles II. Gray of Gardiner. Me-, and
the French chauffeur, Louis vallerino
Alexander Sondheimer, native of
st. Louis. was in critical condition
today. Another of those hurt was
Mrs. Spaid of Washington. .. c.
Bus Jumps Parapet.
At the point where the accident
occurred the mountain road runs
close to the precipice. The driver of
the bus was apparently unable to
straighten out his car after making
a sharp turn and the machine jumped
the parapet. turning a somersault be-
fore landing in the torrent far below.
The only passenger unhurt was
Mrs. Meta Mooney of Washington,
d. C.
The accident occurred near the VIII
Iage of Guillames, about forty miles
from Nice.
List of Injured.
The list of injured follows:
Alexander Sondheimer left arm
fractured in two places.
Isaac Strayhorn, compound fracture
of the left arm, wounds in the head.
Mrs. Isaac Strayhorn, left arm brok-
en-. internal injuries, left ankle brok-
en-. condition serious. -..-... -ss~
Carltron G. Person. lower and upper
Jaws broken.
Robert T. Person. slight wounds in
the head.
knee. wounds in the head.
Mrs. w. A. Hooker, Jaw broken, in
ternal injuries, condition serious
Miss w. H. Beaumont, deep wound
in the right leg, left arm broken in
two places.
w. r. Coffey, wounds In the chest.
serious wound in the forehead
Mrs: w. r. Coffey. superficial
wounds. no bones broken.
Mrs. w. w. Spaid of Washington
d. c.. left collar bone broken.
F. w. Rugg. official photographer
of the Temple Tours, internal injuries
Rene Moreau of Brussels and Jean
Paul OF Nice, slightly hurt.
Led BY Professor.
The American tourists. led~by. Prof.
ID
University, arrived in Nice Sunday,
after tour through Italy. They left
here. accompanied by Photographer
Rugg. yesterday morning in great
spirits. They stopped for luncheon
. in the village of Guillaumes. perch
ed high in the French Alps, and on
leaving for Briancon, made room for
lean Paul of Nice, who wanted a lift
to Barcellonette.
Paul escaped with slight injuries.
The car, he says, proceeded at normal
speed over dangerous roads along the
left bank of the River Var, ranging
from 800 to 900 feet above the level
of the river bed.
About two and one-half miles south
of Gufllaumes the road crosses one
of the small torrents common in the
vicinity. The bridge over this stream
is reached by hair-pin turn down
the side of the mountain, the road in
than 1000 yards.
Brakes Fail TO Respond.
The car gathered speed descending
the hill, the chauffeur according to
Paul, apparently losing control, as
the brakes did not respond He nego-
tiated the bridge safely, but was un-
able to take the sharp turn at the
opposite end, the car crashing into
a parapet and going over at full
speed.
The Frenchman. seated on the side
of the car opposite the chasm, was
thrown into the road and stunned.
AS he fell he heard shrieks from
other passengers who were flung
a catapult, into the river bed, the
car turning somersault. Paul says
the fact that the car was completely
overturned probably saved the lives
of many of the passengers. some of
whom fen twenty to forty feet away
from the machine.
The passengers who were killed
outright were crushed under the
heavy vehicle.
Sees Terrifying Scene.
Insensible only momentarily. Paul
dragged himself to the parapet and
gave one look into the chasm.
II never saw and 1 never expect to
see more terrifying scene" he told
friends today, land 1 have been
through four years of war;
"A passing automobile reached the
spot shortly after the disaster and
summoned relief parties. With diff
Guilty the wounded, who were scat
tered over a radius of fifty feet from
the car, which had burst into flames,
were gathered together. Some of
them were lying in the water, and
two or them were found hanging
from projecting rocks.
The two sons of the Rev. and Mrs.
Person, Carlton and Robert, were
among the injured, but were able to
assist in the caring for the bodies of
their father and mother.
Mrs. White Dies in Hospital.
Mrs. Sondheimer and Mrs White
were so seriously injured that they
were left in the hospital at Puget
Theniers, where they died shortly
afterward. The others were taken
to hospitals in Nice.
Six bodies reached Nice this morn
ing and were placed in the special |
room in the railroad station which |
during the war was reserved for the !
lCoutinued on Page 4. Column 81 !,