Daily Kennebec journal., 1924-12-29
TWO WOMEN DEAD
fronk;o,,al Sran. o.c> Nn.N

highway according to witnesses,
turned onto Lithgow street and
drove onto the crossing at rate Of
speed estimated by Postmaster En-
bert A. Ramsey, who was nearest to
the scene at Is miles an hour. He
stated that they did not look around
at all and did not seem to realize
that the train was coming.
Mr.. Ramsey declared that he saw
the train and shouted and waved
his hands but to no avail. He
though the car was going TO clear
the engine when the crash came and
q fraction of a second would have
been all that was needed.
The telegraph pole which IS be-
lieved to Lave been the major cause
of the tragedy is about three times
the size of an ordinary pole and the
automobile must have been whirling
at an enormous rate of speed as 1t
spun completely around once and
literally bent itself about the pole.
The car was Maxwell coupe but
1t was nothing but ishapeless mass
Of wreckage; the body splintered
and the frame bent so that It was
impossible to tell at first glance
what sort of an automobile It had
been.
Conductor Fl. A. Smith and En-
gineer Chapman, both of Portland,
were in charge of the train. The
engineer stopped his train within It's
length, although II was q mile and
a, half out of the Waterville station,
coming at a fair rate of speed.
Mrs. Rosetta Scribner, mother Of
Mrs. Eaton. who is nearly 80 years
old. was sitting in a window Of their
home watching for ier daughters
return and she was a witness of the
whole tragedy, in fact the only wit
ness as Mr.. Ramsey saw the car
struck and then 1t disappeared be-
hind the train.
No one win ever know the real
cause Of the accident as Mrs. Eaton
died without recovering conscious
ness. Residents of Winslow discuss
Ing the accident Immediately after II
occurred, declared the overhead
trusses of the railroad bridge across
the Sebasticook river which runs
about IS feet from the 81 ossing inter-
fere with the vision OF automobile
drivers going along Litifgow street to
the crossing. To a casual observer
the crossing is not a blind one. vision
being fairly clear for several hundred
yard both ways. At the rate Of speed
that the train was travelling II was
estimated that II was ON the bridge
about the time the car came up to
the crossing but II was evident that
the noise of the automobile drowned
any noise that the approaching train
was making.
Mr.. Ramsey declared that Mrs.
Eaton did not appear u increase the
speed Of her car at all or try to apply
the brakes.
Frank Miles said that az soon as
he saw what had happened he rushed
to the telephone and put In an emer-
gency call for a doctor and within a
very few minutes several Waterville
and Winslow physfciansc including
DR.. John @. Towne, county medical
examiner, were on the scene. It was
seen at once that Mrs. Pendergast
had died instantly and Mrs Eaton
was rushed to the Sisters Of Charity
hospital In an ambulance. At that
time IL appeared that Mrs. Eaton was
suffering from broken legs and null
tiple bruises. and she was uncon-
ecious but internal injuries were
feared and later at the hospital It
was found that she sustained a bro
ken back and little hope was given
for her recovery. aa
Train No. 102 Is one cs the fastest
trains on the line and for many years
has been known as the Flying Yam.
kee.' It leaves Wateryilie at 3.2S