The Washington times., 1935-12-23

State Motor Vehicle DEPARTING
AS first step in investigation
of the tragedy, the body Of the
driver was sent to Richmond
where an autopsy will be per.
formed to determine if he was
dead before the fatal plunge. This
step was ordered by DR.. J. M
Daley, acting coroner Of Hope
well.
At a loss to account for the &C
cident, officials of the bus com.
pany pointed out that rigidly en-
forced rule of the line requires all
drivers to come to a complete stop
at every railroad crossing and
bridge and open the door Of the
vehicle, whether there is a pasSen.
ger waiting or not.
There was but one witness to
the tragedy. Lacey McNair, the
bridge tender who had opened the
draw to allow passage Of a tug
drawing barge upstream, heard
q terrific crash and looked up to
see the heavy bus plunge through
the safety gates and topple into
the river.
Bus Brakes Set
Investigation showed that the
brakes on the bus were set. Me
chanics, pointing out that the
vehicle was equipped with air
brakes, asserted the brakes had
probably frozen" This theory
was borne out by the fact that
there were no skid marks on the
frozen surface of the highway
leading to the bridge.
With every soul on the bus per-
iShing, including the driver, what
happened on the vehicle just be-
fore the tragedy will never be
known.
Some of the 13 passengers were
going home for Christmas.
Ten Years o Driver
The snow had stopped, and Wis
1bility was clear at the time, al.
though the road was deep with
snow and ice. A red light and
black and white striped gates
gave warning that the bridge
was open.
Another theory advanced was
that the driver, c. A. Afford, may
have tainted or suffered a heart
attack. Those holding this theory
point out that otherwise he would
have crashed the vehicle into
the concrete safety walls Of the
bridge and averted the tragedy,
Afford had been driving for
the company for more than 10
years and was an experienced
man with an excellent record,
company officials said.
Futile Struggle in Water
As the bus toppled through the
gates, coming to rest 80 feet be-
low the surface, one of the vic
tins came to the surface. It was
Capt. John B. Belch, SO, a Hope
well sea captain.
Captain Belch is believed either
to have broken his way through
window or to have been hurtled
through by the force Of the
crash. His throat was cut by
glass and he died as he struggled
to reach the shore.
A telephone call to Norfolk
brought Klass Evarts, deep sea
diver, to the scene. Putting on
his suit and helmet he descended
into the ice-filled water and
reached the bus.
Returning to the surface he
reported that all of the bodies
with the exception of the driver
had been forced into the rear
of the vehicle. The driver was
trapped behind the wheel and
had apparently died instantly.
Pair Die in Embrace
The rest Of the bodies were in
wierd frozen positions. A young
man and a young woman-as
yet unidentified-were locked in
each others arms, meeting death
while giving each other Solace.
On his second trip the diver
brought up the body Of a woman
But with his bulky suit he was
unable to penetrate through the
small windows, and reach the
other bodies.
Two large cranes were sum
inoned, and again the diver went
down and made lines fast. Shortly
after 9 o'clock last night, about
70 hours after the accident, the
work Of lifting the bus was
started. q 1t took more than an