Evening star., 1947-05-15
Police Probing
|Trail-bus Crash
Fatal 70 Three
5 Passengers Hurt
In RoiIrood Crossing
Accident at Kenwood

Accident at Kenwood
Montgomery County police ana
Baltimore d Ohio Railroad officials
today pressed an investigation In
the collision yesterday Of Con-,
|gressional Country Club bus and q
|B. y o. freight train near Bethesda
Ia which three persons were killed
and five injured.
The accident occurred shortly be-
fore pm, when the train backed
Into the bus at the Dorset avenue
crossing IN Kenwood. The bus was
carrying Is homeward-bound en-
ployes Of the club to streetcars and
buses at Tenley Circle In WASH
|ington.
The dead, all colored:
Jen Handy, 40, of the $500 block
lot N street NV. handy man at
the club.
Shirley Gordon. 27, of $40 Fourth
street NV.
Elsie williams. A, Of 1914 Twenty
NTH street NV.
Two Were Maids ut Club.
The two women were maids at the
club, which Is at River road and
Bradley boulevard. Bethesda.
The injured, also colored, are:
Daniel Willis, 20, OF 1922 Florida
avenue NV, possible hip fracture
and face injuries.
Gwendolyn Stewart, 81, of 633
Anacostia avenue NE, cuts and
abrasions on the face and arm.
Percy Grimm, 80, Of 815 Twenty
fifth street NV, knee and head
injuries.
Owen Hinkle, So, OF 1910 r street
NV, abrasions Of the knee.
Lenwood E. Nichols, s., abrasions
OF the arm.
Treated at Suburban Hospital
They were treated at Suburban
Hospital, Bethesda, and all except
Mr.. willis were released.
+ Police said the bus driver and
three members of the train crew
have been charged with manslaugh-
ter and released under 81 900 bond
each pending a preliminary hearing
at $50 am. Tuesday In Bethesda
Police Court.
Those charged are Fred L. Rey-
|nard. As, identified by police as the
bus driver, who lives at the club;
John E. Mastin, SO, of the $500 block
|of Third street NV, the engineer
LOT the train; Franklin r. Lake, 81,
Arlington, Va, the conductor, and
Otis r. Bartlett, 40, Plyers Mill road,
Silver Spring, the flagman.
The three victims apparently at.
tempted to escape through windows
OF the bus as the backing train
pushed 1t down the tracks. They
were crushed when it toppled on
one side.
Bus Falls Into Ditch
The bus was showed approximately
| 11. feet and fell on It's side In q ditch
along the right Of way.
While the bus was being raised,
firemen from nearby departments
used hand extinguishers to wash
down gasoline leaking from the
broken fuel tank.
The three bodies were pinned
under, the bus for more than an
hour.
Detective Sergt. John P. Leahy,
lot the Bethesda police station, said
he had not yet talked with the flag
man.
The bus driver, who has been er1-
ployed by the club since April 10,
said:
"I was 8 or 9 feet from the tracks
when I first saw the train. The
train could have stopped, believe.
before me. The engine was at the
other end, though, and the engineer
probably didn't know about my bus"
Speeds Are Estimated.
He estimated his speed about 10
or u miles an hour. Sergt. Leahy
said the engineer said the train was
travelling about 5 miles an hour.
Charles Fawley, 81, a night watch
man at the club. was sitting on the
front seat opposite the driver.
II didn't see the train until 1t was
on top Of us" he declared.
According to Louis Cleveland, SO,
Of 56l1 Oak place, Bethesda, q pas
try cook at the club, the bus slowed
down just before reaching the cross
ing and then "speeded up"
Il was reading q paper" he said,
"and as I put 1t away, I saw the
train coming. There was horrible
grinding and crashing, and scream-
ing people fell all over me-"
Most of the passengers were either
pulled out OF windows. or crawled
out themselves.
There are two stop, look and
listen" signs at the crossing, but no
gates or bells.
Among rescue workers who went
to the scene were members OF the
Bethesda Chevy Chase and Silver
Spring Rescue Squads, the Chevy
Chase Fire Department and the
Kensington and Glen Echo volun.
teer Fire Departments.