Evening star., 1950-05-27
HaIf-Dozen Inquiries
Opened in Chicago S
Fatal Trolley Crash
BY the Assoeiofed Pres,

CHICAGO, May 27.-A hall
dozen separate investigation.
were being made today in connec.
ton with the streetcar-gasoline
truck crash in which 80 person.
were killed Thursday.
Some Of the points the investi.
gators are attempting to clear ap.
peared to be the rate of speed the
trolley was moving and the dis
crepancy in passengers account.
on the operation of the cars real
doors.
Thirty-one of the estimated "a
persons in the trolley-includine
the motorman-perished minutes
after the car crashed into the big
gasoline truck. The driver of the
double trailer truck, which con-
tanned some 5000 gallons of gaso-
line. also was killed.
30 Of Dead Identified.
Thirty others were hurt. The
spreading flames touched off fires
near the accident scene at Sixty
second and State streets. on the
eity's South Side. Five two-story
buildings and several automo-
biles were destroyed.
The death toll of 80, the Ma
tional Safety Council said, was
the largest to result from a mo-
tor vehicle collision in the Nation.
1t had been 80, but coroner off,
eials revised it last night after
q complete examination of the
charred bodies.
Thirty of the dead had been
identified. They included Is Ne
groes. All were from Chicago.
Police, who started their probe
Of the accident Immediately after
the crash, arrested the trolley
conductor yesterday on a charge
Of leaving the scene of an acci-
dent. The conductor, William C.
Liddell. %. colored. who escaped
the fiery car with several pas
sengers. was released on 500 bond
posted by the Chicago Transit Au-
thority. which operates the city's
street car and elevated lines.
Panic Blocks Exit.
Liddell, who disappeared after
the crash. testified at a hearing
held by the CTA yesterday. He
said his attempts to open the rear
doors of the flaming car were
blocked by the panic stricken
riders trying to smash down the
doors.
At Boston, the National Fire
Protection Association said if the
doors of the car were of the type
which could not be opened quickly
IN an emergency "this was an
obvious contributing factor in the
distressing loss Of life"
The streetcar one of the
streamline types-is equipped with
three doors in the rear, two in
the front and one in the center.
The front doors are operated by
the motorman and the rear doors
by the conductor. Only the center
door has an emergency handle for
passengers, a CTA official said.
Several of the riders who es-
capped after breaking windows said
the rear doors jammed but others
said the center door was open.
Involved in 10 Accidents.
Charles G. Klein, a, a flagman,
at the accident scene, said he
was unsuccessful in attempting to
slow down the streetcar before it
made a left turn on a temporary
turn-round. The car, he said,
moved past him at about 80 miles
an hour.
However, Ralph Budd, CTA
chairman. said an inspection of
the switch indicated the car was
travelling not more than 10 or II
miles an hour.
A CTA spokesman said at the
hearing that the dead motorman,
Paul Manning, 40. had been in
volved in 10 minor" accidents in
the last II months. He said re-
sponsibility for three of the acci-
dents were charged to Manning,
who had been a motorman for four
years.
A brief preliminary hearing was
held by Coroner A. L. Brodie, who
adjourned the inquest until June
/. He said he will impanel a jury
that will include experts on traffic,
explosion and other factors in
volved in the tragedy.
Mayor Martin H. Kennedy also
ordered the city's corporation
counsel TO compile a report on the
disaster. Investigations also were
under way by the Fire Department
and the States attorneys Office.