Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-09-16

New Jersey Public Utility Com
mission and the Army Corps Of
Engineers began probes. and
the railroad said 1t was con-
Quoting its own investigation.
They all wanted TO know II men
or machines caused the acci-
dent.
Mayor Among Dead
The body Of Mayor John
Hawkins. 81, Of Shrewsbury,
was among those in the recov-
cred coach. Authorities said
some negotiable bonds was
found in the car. Mrs. Hawkins
had told police that Mayor
Hawkins, a New York stock
broker, had left home with
$3.50. 900 in negotiable bonds.
Among the dead were George
tSnuffy) Stirnweiss. former
New York Yankee second base
man. Mr.. Etirnweiss, father of
six children, swung aboard the
train just as 1t pulled out of
Red Bank. thus keeping a split
second rendezvous with dis
aster.
Elton Clark. II, director Of
Allied Chemical & Dye Co., one
Of the Nations biggest corpo-
rations. was missing and pre-
sumed dead.
The train apparently ran
three warning signals. 1t
ripped through an automatic
derailing device that jerked it
from the rails but failed to keep
1t from bouncing onward across
naked crossties to plunge so
feet into the bay.
Unexplained Accident"
Jersey Central president E.
T. Moore called 1t an "unex-
| planned accident"
Four of six crewmen aboard
the train died. including En-
gineer Lloyd Wilburn, So, Of
Red Bank, N. J.
Mr.. Moore said Mr.. Wilburn
had an exceptional record in his
Is years as an engineer with
the railroad and that COM
1plete physical examination on
July 81 showed him to be in
top condition.
The engineers wife said her
husband showed no signs of
either heart trouble or high
blood pressure.
Skindivers, Navy underwater
specialists and surface vessels
recovered some bodies that
f1oated free of the wreckage
and f1oated up from the bot
tom of the bay. One of the
first reScuers on the scene,
Boatman Ed Mccarthy said:
Il tell you ! never want to
see anything like this again.
1t comes back to me how hor-
rible it must have been for
those people trapped under the
water"
The train had made its way
without incident along the
North Jersey shore toward
Jersey City and the ferry ter
minalS to New York City. En-
route it picked up New York
bound business executives. Wall
Streeters and weekend vaca.
TONERS headed back from the
shore.
There were about 100 pas
sengers on the train.
Bridge Tender Patrick Cor
coran. IS, pulled the switch
that raised the elevator-type
drawbridge to allow a barge
to move through the heavily
Travelled waterway.
There was nothing I could
do" he said. as he told of
watching helplessly as the train
plunged into the water. I'll
heard the rumble. can't de-
scribe my feelings. / never saw
anything like this in my life.
never saw such a mess
in my life"
Aboard the train as it rocked
onto the mile trestle, there
was little forewarning of dis
aster. /,
"All of a sudden the brakes
went on and everything went
topsy turvy," said Elwood E.
De Hart, a 72-year-old pasSen-
| ger who survived.
Donald Weaver, 80, Union
Beach. N. j., clerk in a Man.
Aidbtdl OuAAkt SdIu.
Il was reading my paper.
thought the car was derailed.
The next thing / knew the car
was full of water. / got out
through a smashed window. /
couldn't touch bottom. There
were five or six of us In the
water. We helped each other.
1t all happend too fast,
much too fast"
Lloyd Nelson of Little Silver, /,
N, j., recalled:
Il could see people all around
me coming 10 the surface"
The two diesel locomotives
plunged into the bay first.
With them they carried an ,
empty passenger coach. then a /
second coach where most Of |
the victims were riding.
Slides Into Water
The third coach in line slid
part way off the trestle, hang
ing at a 45-degree angle half
way into the bay. 1t tested
thus for az hours and then
slid beneath the surface. Most