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Show v "" " - . -", V -- ; ' '- - - - " 1 ' ' ' ( : -2 W -3 ; J -j : Hylt' J : ' VI.4.; ' V "SWIICMMAN'S BLI1I TMOWS M- ' EEVA1B TIAI 8?? TIE TKACZS; , - TMIMY- PEOPLE AKE'B ABL: 1 JDKEB Awful Scenes When the Cars Are Hurled from the Rails; One Lands on Top of a i Near-By Building. NEW YORK, Sept. 11. Through a switchman's blunder, one of the most disastrous wrecks in the history of the city occurred "v this morning. A southbound elevated train was thrown from the jrack, killing ten 'persons and' injuring thirty. . WEW YORK, Sept. 11. Eleven persons per-sons were killed and more than thirty Injured by the derailment of an elevated elevat-ed railroad train at Fifty-third street and Ninth avenue today. The train was a southbound Ninth avenue and should haVe continued on the straight track In order to be switched to the jMirve by which Sixth avenue trains proceed on Fifty-third street from -CN'lnth avetiaWovSixth avenue. A Sixth (avenue train hatlJust passed and the switch lever was open. Owing to this oren switch the first car of the Ninth atenue train took the switch. Just barely "staying on the rails and turned into Fifty-third street instead in-stead of going djwn Ninth avenue. Turns the Switch. : . The switchman, it Is alleged, when he saw his bUmr, turned the switch back again aa if to send the train on the straight track down Ninth avenue. As soon as this was done the train was wrecked. The second car got around the turn, but the third car. owing to the switch change, was thrown off the track. It fell into the Btreet. turning ompletely over and landing, upside . down. The fourth car and fifth car also' left the rails but did not fall to the street. The fourth car struck with terrific force against the buildings at this southwest corner of Ninth avenue and rested against the fire. escape. This building is owned by a Mrs. . Crowe, whose family was at breakfast. The passengers in the fourth and fifth cars were able to save themselves and had to get to the street in safety by climbing climb-ing through the windows of Mrs. proinptu Inquiry into the cause of the wreck as soon as he could get the train crew Into a drug ktore nearby. During the Coroner's preliminary examination. ex-amination. Conductor J. W. Johnson said: "Coroner, you can go up on the elevated road at Blrty-rinth street and Ninth avenue and see for yourself.' You will find that the signal is yellow and green, which means that the southbound south-bound Ninth avenue train has the right of way and a clear track." Passenger' Story. W. C. Johnson, a passenger on the train, said after the wreck: "I waa sitting sit-ting In the second car of the train reading a paper when all of a sudden the lights went out and everyone was thrown to one side.. The next thing I knew I was thrown out of the door and landed In the street. Bodies at Police Station. Eight bodies of those killed In the"! wreck were taken to the Forty-seventh street police station and laid out In a row on the floor of the back room, and as fast as persons who could convince the police that they could make positive Identifications reached the station house they, were admitted. As the news spread, the crowd in front of the station sta-tion house increased until there was danger of a fatal collision and extra police, were ordered out from adjacent precincts to aid In clearing the street Solomon Nugast was sitting at the rront end of the car which Jumped into the street when a sharp piece of board or metal severed his head from his body as though done with an ax. The head was found on the tracks several yards away. Neglect of Switchman. "I am satisfied that the whole accident acci-dent was due to the neglect of the switchman," said Coroner Scholer. "In the first place, he made a mistake In turning the Ninth avenue train Into Fifty-third street and then added to his blunder by turning the switch back again in an attempt to divert the train into Ninth avenue again. The last mistake mis-take caused the terrible accident and loss of life." Joseph Bach, policeman, died of Injuries In-juries after having been taken to Roosevelt hospital. The Identified Dead. E. P. SCHELBLE, New York. J. H. HAUSPACH, a member of the New York Board of Trade. S. NEUGUS, negro, employed by the Mutual Chemical company of Jersey City. JOHN MORRIS, a negro, address unknown. un-known. ' CORNELIUS M'CARTY, laborer, address ad-dress unknown. - WILLIAM LEES, electrician at Rock-away Rock-away Beach. - Crowe' apartments, from the fire escape es-cape against which the fourth car rested. rest-ed. Policeman's Story. Policeman Edward .Moran, who was Injured, was standing beneath the tructure when the accident happened. iTle leaped, when he heard the crash ""V overhead and escaped death. "I turned around and saw the car coming to the street" he said. "It fell ."""'th a crash on Its forward end. The Ittom cracked and the sides shivered iJid opened out The people were Lammed forward, holding to the straps and mixed up together. "When the side, broke out they were scattered all over the street. These were the lucky ones. Those who could not get out were the worst Injured. . Alarm Turned In. , "I saw there was awful work ahead, no I ran to Fifty-first street and turned In an alarm. Then I sent In a call for all the ambulances and asked for police reserves. As I ran back, I called for help from wagons of all sorts. When I got back, the street was strewn with Injured people. We lifted them Into grocery wagons, trucks, anything handy and hurried them to Roosevelt . hospital. Many of them were women. They had fainted and it looked as if nearly all were dead. i'When the firemen came, they began dragging people out of the car. The further down they go Into the mass of humanity the slower the work became end the more serious were the wounds of those rescued. Finally axes had to be used to get the people from under the vreck. At that stage they began to pull out the dead." Excitement Is Intense.,, . The excitement among those In the derailed cars on the structure as they realized what had happened became Intense. In the forward car the wien, deeming the motttman was responsi- "S,We 'or the wreclji attacked him and )trled to beat him He wa dragged from his seat, but shouted for fair play and convinced the crowd that It was the switchman and not he that was responsible. re-sponsible. . Coroner Scholer. who wss early on the scene, says that the dead will be at least ten or more. The Injured will number twenty-five to thirty. Coroner Scholer haa caused the arrest of J. W. Johnson, the conductor of the train" Timothy Hlgginson. J. M. McDavItt' W. ,L., Berry and D. Clark, the four . g-jiarda. v?nnan and Switchman Missing. Motorman Paul Kelly, address un-kniwn. un-kniwn. and C. A. Jacklnson. the switchman on duty at Fifty-third Hi jst tnd" Ninth avenue, have disap-IT' disap-IT' d. the police say, and cannot be fiund. Coroner Scholer held an im- 4 . - S - ... JOHN COCHRANE, address unknown. un-known. Many persons were badly hurt. Among them are: .... .. The Injured. - 8eymour Rome, a bookkeeper, fractured frac-tured skull. ' . Charles Dobson, scalp wounds, Injured In-jured back. Rose Olfstead. scalp wound, contusions contu-sions of body and shock; , Henry Atkins, a policeman. . Part of the. falling car struck him. His skull is fractured and he suffered suf-fered injuries to chest and body. Unidentified man, about 35 years unconscious, un-conscious, fractured skull. Barbara Grell. 28. Western Union telegraph tel-egraph operator, suffering from shock. Joseph Bach,, policeman, badly crushed. Elizabeth Mlnar Nyack. leg crushed so that amputation was necessary; will die. Patrick Gilllgan. 356 West Fifty-sixth street, side crtished In. f Lincoln Eckstein, legs crushed William T. Nieubuer. skull fractured Bridget McMahon, .Internal Injuries and injuries to the head. One of the Incident of the .disaster was the Jump of James Bowen from a window of the third Car as It fell from the elevated structure Into the street He landed In 'the street clear of the car but headforemost and suffered a fracture of the skull. |