Bridgeport, Ct., Aug. 6.-Nearly forty- persons were killed by an accident on the Stamford extension of the Shelton Street Hallway Company at 4 o'clock this afternoon, when a loaded trolley car went off the trestle over Peck's mill pond at Oronoque, about six miles north of Bridgeport, and sank In the- flats 40 feet below.  Thus far thirty-six people are known to be dead, and several more Injured.

 The Identified dead are:

Jos. Hotchkiss, Bridgeport, engineer fire department.
Henry C. Cogswell. Bridgeport, employee of New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, member of the board of education.
Orlando B. Wells, shoemaker.
Selectman Silas B. Bradley and wife, Milford.
William Osborne, Stratford.
Daniel Galvin, Ansonia.
Conductor John Carroll, Bridgeport.
S. Banks, Shelton.
Mrs. McDonall, Bridgeport
Winton Lanthear, motorman Bridgeport Traction Company.
Bessie Toomey, Bridgeport.
Mrs. J. H. Rugg, Stratford.
Mrs. Frank Blew and two children- boy, aged 8, and girl, aged 5, Stratford.
William McCullough, Stratford.
Mrs. Arthur Holmes, Bridgeport
Thomas McNally, Bridgeport (Identification not positive.)
Peter Ring, Bridgeport.
Patrick McDermott, Bridgeport
Frank Kraft, Bridgeport.
Mrs. Patrick Brennan, Bridgeport.
Alfred Pitt, Bridgeport.
William Cotter, Bridgeport (Identification not positive.)
Irving Doruse, Bridgeport
Mrs. William H. Harvey, Bridgeport.

Among the seriously Injured at the Bridgeport hospital are:

Margaret Brennan, scalp wound.
Mrs. Sydney A. Hitt, Bridgeport, right leg fractured twice.
Margaret Farrell, right leg amputated above knee; will probably die.
George Hamilton, scalp wound, Injury to leg.
Frank Kraft, Bridgeport, Injuries about head and back.
Arthur Holmes, Bridgeport, contusion about the body, left leg crushed.
Fred Hillercus, scalp wound, bruised about body.
Matthew Olvin, scalp wound, cut and bruised generally.
Only two persons are known to have escaped unharmed. It Is believed that there were forty- three passengers on the oar, but the Indicator was removed by a conductor of another car and spirited away, so that it is present.  It is Impossible to state accurately the number aboard. The scene of the accident is midway between Shelton and Bridgeport. The car was north-bound, running toward Shelton. It was in charge of Conductor John Carroll, of Bridgeport, who was among the killed, and Motorman Hamilton, of Bridgeport, who escaped by jumping.

 The trestle is 440 feet long, made of iron, with stone foundations, and was not protected by guard rails. South of the trestle is an incline, down which the car ran at a high rate of speed. After it ran onto the trestle for about 10 feet the trucks left the rails and then the car continued on the ties for about 75 feet when it went off the trestle and dropped into the pond below, overturning completely and up-ending. When the car struck the four-ton motor and the heavy trucks crushed into it, instantly killing many of the passengers. Three physicians, who were passengers on a car a short distance behind, arrived quickly on the scene and rendered all possible assistance to the injured. Word was sent to Bridgeport and three ambulances and a police wagon were hurriedly sent to the scene, and the injured were taken, to Bridgeport General hospital. A morgue was improvised in the main room of the town hall at Stratford, and in a very short time twenty-three bodies were laid out, awaiting identifications . The accident was witnessed by Miss Frances Peck, who resides about 400 feet from the bridge. She was upstairs at her home as the car was passing, and she says that it was running unusually fast. Frank Cramer, who was bathing near the bridge, states that the passengers were all singing and in the most joyful mood as they passed him. The road, which is practically controlled by the Bridgeport Traction Company, was opened for traffic last Thursday.

Conjecture as to the Cause Bridgeport, Aug. 6.-Nearly the entire medical force of Bridgeport responded to telephone calls sent in, but when the doctors arrived they were unable to render much assistance, as so few passengers escaped instant death. The car, after up-ending, soon settled over on, its side, and there was little difficulty in removing the bodies of the dead, as well as assisting the wounded. Motorman Hamilton  is suffering from such a severe shock  that it was impossible to learn anything from him to-night. President Andrew Radell, of the railway company, stated that it was impossible for him to account for the accident. Immediately after his arrival at the scene he made a thorough inspection of the tracks and trestle and could see nothing wrong, and cars were running over the trestle as usual soon afterwards. He denied that the cars were being run at a high rate of speed, and claimed that every possible precaution had been taken to prevent accidents. One theory advanced is that faulty construction was responsible for the accident. At the point where the cars leave the road for the trestle it is alleged that the rails had sunk a little, and though the forward trucks took the rails alright, the rear trucks did not connect and jumped the track, which caused the forward trucks to also leave the iron. It is believed that if proper guard rails had been placed on the trestle the car would have been prevented from toppling over. All of the persons killed sustained fractured skulls.

William Kelly, of Bridgeport, who was in company with Miss Farrell escaped death by jumping from the car as he felt it swaying to the flats, below. Soon afterward the car toppled over. He sustained a severe shock, but was otherwise uninjured. He stated tonight that the cars were not running unusually fast, but that the car was swaying considerably when it struck the trestle, and he realized the danger and knew his only safety was in jumping. George Willis, of Shelton, was on the highway not more than 100 feet from the scene, and witnessed the car toppling over. He said that there was one unearthly shriek as it went down, and after that silence.

Miss Frances Peck, who was dressing in her room, saw the accident from her window, and it is her impression that the car was running very fast. She was so excited that she could not give but meager information, but swears that the car was swaying considerably as it reached the trestle.

One of the pathetic scenes was that of the lifeless body of a child reclining in the arms of a dead man, the infant appearing to be smiling and asleep. The 3-year-old son of Mrs. J. H. Rugg was frantically appealing to his dead mother. His sister, 5 years old, had her left arm broken. The Stratford town hall, where the bodies were taken, was soon besieged by more than 1000 persons, some of whom had relatives or friends among the dead, and the deputy sheriffs in charge had much difficulty in handling the crowd of weeping women and anxious men. All the bodies of the Bridgeport dead and the few unidentified were taken to the morgue at Bridgeport late tonight. It has been ascertained that forty fares were registered, and these, with the young children that did not have to pay, the motorman and conductor and an extra motorman, who was being taught, probably make the number on the car forty seven.

The Daily Picayune, (New Orleans, LA) Monday, August 07, 1899; Issue 195; col A
[Transcribed & Submitted by Janice R.]