Indianapolis Times, Volume 39, Number 136, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 October 1927 — Page 1

SCRIPPS-HOWARD

16 DIE IN CROSSING CRASH

MUSIC AND LAUGHTER END IN SCREAMS AND MOANS AS CAR TEARS THROUGH TRUCK Grotto Celebrants Singing to Accompaniment of Accordian as Interurban Looms in Darkness and Hurls Them to Death. MOMENT TO PRAY, THEN TRAGEDY Survivors Tell Graphic Stories of Collision That Took Sixteen Lives and Injured Many Others. The nimble fingers of Von Weber Glascock drew forth the strains of “Back Home Again in Indiana,” from his accordion. Sixty-five voices swelled in happy chorus as a silvery moon bathed the scene in soft glory. Happy, carefree folks all, bent on an evening of old-fash-ioned fun at a barn dance. And then an ominous threat —sudden realization by those who happened to be looking eastward that the light they had thought was only an automobile on a cross road was an interurban car, only about,2oo feet away and certain to strike them. Screams—perhaps a swiftly uttered prayer—a horrible, grinding, crash, echoing into the distance as wood and steel were crushed and dragged along.

Then a moment of silence at the scene and the pall of physical and mental anguish settled down. This is the picture as described by witnesses of the collision of the Union Traction interurban with a truck trailer bearing members of the Sahara Grotto Blue Devil Zouaves, their wives, and other relatives, at Emerson Ave., near Twenty-Third St., Friday night. Musicians Were Waiting For weeks the Blue Devils, whose dashing appearance and precision has won them a national reputation as a drill team, had been preparing for the party. The bam, an old place near Ft. Harrison, on Pendleton pike, was decorated and some of the musicians were waiting. In ten minutes more the party would have been under way. Says Headlight Was Dim A R. Carney, 337 N. Webster Ave., secretary of the Blue Devils, was riding on the truck. Only a few moments before the crash he had been back on the trailer, talking to Von Weber Glasscock, who was killed. . Carney said he saw the interurban coming as the truck pulled on to the tracks. He declared that the headlight was dim, resembling more an automobile light than the glaring beam usually thrown ahead of a traction car. The car was about 180 feet away then, he said, and the car whistle was sounded at that moment. The truck rolled slowly on, pulling the trailer directly in front of the interurban, just as it struck. Every one seemed to scream at once, Carney said. With a sickening spund of wood and steel meeting and being ripped into shreds, the car struck the trailer, tore it loose from the truck and hurled bodies and debris in every direction. Driver Halts Truck The truck rolled on, with the occupants screaming to the driver to stop. The driver applied his brakes. It was not until he felt a thud and heard the screams that he knew an interurban had been coming, Stewart, the driver, said. The interurban, the front smashed in around the motorman, and the controller and air brakes rendered useless, rolled on for 1,080 feet to the west, according to police, where it finally coasted to a stop. The five passengers disappeared in the crowd. None of them was reported injured. The persons on the undamaged truck stood horrified a moment and then leaped to the ground and began running up the track to search for dead and injured. Survivors Are Dazed Dr. Austin H. Todd city councilman, one of the first doctors to reach the scene, said that there was an unusual lack of confusion, the survivors appearing to have been too dazed to raise an outcry immediately after the tragedy. For the most part the survivors went about the work of finding and identifying the mangled remains and helping care for the injured with blanched faces and twitching lips. Here and there a wife or a husband, finding a dead or injured mate, gave vent to grief. The salvaging of the dead and lnAmbassador Apt. Hotel. Ri. 1371. Comfortable, beautiful, reasonable. —Adv,

Complete Wire Reports of UNITED PRESS, The Greatest World-Wide News Service

The Indianapolis Times Generally fair tonight and Sunday; slightly warmer tonight, coloer Sunday.

VOLUME 39—NUMBER 136

Last Kiss Tucked in their beds, ionmindful of tragedy, Jack Glascdck, 11, and his sister, Jeanne, 6, slept undisturbed at the family home, 332 N. Bancroft St., while their mot/ier at the side of their dead father, Von Weber Glascock, at city hospital. “It was the first time Jack ever had failed to kiss the daddy good night*,” said Dorothy Smith, 419 Bancroft St., who was taking care of the children while their mother and father went to the Grotto party. “Jack had gone to a show before Mr. Glascock left, and when he came back his father had gone.” “We didn’t awaken the children. We dread to see the moment come when someone must tell them their daddy is dead.”

Jured was a grewsome task. Bodies parts of bodies, and the injured were found strewn all along the 1 080 feet course which the coast, ing interurban took before it stopped. Five Bodies On Interurban Five bodies, according to police, were found fastened to the front of the interurban. Parts of the body of one man were found in five different places. One body was found alongside the track 800 feet from the point of impact. Ambulances were rushed from all parts of the city, the injured taken to hospitals and the dead removed to homes or funeral parlors. Jumps, Escapes Injury O. J. Leppert, 28, of 2743 Manker St., was one of the few persons on the ill-fated trailer who jumped and escaped injury. "I was standing about three feet from the edge of the trailer when the car crashed. I jumped clear of the wreckage and was unhurt. As I jumped I saw Michael Scully, Rowland, Rhodes, Henry Berling and a man named Marshall jump to the ground. It seems that all the others were thrown before they could move,” said Leppert. E. F. Enigholz, 3712 Ruckle St., musician, who was to play at the barn dance for Grotto members, was in the second auto behind the trucktrailer when the fatal crash occurred. Enigholz said he was certain the motorman sounded a signal several times. “He’s going on in spite of that signal,” Enigholz said he tclu a companion in his auto. He said he could give no details of the accident. Witnesses said a member of the party sighted the traction and screamed “be careful.” Others cried, “go on” to the driver, it was said. CONNIE GETS DIVORCE Movie Star Is Given Decree From Captain Mackintosh. Bv United Brest EDINBURGH, Scotland, Oct. 15. —Constance Talmadge, American motion picture star, was granted a divorce today from Capt. Alistair Mackintosh.

First Pictures at Scene of Death

■mntnmiWFfftf met ■—ifll 'wj .. > : |“ •• • .

Another view of the Blue Devil crossing tragedy scene. Note the two white crosses, in memory of two persons killed there some time ago.

’ f $* | , j ’ I 1 \ '* I \ x>’ 1-.

Emerson Ave. looking north across Union Tracion and Big Four, showing clear view of tracks at point where sixteen met death Friday night.

The truck which was pulling the ill-fated trailer in the Blue Devil tragedy Friday night.

5 <' ' *

The battered chassis, aU that is recognizable in the wreckage of the trailer upon which the Grotto members and their relativ es were crushed. -

GIFFORD RITES ARE SET Funeral of Accident Shooting Victim to Be Held Monday. Funeral services for James Gifford, 28, of 2714 N. Pennsylvania St., will be held at 10 a. m. Monday at the home. The body then will be taken to Kokomo for burial in Crown Point cemetery. Gifford shot himself Friday morning while cleaning a revolver. Death was almost instantaneous, the bullet piercing his chest. Coroner C. H. Keever pronounced death accidental. Surviving him are his mother and a brother, Dr. Fred E. Gifford, with whom he had been making his home. Hourly Temperatures 6 a. m 39 8 a. m 36 7 a. m 40 9 a. m 49

INDIANAPOLIS, SATURDAY, OCT. 15,1927

DIES IN TRAIN CRASH New York Central Engines Collide; Fireman Killed. Bu United Press GALLIPOLIS, Ohio, Oct. 15.—A New York Central passenger train and a freight engine crashed headon near here today, killing the fireman of the passenger and seriously scalding Perry Thomas, engineer. None of the passengers was injured in the collision, which occurr: 1 on the north approach of the Ohio River bridge near Kanaugh station. The dead fireman was named Callahan. The engineer, Thomas, was brought here.

Others Injured

Miss Margaret Pauley, 345 S. Audubon Rd., fractured pelvis. City hospital. Emil Hadley, 1442 Blaine Ave., lacerated scalp and bruises. Mrs. C. O. Bucksot, Edgewood; taken home. Miss Virginia Hurt, 25, of 1928 Broadway, cuts and bruises; taken home. John H. Berling, 5214 Maple Lane, cuts and bruises. City hospital. W. W. Merrill, 51, motorman, 6285 College Ave., fractured jaw, broken leg, crushed hand, cuts and bruises. City hospital. Hal Titus, 38, conductor, 2525 E. Tenth St., burns on hands; treated at Indiana Christian hospital and taken homf. ' Robert Reinhar't. 1533 N. Gale St., bad cuts anu bruises. Methodist hospital.

THREE MEN ARRESTED ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES; PROBE OF WRECK BEGUN Tragedy Worst Involving Motor Driven Vehicle in State History; Dozen Are Injured, Four of Them Critically, in Night Collision. GROTTO MEMBERS AND WIVES VICTIMS Interurban Tears Through Trailer of Truck, Loaded With Happy Group on Way to Barn Dance at Ft. Benjamin Harrison. Pictures of Victims and Other Crash Stories On Page 3. Three governmental branches today were seeking to determine whether criminal charges should be filed for the death of sixteen persons and injury of twelve, four critically, in an interurban-motor truck crash at Emerson Ave. near Twenty-Third St., at 8:25 Friday night. The Public Service Commission, the police and Coroner C. H. Keever investigated the grewsome crash of an inbound Union Traction intrurban train with a truck trailer loaded with members of Sahara Grotto Blue Devil Zouaves and their wives on the way to a barn dance on Pendleton Pike near Ft. Benjamin Harrison. Police held the motorman, W. W. Merrill, 51, of 6295 College Ave., who is seriously injured in city hospital; the conductor, Hal Titus, 38, of 2525 E. Tenth St., and the truck driver, Harry Stewart, 38, of 6 S. West St., under $2,500 bonds. The trainmen provided bond, but the truck driver still was in jail. All are charged with manslaughter.

The c-rash was the worst in which a motor-driven vehicle figured in the history of Indiana. The only recent traction tragedy to compare with it w as the Fortville wreck of the Union Traction, in which a score lost their lives when two cars crashed head -on and caught fire. The Fortville wreck occurred Feb. 2, 1924. A party of sixty-five members, wives and relatives of the Sahara Grotto Blue Devil Zouaves gathered at Washington St. and Emerson Ave. Friday evening, parked their cars and boarded a two-ton motor truck and large trailer to go to the barn dance. j . ... Half a do?en cars, loaded witn persons who could not get on these vehicles trailed along. Approaches Crossing Slowly Northward the happy party rode along Emerson Ave. The truck approached the Union Traction Newcastle division crossing slowly. The driver, Stewart, says that he did not hear a whistle and did not see the headlight of the car. The view is unobstructed for blocks in each direction, and the car tracks are graded higher than the street in both directions. Up on the tracks the truck lumbered. On across the truck passed, pulling the trailer directly in front of the onrushing interurban. .. The car struck the trailer, scattering the passengers in every direction and carrying at least five bodies with it to a point 1,080 feet west, where the interurban /finally coasted to a stop. Motorman Badly Hurt The motorman was injured seriously and his controls all torn away by the crash. The front vestibule was smashed back into the smoker. The tailoer was tom loose from the truck, all those on the front vehicle escaping. The truck driver says he did not know what happened until the screams informed him something was wrong. The truck was stopped about 100 feet from the tracks. The public service commission was investigating the accident, as it does all tragedies in which common cancer* ere involved. Investigator J, K. Smith was at the scent

Entered a* Second-Claaa Matter at Postoffice, Indianapolis

The Dead

LEE V. MEURIMAN, 362 Good MISS OPAL MERRIMAN, sister of Lee V., 362 Good Ave. CHARLES O. POISEL, 2002 Mansfield Ave. RALPH PARKER, 725 Bradley Ave. HAROLD WOLFORD, 4728 Shelby St. WILLIAM M. HODGES, 5949 Beechwood Ave. MRS. ROWLAND P. RHODES, 331 Temple Ave. VON WEBER GLASCOCK, 332 N. Bancroft St. FRANK MEREDITH, 5864 Lowell Ave. f MRS. MABEL MEREDITH, Wife of Frank, 5864 Lowell Ave. CHARLESE VIRGIL WHEELER, Edgewood. CARL JONES, 611 Arch St. MRS. ADA JONES, wife of Carl, 611 Arch St. JOHN G. WATSON, 213 S. Audubon Rd. ROBERT W. DALLAS, 742 N. Garfield Ave. MRS. ROBERT W. DALLAS, 742 Garfield Ave.

Critically Injured

Mrs. Ethel Merriman. wife of Lee V. Merriman, who was killed, 362 Good Ave., fractured skull. City hospital. Mrs. Mary H. Berling, 5214 Maple Lane, fractured skull. City hospital. Charles L. Kepner < 838 E. SixtyThird St., head injuries. City hospital. Mrs. Charles V. Wheeler, Edgewood, fractured skull. City hospital. and worked with police most of the night. Two Turns to Probe The police investigation took two turns. One was to learn responsibility for the wreck, the other to devise means of preventing another such horror. Polifce Chief Claude M. Worley, who personally supervised the police relief work at the scene and the investigation, said that while the view apparently is unobstructed he believes there should be a warning light at the crossing, because both Big Four railroad and Union Traction lines run parallel at the point and because statements of persons who escaped death on the truck indicated that the light of the approaching interurban ap-

EXTRA

Outside Marlon County S Cents

TWO CENTS

peared more like the lights of an automobile. Statements as to whether the motorman whistled for the crossing varied. Coroner Keever proceeded methodically. He expected to spend a i x^ ay completin ß accurate records of the dead and Injured and planned to summon witnesses for the inquest Monday. Conductor Is Burned Representatives of the Uhion Traction Company were on the Job as quickly as possible after the cresh. Police could not locate Conductor Titus at the scene. Chief Worley ordered a search for him and officers found him at his home. 2525 E. Tenth St., with severe burns on both hands, suffered when the car stove was hurled against him as he walked from the smoker Into the baggage compartment. Titus had refused transportation in an ambulance and had stayed sC the scene for quite a while. Titus was taken to Indiana Christian Hospital and his wounds dressed. Then he was taken to police headquarters. With him were Joseph R. Morgan, attorney for the traction company, and J. k. Smith, a public service commission investigaotor. Detectives slated Titus on a manslaughter charge and questioned him. . Car Not Going Fast Titus said the car was due at the crossing at 8:25 p. m., was on time and was not traveling fast. Morgan declared that the car was traveling slowly that the headlight was good and the car under perfect control. The truck driver. Stewart, was taken to police headquarters and immediately slated on a manslaughter charge. He said that he did not see the interurban appoarching, did not hear a whistle and did not realize there was danger until he heard the crash and screams. Detectives questioned Motorman Merrill at city hospital after he regained consciousness. Talking with extreme difficulty, because of his broken jaw, the motorman said he plainly saw the truck, slowly approaching the crossing, when he was some distance from Emerson Ave but had no idea that it would not be stopped. v/ hen he saw that the truck was not being stopped, he said, according to detectives, he set the brakes and blew the whistle in short blasts. The crash tore away all Jhe controls and the car coasted to a stop the motorman said. Merrill was charged with manslaughter.