New York, NY Train Accident

January 9, 1889

KILLED A GIRL.

A Shocking Accident in Third Avenue Last Night.

Mangled by a Motor While the Storm Was at Its Height – Struck Down in the Presence of Her Friends.

MR. STEPHEN H. MARTIN, his daughters TILLY and KATIE MARTIN and MISS GEORGIE TAYLOR were all walking down Third avenue last evening at 7:45 o'clock. MR. MARTIN is a well to do farmer who lives with his large family at the foot of Sixty-first street. He and his daughters had left their house before the tornado arrived, desiring to attend services at the Fourth Avenue M. E. Church where a week or prayer is proceeding.

They were caught in the great storm and so blown about that when they attempted to cross Third avenue their minds were pretty fully occupied with keeping their feet. There is a very steep grade at this point on the railroad track, and trains from Fort Hamilton have to apply the brakes pretty strongly. Coming down this steep grade from Fort Hamilton at the very same time that the MARTINS undertook to cross was one of the steam surface trains of the Brooklyn City Railroad.

Neither the girls nor their father saw the locomotive till it was almost upon them. Then all sprang aside with the exception of MISS TILLIE. How it happened is not precisely known by anybody, but the girl was struck and instantly killed. The train came to a standstill and the agonized father pulled his daughter's body from under the can step where it was crushed.

The body was conveyed to the house of a neighbor and DR. PARSHALL, of Fifth-fourth street, was summoned. He found only a large black and blue mark over the heart. No bones were broken and no blood was shed. The body was not mangled or bruised in any other way, for the train was coming to a halt when it struck the girl, and the brakes were applied immediately and prevented the body from being dragged.

MISS TILLIE was 25 years of age, a great, rosy healthy, quick intelligent girl, who was much beloved by her family and friends. She was the organist of the church and, when the news of her death reached the worshipers, there was great consternation and more grief than could be expressed.

An Eagle reporter visited the house this morning and found a great assemblage of friends who had gathered to look on the dead and condole with the survivors. The unfortunate father is wandering about dazed with grief; the blow was so sudden and terrible that is seems to have paralyzed his brain. None of the family were in a condition to talk intelligently on the accident and its cause. They blame the train men, but have no explanation except that the train was going too fast.

PETER BRONCK, aged 50, of 1,237 Third avenue was the engineer. He and conductor EDWARD WALLACE were both arrested. WALLACE was discharged from the custody of the Eighteenth Precinct Police, as he did not see the accident at all, and Justice Massey released BRONCK this morning as no complaint appeared against him.
There are many theories as to the way in which the accident happened. People living along the line of the track favor the idea that it was the carelessness of the trainmen; that the brakeman was off his platform taking shelter from the storm in the car and that the train was descending the steep grade at a higher rate of speed than the law allows. A great howl is going up for the steam surface trains to be taken off.

A more reasonable theory is that the train was running as usual and the headlight shining as brightly as usual, but that the umbrellas of the party hid the sight of the train from them and the sound of the wind covered, the noise of its approach.
An umbrella is an ugly thing to carry in a high wind, when anyway near a moving railroad train. The wind was high enough to blow MISS MARTIN in front of the train from the sidewalk. The police have the idea that no one was to blame.

Engineer BRONCK and Conductor WALLACE have made a report to the president of the City Railroad Company, who sent out orders to all employes [sic] who knew anything about the matter to say nothing to anybody. The Eagle reporter who investigated the matter this morning found that these orders were strictly obeyed.
He visited President Lewis and the following conversation occurred:

“You have received a report from the engineer who was operating the locomotive Gowanus when is struck and killed MISS MARTIN last evening?”
“Yes.”
“Will you let me print it in the Eagle?”
“Certainly not. It is a matter in which the public have no interest.”
The reporter expressed some astonishment at this view of the case, and the president then said:
“We can't afford to give away one side of the story. There will be a lawsuit over this thing. I will tell you nothing about the accident.”

Brooklyn Eagle New York 1889-01-10

Submitted & transcribed by Stu Beitler  Thank you, Stu!

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