A Stolen Switch in the Fog: Seattle Streetcar Crash Injures Forty
Two speeding cars met on a single-track trestle above the tide flats; dozens of women and children were hurt, and the motorman who tried to steal the switch was among the severely injured.
Seattle, Wash., Nov. 12 — Forty women and children were injured, 26 of them quite seriously, in a streetcar accident here, when two speeding cars crashed into each other in a dense fog. Both cars were smashed up and 75 percent of the passengers injured.
The accident was due to the foolhardy attempt of the conductor and motorman of the city-bound car to steal a switch on the outbound car. The track ran over a trestle above the tide flats, and the fog made it impossible for the men in charge of the cars to see each other until within a few feet. The coaches narrowly escaped toppling over into deep water. Several of the victims may die, among them Motorman H. T. Huffine, the man who attempted to steal the switch.
The place where the accident occurred is several miles from Seattle on a single-track line, and the injured were without medical attention or competent aid until a special relief car arrived. A feature of the accident was the number injured about the head and face, due to striking against the backs of the cross seats. Among the injured is C. T. Harbough, a traveling passenger agent for the Pennsylvania railroad system. C. W. Smith, assistant librarian of the state university, is also a victim.
“Both cars were smashed up and 75 percent of the passengers injured.”
Seattle’s early streetcar system ran on single-track trestles and hand-thrown switches, and this fog-bound collision shows how quickly growth outran safety. Modern transit agencies still face the same questions about maintenance, staffing, and how much risk riders absorb.
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