The Madison Daily Leader

THROUGH A BRIDGE
Frightful Accident on a Milwaukee Street Car Line.

CAR WENT THROUGH A DRAW
Breaking Through the Ice of the River—Three Bodies Recovered.

MILWAUKEE, Feb. 5.—A trolley car of the Russell avenue and Holton street line ran through an open draw of the Kinnikinic bridge at 8:30 a. m. The car struck endwise on the ice, through which it plunged into the water. The motorman was drowned, and at least two passengers are reported to have lost their lives. The car was bound toward Bayview and was pretty well filled with passengers when the accident occurred, but part of them were rescued without serious injury. The ice broke the windows of the car, which stood on end and only partially filled with water. The first body recovered was that of a woman, who was taken out a few minutes after the accident.

Believed Six Are Dead.
There were 10 or 12 people on the car, the exact number being unknown. Six were taken out alive and the others are all dead. The rescued were: W. P. Severy, hand cut; A. Oertel, G. W. Chase, H. Kuehn, R. Brand, Elsie Wachholz, hurt about the shoulder. The dead are: Miss Ehlman, a kindergarten teacher in the Fourteenth district primary school, and a daughter of Professor Eh lman, director of music in the public schools; John Kennedy, motorman of car 145; Miss Schmidtkuntz, employed at the National Knitting Works. The car was in charge of Conductor Peterson. The bridge had been opened to permit the passage of the fireboat Foley, which was breaking ice in the Kinnikinic. The members of the Foley's crew rendered valuable assistance in rescuing those who were saved, and in recovering the bodies of the victims.

Motorman Was Careless.
From all accounts the accident seems to have clearly been due to the carelessness of the motorman, John Kennedy, but he stuck to his post in a vain endeavor to stop the car which he had permitted to approach too near the open draw, and paid the penalty with his life. The car struck endwise in the river and was submerged for about two-thirds of its length, the fact that it did not go to the bottom of the river, which is 18 feet deep at that point, being due to the presence of thick ice. This circumstance alone, it is believed, made it possible to rescue any of the passengers. Miss Schmidkuntz's body was the first recovered. Afterwards the body of Miss Ehlmann and the motorman were taken from the car. Two attempts were made to lift the car, but the chains broke each time. Police used grappling hooks on the wrecked car without effect, and it is now thought the list of dead will be limited to the three names given.