Coopersburg, PA Trolley Jumps Rails, Dec 1901

SIX DEAD IN TROLLEY WRECK.

ACCIDENT NEAR COOPERSBURG, PENN., AT FOOT OF LEHIGH MOUNTAIN -- ELEVEN PERSONS INJURED.

Allentown, Penn., Dec. 23. -- Six persons were killed and a number injured tonight in an electric car that jumped tht track on a sharp curve at the foot of Lehigh Mountain, between here and Coopersburg. The accident was due to the wet rails and snow. The dead are:
REV. TOBIAS KESSLER, aged sixty, an unattached Reformed Church clergyman.
FRANK WESLEY of Allentown.
ALBERT YEAGER of Allentown, aged forty.
MRS. DR. JACOB FETZER of Coopersburg, aged thirty-five.
AMBROSE REINHARD of Freedensville, aged fifty.
IRWIN RENNER of Zion Hill, farmer, fifty-five years old.
Eleven were injured.
Motorman STOCKER tried hard to stop the car when it slipped on the steep grade, but it flew around the curve and swung against a guy pole, which tore off one side and roof. Those killed had been sitting along the broken side of the car and were crushed by the post. The new Coopersburg line, on which the accident occurred, opened only last Wednesday.

The New York Times New York 1901-12-24

---------------------------------------------------

SIX KILLED IN RUNAWAY CAR.

VEHICLE DASHED DOWN LEHIGH MOUNTAIN.

HALF A SCORE SERIOUSLY INJURED.

TRACKS WERE COVERED WITH ICE AND BRAKES REFUSED TO TAKE HOLD
-- MOTORMAN AND ROAD OFFICER BRAVELY TRIED TO SAVE PASSENGERS
-- FATAL CRASH OCCURRED ON CURVE.

Allentown, Pa., Dec. 23. -- A trolley car on the recently opened Coopersburg branch of the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley Traction Company line ran away on a steep grade on the south side of the Lehigh Mountain, three miles below Allentown, early this evening, jumping the track at a sharp curve, and was wrecked. Six persons were killed and ten or twelve seriously injured.
The Dead:
The REV. TOBIAS KESSLER, of Lanark, an unattached Reformed church clergyman, aged sixty years.
IRWIN RENNER, Zion Hill, farmer, aged fifty-five years.
ALBERT YEAGER, Coopersburg, aged forty years.
MRS. DR. JACOB FETZER, Coopersburg, aged thirty-five years.
FRANK WESLEY, a traction employe, of this city, aged twenty-two years.
AMBROSE REINHARD, of Centre Valley, aged fifty years.
The injured:
WILLIAM PFEIFFER, of Allentown, left arm fractured, scalp wound.
JOHN D. WILT, proprietor of Center Valley Hotel, left arm fractured.
MRS. J. D. WILT, right arm fractured and hurt internally.
EDWIN SIMON, of Lanark, body bruised.
MRS. ALBERT YEAGER, whose husband was killed, hurt internally, unconscious.
Unknown Italian boy, face cut, unconscious.
HARRY J. TEICHARD, of Lanark, back and head hurt.
Conductor A. L. LEIDICH, of Allentown, left leg cut.
Motorman CHARLES STOKER, Allentown, bruised.
MRS. C. F. NEWCOMER, Coopersburg, leg broken, suffers from shock.
REV. R. K. HOTTEL, of Passer, hurt internally.
The car was in charge of Motorman STOCKER and Conductor LEIDICH. Just after it started down the mountain it began to run away. The track was covered with snow and ice and the brakes refused to take hold of the rails.
Head Officer PFEIFFER and Motorman STOCKER tried bravely to check the speed of the car, but every moment the latter went faster and faster. It sped at the rate of fifty miles an hour down the mountain side for more than half a mile and as it reached the curve was thrown to one side and struck a guy pole.
The latter tore the car in twain. The dead and injured were removed to neighboring houses after much delay, and late tonight those who were hurt were brought to the hospital in this city.
It is not expected that any more of the injured will die. Those who were killed were all prominent people.

Washington Times District of Columbia 1901-12-24
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!