A crew of men was working on the new steel trestle being built across the creek. The high old wooden trestle was being replaced there on the Marlton-Medford railroad tracks that ran out of Haddonfield and on to Marlton.

Wooden pilings had been driven to support the 75 ton beam. When they were jockeying the structure into place there were still men working on the ties and tracks attached to it.

Suddenly, one end listed sideways and dropped lower than the other end. Howard heard the sudden yelling and as he looked up the air was filled with men, ties ad falling steel.

It was a tragedy. There were two fatalities, and 16 workmen sustained broken legs.

When they began to fall, all they could do was try to jump as far away from the falling materials as it was possible. Dr. William Anderson arrived at the scene and administered to the injured.

Through the years there have been vague references to the trestle accident, but Howard was there gathering holly that Christmas Eve down at Mountwell and was an eyewitness to the tragedy.

The high embankment, the trestle, the holly are entirely gone now and even Mountwell is only a memory.