New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-01-10
BERGEN tunnel AGAIN.

| III reply 20 our structures IN Saturday lRiB-
USE, upon tic gross negligence which charac'
,erizes the management Of Bergen Tunnel, we
| have received q note from the General Superin-
tcndcnt in defense Of the Company. He
alleges that the fault 81 the collision on Thur
day last lar with tho.e in charge Of the Morris
and Essex tuin. We quote from bis letter:
Ia the first ps &C. II tho engineer ~ that train had
propery started without, such sudden Jrk the comp
H ling woud not have broken. When il did break u
they had promptly sent back bgnnl Onr trnn could
have been stopped Ia A. u The signal was
uot sent Gu. TIL they beard Our ttaln coming. Thai
there was time or them 90 send back signal sufficient
distance ia clear from the fact thet 1t was at least
twelve minute, from the He their train wen. into the
| tunnel TO the time when jhe collision took place
In regard 10 tho general Cement. and tho means
taken 10 secl the lives d passengers and The property
Of our customer. well a. our own. Claim that TO
say Che least, ara behind 10 road IN tns country
And TO snsvcr souc OF tie charges In tia. article.
L,vc N shy TIA. the construction Of TIE tunnel Is spch
tina, no "ioc.o stones are Liable 10 ftll at any
uoueut upOl tho treck." Ard 10 say thai
! a,ho,e are no tracl.M 6iltiosed within Tho
turuel" is wholly untrue. iOr there are men
walking through IL constantly. night snd d0y to et
amine tho track particularly. when N" tunnel "as
Crs. CONNECTED aud before any trains through IT,
We nod gas pipes extending through the whole length
and Inade emple arrangements for lighting ~ bat The
gas cor1pa1y Las not yet extended - pipe up to where
We can make h connection More than a year ago W.
ordered set Of Geographic signals 10 operate be
tween he men at each end II tho tunnel AID put
up the wire. bIt as yet the manufacturer Of
the signals has teen unable 10 finish them on account
| -
OF s short supply OF skilled l1bor Of the kind required
/ ir connection with tho large an1ant Of w"rz DC iS
obliged 10 promptly turn ont for The Government
ul these instrumeuts shall be completed. the rules
governing the movement OF trads theIe are Snioieht
ia in.urs perfect safety provided all tie t'sin amen
viii sirctly adhere to them.
The above, we think, IL sufficient tosaiSiy the
reader of tho entire justice OF our censure. Inc
evidence of the conductor and brakeman OF the
Morris and Essex train shows that they "imme-
diatsly" took steps to stopthe following train
vet they could only plant the torpedo $50 feet
hack before the train was upon them, and the
Erie engineer testifes that he had barely time to
blow his whistle once after the torpedo expoded
before the collision took place. Clearly, the
TINA hetveen the trains was insufficient. We
linsis. that the blame lies not with this or that
engineer or conductor, but with the faulty sys-
Item. the defects Of which have been most fear
|fnlly demonstrated on more than one occasion.
Th;, is due 10 the General Superintendent, who
nrsscr,b.s the rules of tho road. Werepeat, no
two trains should ever be in the tunnel at one
time. That men DO occasionally go though the
tunnel to inspect and repair the track we do not
douLt: bu. that there are sgnal.mcn potroliins
thu tunnel day and night to warn approaching
trains Of danger We utterly deny. As to light
ina tho tunnel, we believe the Erie people have
, ras in their workshops neOr the tnnnel-"t all
lsvsnts a rich corporation, intrusted with tht