The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-10
THE LATE HOLOCAUST.
CorOner's Examination Contlnued-Ev dence
Relative TO the OIL Train.

PoUeHKEEPs1E, Feb. 9.-The Coroner's in
vestigation was continued to-day. The most
important witness was Edgar Underwood,
conductor of the oil train. Underwood testi-
fed as follows
Was conductor on the oil train; it was an
extra train, No. 3; my train does not run on
time, not being o regular train; had the right
of way when passing New Hamburg; was run
ming on card time, according to the rules of
the road; my card time is fifteen miles an
hour: / was not then making that time; the
running gear of my train was last examined
at Greenbusb, and at Waterstone we looked
over the train ourselves; we stopped at Cox
sackie, Hudson, and Hyde Park on the way
down; examinations we're made with ham,
mers; could not say whether the train had
been examined that night at Coxsackie and
Hyde Park; went the whole length of the
train on one side and two of my men on the
other, making examinations of the running
gear; before we reached Coxsackie l dis
covered a hot box, and in consequence
thereof could not make Hudson ahead
of regular time, so we took q side
track at Coxsackie, where we cooled
the journal, staying there ten minutes
after the regular train, and twenty
five minutes altogether that hot journal gave
me no more trouble that night; had twenty
five cars all told my attention was first called
to trouble on my train by the night watch
man at New Hamburg; as we passed that sta
tion he called out l was in the caboose at
the time and heard him. l came out and put
on the rear brake, and told the caboose man
to give the engineer the signal by dropping a
W bite light; l stood in the caboose and kept
signalling till we got near the drawbridge; L
did not hear whistle for down brakes; think
felt the engineer reverse his engine, though
| am not certain; if he saw my signal it was
his business to blow for brakes: we gene
rellv usa oi0nal cord hut hat
it was not safe to string it; it is
called the bell-cord; we had short train,
and thought it was not worth while; it is
used generally to give the engineer informa-
nation when a train breaks apart; it would
have been difficult for the engineer to get q
signal from it if it had been strung, in conse-
quence of stringing it through break han
dies; it is an order of the company that it
shall be strung on all trains; if we had had
cord we would have tried to pull it, but do
not think we could have succeeded and do
not think the engineer could have been noti-
fed that way that night, if there had been a
cord; bell cord has been strung over forty
five cars; when put on the brakes the speed
of the train was slackened and we were run
ming slow enough to get off before we got to
that portion of the bridge which spans the
road north of the drawbridge; it is down
grade there, and a hard matter to stop a
train away; 1 had three brakemen on the
train, one on the engine and two in the
caboose; the proper place for the second
brakemen is in the middle of the train but
/ there was no place there for him. it is Mr..
| Toucey's orders to have brakemen in the mid
| die of the train, but there was no place for
| him to stand there on that train, except on
three or four boards over an oil tank; it is
not safe for q man to go there when the
| train is running; the walk for him over the
| top of his car to the brakes is about three
feet wide; SO far as orders are con-
| cerned, it was the duty of one of my brake
men to be in the middle of the train;
the brakes in the rear were all good aud we
| had them on as soon as we could; the night
| was pretty cold; / was looking out of the rear
window of the caboose, and the rear brake
man was at the door when left the caboose;
after the train stopped went down very near
| to this car, the one that was off the track;
the train was at a dead stand, and eleven cars
ahead of the broken car were detached and
on the south side of the drawbridge; don't
| know how far they were; l could not see; /
went down the track on the east side of my
train; the broken car was the forward one of
the train that was left back; the other cars
had gone on; it was lying on the up track,
nearly cresswise, one end higher than the
| other when l saw the situation l at once
ordered brakeman down the road with a
red light; 1 knew the express was behind
| time, because we should have passed it before
we got there; he could not go down on either
track because of the track being blockaded;
then called to the man on the engine to go
down with the red light; the broken car was
on the last track, and my train on the other;
the engineer heard the man call, and called
back, 'All right" it was not half a minute
after 1 gave this order to send a red light
before a man started and called San right"
when the man to whom l gave the order
called, 'Look out! the express train is
coming" all happened in an instant; 1 was
twenty or twenty-five feet north of the
tank on the east track south of the draw
on the bridge when gave the order; when
/ first saw the express she was about one
hundred feet off; dropped my light for q
signal, and think the engineer of the express
blew "doWn brakes" l saw the express in
thirty seconds after the man warned me; from
the time my train stopped until the collision
occurred not over two minutes had elapsed;
1 was on the bridge near the draw when the
locomotive struck the oil tank; l could have
given no more signals than l did; l do not
know that any signal was set on the draw; the
first thing knew after the collision was get
ting up off the ice in the river, eighteen OF
twenty feet from the draw; 1 don't know how
got there's 1 heard the express whistle 8
moment before 1 got off my train; she
appeared to be between the water tank and
the drawbridge; the oil car was not unusu-
ally heavily laden; there is a light, signalling
''all right" on the drawbridge tower; if 9
man had been there l don't think he would
have had time to change it to a danger signal
it would take half minute to put on break
if had had two more brakemen on my train
1 could not have stopped 1t before it got tc
the draw; think the broken truck under the
stock car fore fha track nm. we kaan 81 m N