National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1877-06-01
THE OUTL EFT LOCK TRAGEDY


the superintendent In Charge Of the Works
The Examination to he Finished To-day.
A complete report Of the horrible catastrophe
which occurred at the outlet lock on the Chcs-
apeake and Ohio canal Wednesday morning
has already been printed in The REPUBLICAN.
Yesterday on every street corner in the an
cient borough Of Georgetown were groups Of
persons Of all ages, sizes and compilations dis
o,.--,is tue lame utcvie s,ie,T. Svmr denounr>r
the contractors, Messrs. Ramsey 4 Co., while
Others of more moderate Temperament recon-
mcnded pacifcation, and argued that they
should wait until the coroner had thoUughly
investigated the matter, and the jury Of in
quest placSd the blame Of the accident where
II properly belonged. On the afternoon Of the
occurrence Coroner Patterson had Summoned,
through Lieut.. Skippon, of the Third precinct.
the following jury: y. ID. Reed, foreman; II.
q. Wagner John 1hpd, J. J. Fisher, Vim. T.
Palmer, Hugh q. Divine, John II. Darn,s, W.
Gross, VIM. T. Heron, Thos. J. Luxen. John
Green and VIM. Howard.
The jury were sworn and dismissed until
yesterday at o'clock, with the admonition
that they should not converse with any one in
relation to the subject they were TO invcsti-
gate. At I o'clock yesterday the coroner and
jury appeared at the Third precinct station.
house aud took coach furnished by Mcssrs-
Duly Il Gladmon for the scene Of the accident.
The jury was paddlcd across the canal in
EibhlN III Niti'tii Unat 10 Tue NIhl
spent some two hours or more in inspecting
the machinery. the wreck Of the same, and
the causes which led to the dire calamity.
They thoroughly inspected the inn work and
masonry. and all were of the opinion that the
underground masonry on which was placed
the plates that held the sheaves was not sufii-
cicntly strong, and the plates themselves were
of not sufficient thickness or strength to hold
the extraordinary weight of the trucks, or in
other words to Withstand the strain Of the
cable chains holding or guiding the trucks.
After the party had thoroughly inspected
the scene of accident they were rowcd acraSs
the canal, took the coach and carriages in
| waiting for them aud returned TO the station
house, in Georgetown, where the inquest was
commenced. The first witness examined Wa
HENRY W. DE.ME,p,
| the superintendent Of the coal employees nj
the lock, who testified that on the morning Of
the accident before starting the machinery, the
orders that he received Were 10 assist NJ. City,
the superintendent Of the works. lie turned
| over all the men that were at his disposal 10
| the servirc Of Mr.. City. After doing - wit
hess notified the men that they were subject
To Mr.. City's orders. Mr. City CONNER need
operations to get a boat in the caisson. Mr..
City was there representing Ramsey & Go. He
put the first boat through safely. also the sec
ond bnat. The accident occurred on the third
boat being put through the lock. The frst
thing that attracted his attention was the
speed Of the cables travelling faster thsn usual
Mr.. Mead was with the witness at the time
He made the remark that something had
broken.
At this time witness was about seventy five
yards below the head wall He Mead stepped
on the countcr-wcight track. Witness cHnght
hold Of him and pulled him back un the main
track, telling him II was the safest place TO he
Mead again stepped on the counter track, and
track, and said 10 him: For Gods sake stay
there! II was the safest place for him 10
keep right behind the caisson. Witness was
struck on the finger by piece Of flying mate
rial, and in turning around TO sec what struck
him let 20 his hold on Mead. lie then lost
sight of him. The next thing that attracted
witnesses attention was the rope throwing
young Carroll against the countcr-w,icht
| track, knocking him down. Then, instantly,
witness raw Reynolds struck by the same ropc,
| but not thrown under the counter weight.
| The counter rope sunk under Carroll. Tie
accident was then all over. Witness is a ma
| Chinist, and acts as superintendent Of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal COMPANY At the
| lock- He was notified that Mr.. Mead was
caught under the counter track. His
| opinion was that the breaking Of the
| keeper running from one sheare wheel 10 the
| other was the cause Of the accident After
giving Mr.. City his orders before beginning
| operations in the morning, and lecturing his
men TO obey instructions witness measured
the most sensitive part Of the machinery. Wit
| ness meant by measurement to take the exact
measurement between the shCaves to sec
whether they separated OF not. After measur-
| ing il the boat passed was put in the river.
| The second boat passed through and witness
measured il again and found the measurement
the same, aud just before the third boat passed
| through measured II again and found il perfect.
Ist a hot hagl hat
way. In examining the keeper he found il
| secure. lie considered these the most sensi-
| tive points, because the greatest strain was
| upon them. As a machinist and mechanic he
thought those wheels sufficiently strong.
Witness knew nothing Of a shock occurring
there last fall; had heard Of il, and from in
| formation received thought II was partially
the cause Of the present accident. If the strut
or keeper had been Of wrought iron, il would
| have lesscncd the chances Of its breaking
| There had been shore brakes in the counter
weights, hut they were taken of very recently
Witness Thought IL they had been On they
would have stopped the counter from RAINING
down. Mr.. City took them of, he judged, from
| orders. Witness has been at the works since
early spring. and thought some twenty boat:
had passed through to the river. They put IL
| u new pudgeon some time ago and these wers
the only repairs Of Importance that have heer
made since he has been there. Witness never
| had any suspicion as regards the mat hinery
| The counter weights weigh about two hundrct
| tons; the caisson, with the boat in il, vii
weigh about the same.
| O. CITY,
the superintendent Of the contractors, testified
that he was machiuist and marine engineer
employed by ii. A. Ramsey 4 Co, aud was il
charge OF the experiments at the time Of tn,
accident. Everything that was done was don,
under his direction. The men hired by tn
canal company were placed under his direc
ton. lie was standing near the wheels, tcrTne'
sheafcs, at the time of the accident, aud oh
served that the strut or brace was vihratin,
more than il had ever done previously. lnas
much as two journals Of those shoaves ha
broken previously, he naturally looked 70
similar accidents. Something was wOrkin
wrong. lie then immediately got ON hi
hands aud knees, aud as low down as possible
very close TO the smaller sheaf or wheel, AM
found il all right. lie then examined tn
larger wheel, and finding there something va
wrong he made the signal TO the young ma
10 stop cutchin TO make an examination; say
from his motion that he had stopped the ina
chMcry. The main facts as far as his OF
servation was concerned, originated in tn
large sheaf. The great sudden jar wa
what caused the accident. Had the base
at the bottom, to which the journal
bOlt.d, been braced at the bottom tn
accident might have been avoided. WitBcs
has been employed there since February
= sIl J..