New-York tribune., 1877-03-10
THE ASHTABULA VERDICT.

VERDICT OF THE CORONER'S JURY.
THE BRIDGE DEFECTIVE IN CONSTRUCTION, AND
NEITHER PROPERLY TESTED NOR lNsPEcrED-
rnE COMPANY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS AND FOR
VIOLATION OF THE LAW IN REFERENCE TO
MEANS OF HEATING
AsurABuIA Ohio March 9-The coroners jury
investigating into the Ashtabua railroad bridge dis
ss,er Yesterday agreed upon verdict, as follows:
We the undersigned jurors, impancled and sworn on
tc soth day December in the 1876 at the town
sip OF Ashtabula, County Of Ashtabula and state OF
Oujn hy Edward Richards, Justice Of the Peace In
ard for said township OF AshtaOua, acting as coroner
for the being, to inquire and true presentmcnt
make in what manner and by what cause Clarence H.
Gage and NJ p. Cogwell came TO their deaths, ana
then unknown, who came to their deaths at he
came time place after visiting the of the acci
dent, viewing the bodies and hearing the testimony,
have agreed upon our verdict
THE CHARACTER OF THE BRIDGE.
IL ia from a careful consideration of the evidence
ELECTED professionals and experts that our verdct
T. made up in the matter Of the bridge and should II
seem severe upon the railroad company upon any OF
is past or present officials 1t is because the truth as
shown by the evidence demands 1t at our hands. We
and feel that have disch rged our duty
Mr. Amasa stone. President of the company at the
time the OF this structure had been Tor years
n prominent aud successful railroad contractor and
builder of wooden Howe bridges. With the ui-
doubted intention building strong. safe, and durable
wronght-ron bridge upon the Howe truss pan he de-
signed this structure, 6ictated the drawing Of
the plans and the erection Of the bridge without the
approval of any competent engineer and against
The protest Of the who made the drawings
upder Mr. stones direction assuming the sole and entire
rcspor sb:liiy himself Iron bridges Were then in their
nyr 10 have been tried or trusted to spIn
deep chasm. THIS experiment has been at fearful
aly Mr. one had great confidence in his own abilties
pud believed nc could build aud han bullt structure
which would prove the crOwnng glory OF an active lie
aud enduring monument 10 his name Inc eslihohy
iron bridge To Seve strain rs before using it in
carving the tralc of the railroad is OF no value us
saoys that il bore that time, and 10 may have
permanently crippled that lis final failure was only
question OF time. The sure rule Is To leave HiSe
margin OF safety, as shown by careful computation ana
rad regarded the bridge as safe have Doubt rs
two Of them the train that went down. aud all
were more frequently passing over H. We ind as
follows:
First: That on the evening Friday. Dec. 90 the iron
bridge the railroad of the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railroad Company spanning Ashtabula Creek
near Ashthu. Station, did under two locoIno-
tyes and express forming the forward portion OF
west-bound passenger train sad railroad and fell,
as the leading locomotive passed on the west aDu,meiI ne
lea ylng ch.sn of about go feet in depI between the
a5utments of said bridge into wheh the PASSENGER ana
baggage cars in said train following said express car
Seednd That in their fan the were partially de;
truyCd by crushing, and their destruction was completed
bv conacrstOn immediately following, hnded by fire
fiom their stoves.
THE BRIDGE DEFECTIVE.
Third That the fall of the bridge the result OF de-
fects and errors made in designing, CONSTRUCTING ana
erecting il; that great defect and one which appears
IN many parts of ,the structure. the dependence oi
every member its efficient action on the probability
that an nearly all the Others would retain Their posI
ton designed aud do duty for which hey were ucJScu
iustcad of giving To eacI member POSITIVE vonh'ct9i
with the rest which nothing but direct rapture c9uld
scver. The members Of each truss were, instead ol
being fastened together raised one upon the other rs
illustrated By the toilOwng par'icultfs Inc deneleh
cross section portions chords AMI some OF tn MAN
braces aud the Insufficient strength and bad arrange
Iaen Of both the horizontal aud vertical tftsVeI3c i
hracng; in the construction Oi the angle blocks s nhy
nodicd without sufficient lnes or 1anses to kec, the
ends Of the main ana counter braces Iro,h HS ot W
pacc; the construction OF the packing aud !0hes
tie points where they crossed each other; IN me sH
ming of the top chords 10 compensate the dt hcleut
of of Their mbers in the placing during
the process erection OF thick beams where the plan
required thin and THU ones where 1t required tmcA
Tourth That the railroad company used and continued
t. s h & Gdss c f1gS fSSiH b S engineer
could have failed 70 discover these dcte's for e
neglect OF such careful Inspection the railroad company
f4i The responsibility of this fearful disaster and
~ consequent loss OF life rests upon e I;iIoaa con @
pany, which 10y its chief executive oncer planned ana
erected this bridge
DEFECTS IN HEATING APPLIANCES.
Srih: That the cars which said deceased passengers
were carried into said chasn not heated by heating
apparatus constructed that tine fire N 1t would be D
riedatey ex,inguished whenever the cars are thrown
from the track overturned that the failure TO COM
ply % ta' o tl fhe psn Of TIE fire upon the railroad
company. tsee Act OF May 4, 1861
RESPONSIBILITY FOR NOT EXTINGUIsHING THE FIRE
Setcnta That the responsibility for not putting out
thc fire at the time first made i;s appearance IN tile
wreck rests upon those who were first TO arrive at the
sc,ae OF the disaster and who 10 have been SO
overwhelmed by fearful calamity that they lost AL
presence Of mind failed 10 the means at hand,
consisting o. u pump III tie lullpiug-IOdsc ana
~, fire Lake Erie ard its hose which might nave
10 the steanmn III lllnc 10 save ne;
belonging to the Fire Department ana also
Protection frn-cu zine hauled more t13n n mile
IlrOugh binding snOw-stprn and over roads rendered
almost m passab!c by drifts OF snow ana arrived on tue
ground too late 10 human life. Nothing should
have prevented the Chief engineer FROM MAKING III posi-
bic 0Irts cxtiHguish what fire there Iclnaiucd FOR
his fajlafc TO do this he l. Responsible
TIE COMPASY RESPONSIBLE For THE DISASTER.
Eiqh That persons deceased before mentioned,
whose bodies identified, and those whose bodies aud
parts Of bodies unidentified, TO their deaths
by the precipitation aforesaid Of the cars, in Which they
were rg into the chasm in the valley OF Ashiabula
Creek eftby the falling of the bridge as aforesaid the
crushing and burning OF said ears Aforesaid Tor all OF
Walch The railroad company is responsible. ,
uUder hands az tine time ana place VI saIu
iLJ.isltiOn above mentioned.
H. L. MORRISON, HENRY H. PERRY,
2. ID. TAULKSER, GEO W. DlCkINsoN
j.. \. PETTIBOSE, EDWARD o. PIERCE JURORS
EDWARD W. RICHARDS, Acting Coroner!