Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-03-09

stone had great confidence in his own abilities
and believed he could build, and had built, a
structure which would prove the erowning glory
Of IN active life and an enduring monument TO
his name The testimony of competent and skill
nl engineers is that subjeetng an iron bird ge to
severe strain as test before usingit in carrying
on the traffic of railroad is OF no value Us show
ing its ability TO bear repeated strains II only
shows that il bore the test that time and It may
have permanently crippled it, so that its final
failure is only question of time. The sure rule
is to have large margin Of safety, as shown by a
careful computation and distribution Of the
strains. That the officials o. the railroad regard
ed the bridge as safe, we have no doubt, as two
ofthem were on the train that went down, and ali
were more or less frequently passing over il.
In pursuing our investigation we have labOred
in the hope that the facts ELECTED, and the Sults
and failures brought to light, might, in meas
ure, be instrumental in securing such legislation
by the proper authorities, and such care and pre-
canton on the part Of railroad companies as
should insure passengers upon our great thor
oughfares greater immunity from such terrible
disasters as the one which 80 lately happened in
our midst.
VERDICT.
We the undersigned Jurors Empanneled and
Sworn on the S0th day of December, in the year
1876, at the township of Ashtabula, in the County
Richards, A Justice of the Peace in and for said
township of Asbtabula. acting as Coroner for the
time .oei1g-to inquire, and true presentment-
ment make, in what manner and by what cause
Clarence n. Gage and NJ. P. COggSwell came to
their deaths, and others, then unSEnwn. who
came to their deaths at the same time and place
rbOoa al cd y Hart
L. C. Crane, Geo. burlington. Boyd 7. Russell,
s. D. WAITE Charles F. VOge', Lawre8ee Lani-
gan, Mrs. George Matte George MISS ATsSle ESL L.
William Clemens. Victor Nussbaum, Isaac Meyer,
Birdie Never, Mrs. Mary Frame. Annie BETTER
well, Mrs. E. Cook, Elizabeth Copper, EarLnS E4lls
Tolita Volk Robert Steindel, Miss Libbie fegus
and Dr. George T. Hubbard whose remains Wers
taken from the debris OF wrecked bridge aha
train OF Railroad cars in the valley OF AshtapIla
Creek, near Ashta6ula station. on the me OF ~
Lake Shore & MichlgaD Southern Railway, ID
said township Of Ashtabula on the 3Oth and ast
days of December. tS76, and on the nrst oay y
January 1871, identified by friends and remoYet
for interment, also the bodies, and parts q
bodies, believed to be the remains Of twentY-seV-
en- (20-persOns, but so burned, that they could
not be identified. After visiting the scene OF the
accident, viewing the bodies and hearing the tes-
timOny of witnesses, do find as follows:
First That at about 7:3O O'Clock in the evening
of Friday December 10Th, 1876, the iron bridge in
the railroad OF the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railway Company, spanning A~htabu
A
road, gave way under the two locomotives, and
Express car, forming the forward portion of the
west bound passenger train on said railroad
known as No and fell as the leading locomotive
passed ON to the west abutment, leaving chasm
about sixty feet in depth, between the abutments
ofsaid bridge into which the baggage and passen-
ger cars in said tain, following said express
car, were precipitated.
Second That in their fan the cars were par
TALLY destroyed by crushing and their destruction
was completed by conhagration Immediately
Had hryd draf from ali At
Third. The fall Of the bridge was the result OF
defects and errors in Designing constructing ana
erecting 1t, that great defect and one which ap-
pears in many parts OF the structure, was the ue-
pendence of every member for its efficient action
upon the probability that a or nearly all OF the
others would retain their position, and do the du-
ty for which they were designed instead OF giving
20 each member positive connection with the
rest WHICH nothing but direct rupture could sew.
er. The members of each truss were instead OF
being fastened SOgether-rested one upon the
Other-as illustrated by the following particulars
the deficient cross sections Of portions Of the
top chords, and some of the main braces, and in
sufficient strength and bad arrangement of both
the horizontal and vertical transverse bracing in
the construction Of the angle blocks, as finally
modified, without sufficient lngs or hanges to
keep the main braces and counter braces from
slipping out of place in the constr uction of the
| packing and yokes used in binding together the
main and counter braces at the points where they
crossed each other, IN the shimmering oil the top
| chord to compensate deficient lengths Of some of
their members in the placing during the process
of erection thick beams where the plan required
thin ones, and thin ones where it required thick
Fourth. That the railway company used and
continued to use this bridge for about eleven years
during all which time careful Inspection oy
competent bridge engineer could aOt nave alled
to discover all these defects for the neglect OF
such careful inspection. the railway company
alone is responsible.
disaster and its consequent loss of life rests upon
the railway company, which by its chief executive
| officer planned and erected this bridge
Si6th. That the cars in which said deceased
passengers were carried into said chasm were not
| heated ''bY heating apparatus so constructed
that the fire" F." in 1t will be Immediately extln-
| guished whenever the cars are thrown from the
track or overturned" That their failing to COM
ply with the plain provisions Of the law, places the
responsibility Of the origin Of the fire upon the
Seveeth. that the responsibility for not putting
out the fire at the time it first made its appear
ance in the wreck. rests upon those who were the
first to arrive at the scene of the disaster and
who seemed to have been so overwhelmed by the
fearful calamity that they lost all presence OF
mind and failed to use the steam pump IN tce
pumping house and the Fire Engine Lake Erie
and its hose, which might have been attached TO
the steam, pump in time TO save life The steamer
belongingsto the fire department, and also Pro-
lection fire engine were hauled more than milo
through binding snow storm and over loads
rendered almost impossible by drifted snow and
arrived on the ground too late to save human lie
but nothing should have prevented the CnleI En-
gineer from making all possible efforts to extln-
gnish what fire then remained. For his failure to
do this he Is responsible.
Eighth. That the persons deceased before men
toned whose bodies were identified, and tnose
whose bodies and parts of bodies were unidenu-
fed came to their death by the precipitation Of
the afoI esad cars in which they were riding into
the chasm in the valley of Ashtabula creek, LETT by
the falling of the bridge, as aforesaid, and the
crushing and burning of said cars, as aforesaid,
for all of which the railway company Is respOn-
sible. Given under our hands at the time and
place of said inquisition above mentioned.
( H L. MORRISON,
GEO. W. DICKINSON,
HENRY H. PERRY,
JuOis' F. A. PETTIBoNE,
7. D. FAULKNER
EDW. g. PIERCE.
EDWARD ". RICHARDS,
Acting Coroner.
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