Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-07-07

/ Pursuant to adjournment the coroner's jury
in the inquest upon the victims CT the Lake
Minnetonka horror, reassembled in SIMPSONS
hall, at Excelsior, yesterday morning, and re-
sumed their Investigations. The testimony
taken yesterday is given in full below. The
GLOBE representative visited the scene of the
explosion yesterday morning, and found
nothing to remind him of the terrible catas-
trcphe which took place on that fatal morning
of July 1. The wreck of the Inflated steamer
had been removed from the dock at the st.
Louis Hotel landing, and lowed some twenty
rods away into shallow water where it lifts its
broken fragments, q sad and silent reminder of
an event, which is already almost forgotten,
except by the bereaved relatives and friends
of the victims.
G. B. HALsTED.
The testimony of Major G. B. Halsted, the
owner and captain of the i'll fated steamer, was
as follows
MIR. Chadwick was introduced to me by Mr..
Tinklepaugh as q frst-class engineer, who, he
thought, would suit me. / asked him if he was
a temperate man? He said he was. I asked
him what wages he wanted? He agreed to take
$75 per month during the season. Mr.. Tinkle-
| paugh told me he was machinist and could
fix all the machinery if it needed repairing as
well as any man. Iappoipted day for him to
come out to the boat. This was in the latter
part of March. We, came out to the boat to-
gether. He looked up the machinery and boat
and said all seemed to beright. The machinery
had been taken apart by Tinklepaugh and the
piston rod had been repaired and new rings
put in. He went into the fire box and examined
it. He examined blister that was there. He said
| it was usual to have blisters on boilers. He
said he could repair that. / then gave him an
order to go to work and repair the boat and
machinery, to take his own time and make all
preparations and repair it, which he said he
would do and thought it would take him sew
eral days, for which was to pay him at the rate
of TWO dallars and half day. He went to
Minneapolis and in the course of four or five
days after that found him at work on the
boiler repairing it. came in about couple of
DAYS, and he reported it finished. He then told
me he considered the boiler as good as it ever
was I asked him if he had examined the
boiler thoroughly, and he said he had. asked
him his opinion of the boiler. His reply was,
consider it q good boiler. He said ne was
willing to come and run it for me. / asked
| him If he could suggest any additional stays
| that could be put in the boiler as adj
| ditional security. His answer was she has
| over three hundred stays in her; do not
| think it is necessary to put in any additional
ones. then put my hand on the top of the
| boiler and asked him if he would not put addi-
| tional stays from the outer shell of the boiler
| down through the crown sheet. told him
wanted him to spare no expense or time to
make the boiler secure and if he could do any
| thing to strengthen it to do it. His answer
| was, think it is good boiler as it is. 1 have
! q bill of over $19 from Cauveb IL Reid for ma
| terial and the use of their machinery rendered
| by them in repairs on the boiler. / had only
| employed Chadwick at that time for the
purpose OF these repairs. | was 80 well pleased
| with him that asked him to name his terms
per month to stay here by the boat, put the
engine together. paint her and repair
| He agreed to work for $35 per
| month until the season commenced.
| About the 18th of June took her from here to
| RockwelPs Island and had the hull strength
ened, and commenced running her on the 10th
| of June, and run her every day regularly I'M
| til the explosion and was we'll satisfied that
| had as good an engineer as had ever had since
| watchful, always at his post testing and trying
| the water guages. He pronounced the machin-
| cry good, and repeatedly said that the boiler
| was safe boiler if properly handled, and be-
| lieved her safe to carry hundred pounds of
steam. / told him l never had carried high
steam and did not want him to carry it-that
never had allowed racing, and did not want
him to race; that wanted to carry him and
| the crew and myself safe and more especially
| the passengers. That 30 far had
| had met with no accident
end trusted should not. 1 have two or three
times omitted accompanying him, sometimes
to Wayzatta and sometimes to the Upper
! Lake, each time detained and only detained at
the bed of sickness. On the morning of the
explosion was called before o'clock to visit
the bed of sickness, and when the time came
told Mr.. Steward that would not go over, as
there was three men on her. told him to
take her over and that would join him when
the boat came back. / saw her go out as
usual, saw nothing anliss in her. She was to
stop at the St. Louis House. My instruction
was to carry low grade of steam, about
sixty-fVe pounds.
Question-Was your attention ever called to
the fact that that make of boilers were con-
sidered upsafe?
Ans.-Yes; MY attention hiss been called to
it, from the fact that there had been two ex-
plosionss on Lake Mnnetonka OF these
boilers, but / have considered that in both
cases it was through carelessness, and not
through fair, legitimate use and il any OF
my engineers had treated or handled boiler
in the same careless manner as testimony
showed those boilers to have been handled at
the time of the explosions should have ex-
pected this boiler to have exploded. But
handling it carefully as mine has been handled
up to the time of the explosion, / am at a loss
to account for the cause of the explosion.
@. Was your attention ever called to the
fact that the crown sheet was sprung?
A. No, sir! and doubt whether it ever was
sprung, or must have had some report of it
from my engineer. The en4ineer put in new
piece where the blister was.
@. Did you give your engineer instructions
as to what pressure You wanted the steam to
blow off?
A. Yes, about sixty pounds or thereabouts.
@. Has your attention been called to the
faulty and defective construction of these
boilers by the public press or from any other
source aside from the explosion?
a. say yes, by the public press and by the
courts0f the county of Hannepin, and jury
found by their verdict that il was not; from a
defect in the boiler, either in the material of
which they were made or in the plan on which
they were constructed, but by their abuse IN
the handling of them.
@. Have you ever been told by a practical
boiler maker that your boiler was not safe?
A. think Mr.. Glenn has told me that these
boilers were not made of the best class of
iron.
Q.-Has an expert ever told you that your
boiler was not safe on account of the crown
sheet not being properly stayed?
A.-Yes, he may have done that.
Q.-Before you employed your engineer did
you consult the parties by whom he had been
employed in Minneapolis about him?
Al did not.
COL WIN. M,cRoRY.
Live in Minneapolis. Am president of LYn-
dale Road. Have steamer on Lake Calhoun.
Knew VIM. Chadwick, the engineer OF The