Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-06-03
THE coRoNER's VERDICT ON tn
LATE RAILROAD ACCIDENT.

dence extending back to the middle ages
almost, but though it is a standing article
of faith that Coroners inquests never do
any good unless by accident, it never &C.
ours to any one that change in the sys-
tenn might be advantageous. There can
be no question that the existing mode of
appointing or electing Coroners is ira
tional. 1t is self-evident that no person
ought to fill such an office who has not
special qualifications for it. A Coroner
should be acquainted with medicine and
medical jurisprudence, at least, and he
should also be man of enough energy
and intelligence to conduct difficult and
important inquiries sagaciously. In such
case as that under discussion it is
obvious that the Coroner's inquest
ought to have been able to make valuable
suggestions, even if it could not fix blame
upon anyone. The evidence which has
been published shows that the disaster was
not produced by mysterious causes. 1t
ICGulbCu hun VI hNSlSSSo, Va pOSI-
and therefore those who were responsible
for either should have been rebuked, or at
least the conclusions which the inquiry
warranted should have been set forth in
the verdict. The only practical good
which can result from such investigations is
the discovery of means whereby similar
disasters may he avoided, but the Santa
Cruz jury offers no suggestions of this
kind, and dismisses the case in a helpless
and purposelesS way. We have already
intimated doubt as to the safety of
travel upon narrow-gaug railroads where
tie curves are sharp and frequent
This is question which ought to
have been examined carefully by the
jury, for it is vital one to the
travelling public. 1t is extremely neces-
sary, for the interest of railroad managers
as well as for the protection of the public.
that all doubts about point like this
should be cleared away but the late Cor
oner's jury has done nothing toward de-
termining the matter. What made the
cars leave the track is another question
which ought to have been answered, but
was not. There are dozen people killed
and twenty or thirty wounded, and after
a protracted inquiry into the whole affair
the public know no more than when the
accident happened. In Turkey they
would not have taken the trouble to hold
an inquest, but would have resigned them
selves to the event as inevitable. We
pretend to proceed more nationally, but we
do not, after all, reach any more satisfac-
tory conclusions.
In fact nothing has been developed
which gives any guarantee against the
repetition of just this accident tomorrow.
1t may be that the curve at the fatal point
is too sharp, or that the outer rail was not
raised sufficiently, or that the want of air
brakes caused the train to attain danger
GUS speed, or that the narrowness of the
gauge made the cars unstable Each and
every one of these defects could be RENE
died without trouble or difficulty, but the
Coroner's jury has come to no conclusi.
suggestive of any reforms or Improvements,
and therefore it is not to be supposed that
the railroad company will put itself to I'M
necessary expense in the premises. 1t is
true that the question of the instability OF
narrow gauge cars of the kind used on
this occasion may involve the whole
problem of narow-gauge railroads, and
for that reason the Coroner's jury might
have been reluctant to touch it, This,
however, is precisely one Of the questions
which require to be solved in the interest
of the public, and therefore popular in
quest ought not to have neglected it. 1t
may be doubted whether any inquiry into
disaster of equal magnitude has ever had
lamer or more impotent ending than
this one, in fact. There seems to have
been no lack of suggestive evidence. It
appears to have been believed by some
employees of the railroad that the par
ticular spot where the accident occurred
was dangerous. Why was not that line
OF inquiry followed up? A skillful and
energetic Coroner would have found no
difficulty in getting together enough clues
to afford the foundation for a rational
theory OF the whole case, but nothing of
that kind seems to have been thought of.
Some show of energy was made in
bringing forward witnesses, but after
their testimony had been taken no.
body appeared to know what use TO
make of it, and eventually no use was
made of it. All these people have been
killed, all these other people have been
wounded ali this suffering has been caused,
and the public are told solemnly that no
blame attaches to anyone which is equiv
alent to saying that the accident could not
have been avoided; which if it means
anything means that such occurrences are
inseparable from the running of narrow
gauge railroads. It is am extremely unsat-
istactory termination to the inquiry, and
the people OF Santa Cruz have no reason to
feel proud Of their Coroner, though they
themselves have shown a noble spirit of
humanity throughout the melancholy buSi-
ness.
TIE DEMOCRATIC PROSPECTS.
Though the Democratic National Con-
vention will meet at Cincinnati on the 22d
instant, the interest in the Republican
contest has almost completely obscured it.
Probably the prevalence Of belief that
Tilden has long since packed the Demo-
cratic Convention, and that his nomination
is almost foregone conclusion, has had
something to do with this general want of
interest in the doings of the unterrified, p"
/ as also the idea that the Democratic nomi-