The sun., 1882-01-15
BRAKEMiN MELIUs ARRESTED.
He Went BACK n Little Way with the Sig.
nal, but Thought IL Far Enough.


nal, but Thought IL Far Enough.
Superintendent John M. Touoey of tho Now
York and Harlem division Of the New York Gem
trail Railroad said yesterday that he was con-
vnced that the responsibility for the.accidcnt
rested upon Brakeman George Moius whose
duty IL was, the moment tho train stopped to
run back and wave his red light to warn the
approaching train. The rule of the road. which
was we'll known to Melius from his twenty years
service. is as follows:
, S 5a % %Sprsa on s the road Or is ony
@ send S ana s ss ssns at ss Il hH n
dirscops il on single track to Stop any approaching
train M9ch h E"" s %us, be sho% o n hS The
tram is expected or not In carrying ont this instruction
be o: IN inquiry as to the cause Of stopea or its prob
Sss HS the Sa sc or & ssy "
sihe for the prompt enforcement Of this rule The sig
biowins OF the whistle to start unss ssnt for by tie
the rail
Ielius. Mr.. Toucey said, had no right to Tait
for Conductor Hanford to order him To go back
His duty was to run back instantly without or
ders. Why he did not do so Mr.. Toucoy could
not tell. He know of no man supposed to be
mo.c trustworthy among the employees Of the
road, and none other than a man supposed to
bo trustworthy would be permitted 10 occupy
the responsible position OF brakeman at the
rear OF the train.
III was suggested tnat POSSIBLY MENUS 1curGu
being left and took the risk Of an accident lcst
he should be late in gotting homo. MIR. Toucey
said there was no excuse for this. n there were
have rouchcd the Cay promptly. The propen-
sity Of brakemen TO. sock their own conve
nicnce at the risk of thcii trains had frequent.
ly attracted attention. and. for the purpose Of
preventing accidents from this cause. the old
method Of GSoedng 6pnkemen has Ion long snfe
man who has been sent back. careful con
I.a, I'm ipa
his road. has been known to drop one brake
man after another until only one was left on
Mcliu5 reached the Grand Central depot early
in the afternoon. and at ten minutes to o'clock
was arrested by Police Captain Hooker; He
was taken TO the station house under the depot.
where he gave his age aa 81. his address as
Poughkeepsic, and snid that he was married
turbcd 10y the arrest.
- do not consider myself TO blame. said he;
IL signalIed the Tarry'own train to. stop, and
ii did not stop. but went right 10y me-"
lIc was locked ur ina, cell. and Inc Coroner
rotSd MSf HbG%t S9sk % in taG GGsming GGmi
ani auestioncd. What rSipl'ci he riale we're
written down. He still scc.ucd at ease and
confident that he could not be held to blame.
The train on which | vas a br'heul,n was
ddfsysd dneys d hS we saa E S 'Gr the
timo of the accident the engineer put the mir
ON the brakes Of the train, ani when W., we
slowly over. and tho air hung on tho
brakes-aId we could not get ali the air of the
6raResnand f,', ] ne pulled the train IRON there
Whom The train stopped got my white and
TsS stood chnd e train abo two G minutes nn
started back round the curve about six or seven
ear lengths behind my train. when. the Tarry-
W Where Stood; iwaySd my red lantern across
to stop the train. started with my lamps about
minute or two after my train came To a stop.
walk the distance and stood there about one
or two minutes perhaps three minutes. when
'9 sGSpsa hsrs becase 7n, c"nsidered the
distance sufficient to stop any train,
tine t was Was n2sk nha1 to
quarter or hall mile. but did not consider
Il knew there was train behind us, but
did not know whether il vas the Tarrytown or
Capt. Hooker will take the prisoner TO the
Coroners office this morning at lots o'clock.
when he will be subjected TO longer cxamina-
Melius is reported as saying in, conversation
with his brother that he went back with his
red light far enough to see ,Spu,ten Duyyil
PASSED hi M II was running AZ the rate OF i'rty
miles an hour and he si1 engine was using steam
have been running that fast, as ii had Just left
Spuyten Duyyil station. brakeman Melius re-
ed h4 anysw it Wa sys eopH a y9ry 5 TTa w@n
back far enough to see Spuyten Duyyil bridge.
his rcd light would have been seen by the watch
Residents 81 the neiehborhood Of the acci-
dent are Of the opinion that tho catastrophe
been stationed t at the east end Of the Spuyten
Duyvil curve. as was formerly done; Even II
bn d Mnyad M red EN- c the ssha
could have been given from the east end OF the
curve in lime to stop the Tarryi,3wn y, M train;
end Of the curve. Now there is only one at the
Is So clear M from passes j Of falling rock in the
curve. He passes into the curve after each
train far enough east TO see that the curve is
soc the spot where the accident occurred.
CONDUCTOR Hanlord. who is short, chunky
nductor said that his train was not as well
filled as lad been expected, because many Of
bany. lie said' however. that he had a lively
party on board and he laid heavy and sug-
ssT9 @ & Ti iy m n 5 l card 'f52 na2jn, wef anon. he he
Nhen tie Rolling aIfll cut WIS rounded some
body somewhere in tho train pullCd the rope
that runs along one side of the cars and is
attached to the air brakes. I he brakes were
There Was no way. Couduct,i- Ha!iloI,. says Ia
discover Who pulled the cod or III what car it
There was q delay Of about seyen minutes
was 5topned Tor ami Iprly :? al'oy The On
gineer 10 nut the air brake in ordcr asain.
Conductor lianf4rd was II the seventh car
from the end OF the train. but he says lie SAW
Neiu-. the rear brakeman. st.Iriius away from
the last ear. he did not s.e how ftr NJ, liuS
went but supposed lie was SONG TO do what his
instructions required of him.
Conductor IIanford says that Mel!us had been
twenty-five years ON the road and had been
on his trains with him many years. lie was
never known to drink any liquor, and WIS re-
gi!ricd ;.e Il faithful. good man.
Conductor Albert Evans of the Tarrytown
special says that his train arrived at Spuytcn
Duyyil at 7:l4 l.. d. The express left Spuyten
Duyyil u 7:0l +. NJ. Before the special had
gone half mile it ran into the express Con
ductor Evans first saw the express when his
own train was within 100 yards OF it. The
brakeman from the express had not advanced
more than twenty-five feet toward the special.
According to rule special may follow an eX-
Evans's train left ,Iarrytown five minutes after
the express. At ionkers II was ten minutes
behind the express. and at Spuyten Duyyil
thirteen minutes.
street. the engineer OF the Tarrytown train.
says he discovered Melius's signal at the same
instant that he saw the express. The brake
man WAS apparently not more than twenty-five
feet from the express. Engineer Burr put on
the air brakes and reversed his engine imme-
diately remaining at his post.
To ILLUSTRATE how simple a matter 1t would