Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1886-08-20
AN INVESTIGATION BEGUN


Testimony Of the Witne-ses Examined.
This morning an investigation of the cause
of the disaster was begun by Col X. Haskins,
a Justice of the Peace, under the state law
which provides that
'When any one of the selectmeu is informed that
the dead body Of person, supposed to have died by
casualty or violence is found lying within the town.
he may, II in his opinion the public good requires it,
apply to Justice Of the county, who shall inquire in
to the cause and manner Of the death Of said person.
The Justice is authorized to compel the at
tendance Of Witnesses and he must take the
testimony in writing and return it to the next
term of the county court.
The hearing, which was begun on Mr..
Herricks application, by request of numer
Gus cit zens, il held in the vacant room in
the rear of Mr.. Herrick's office.
Briefly summarized, the testimony given
up to the hour Of adjournment this Afternoon
was the following:
Mr. Frisbie, the Central VT bridge inspec-
tor, tcstif,d that LIE had made frequent cx
aminations of this bridge that the floor
beams were strengthened in 1881 or 1882
and no repairs had since been made. lie
considered the bridge perfectly safe one,
and, so far as he could Judge, its material
and workmanship were good. Since the
wreck he had seen no decayed timber upon
which the strength Of the bridge depended
The cause Of the disaster was yet mystery
to him.
Mr.. b. D. Harris testified that the bridge
was designed and planned by Mr.. A. p Boil
or, an eminent New York bridge engineer,
with strength to support lS-ton engines aud
freight cars having capacity for tons,
which was the heaviest equipment then in
use on narrow gauge railroads That subse-
quently, when inquired of, Mr.. Boiler wrote
that he would not guarantee the safety OF the
bridge for any heavier load, but that it was
perft g ly good for what 1t was designed to car
ry, and would probably support much heavier
loads. These facts were communicated to
the officials of the Genital Vermont g. Z.
Danforth ~ Co who were the builders, were
an experienced firm of bridge contractors,
and had done their work according to plans
and specifications furnished by the engineer
and under his supervision and direction and
to his full satisfaction and acceptance, accord
ing to the specified terms of their contract
SO far as he could judge both the materials
and workmanship were good. In reply to
| question, Mr.. Harris said he had no authori.
| ty whatever in deciding the plans of the
bridge and no control in any way over its
constructon-all these matters being exclu
| sivey in the hands of the engineer He said
| he knew nothing about the alleged overload.
ing of cars except from hearsay, and had no
| information on which to base a positive opin-
ion az to the immediate cause of the disaster.
Ned Prentice, the fireman of the wrecked
train, knew of nothing wrong about the
| bridge, had never felt afraid of it, and did
| not know that anything was wrong about the
! train when the accident happened.
Henry Baldwin, engineer of the passenger
train, had always felt safe about the bridge,
and knew of nothing wrong about it. There
was no truth in the story that he had felt 1t
sag to one side when going over in the morn
ing and had so reported at the station.
O. f. Thompson testified to general facts
az to the load the freight cars were intended
to carry, etc.
A. H. Wright testified to the general facts
and opinions which we have already quoted
from him. The wood work was not more
decayed than he should expect after seven
Years exposure. He had made q careful
estimate as to the strength of the bridge. 1t
was intended to carry load equal to one
sixth of its actual strength, or Of 2lO tons.
Estimating that the bridge would hold nine
cars with loads OF - tons each, there would
be a total of l3j tons add to this the weight
of the locomotive, Is tons, and we have 1913
tons as the largest aggregate strain which the
bridge has in any probability been subjected
to, or n tons less than it was built to carry,
and it's actual strength was six times this.
l.. F. Brooks, superintendent of the road,
had always considered the bridge good one.
1t had been kept clrefully inspected and
looked after. He did not intend to overload
it. The freight cars carried as rule from . to
10 tons Of freight each, but sometimes, con
trary to his orders, shippers had loaded cars
with II, II, Il, and even IL tons of freight
each, but this had not often happened. He
knew Of no imperfectiOn or cause for the &C
cident.
Jacob Estey had shipped more or les'
freight over the road mostly lumber, spruce
boards shipments average about GOO, OOC
feet per year most of 1t had been stuck VI
and dried through one season could carry
} from 5000 to 5000 feet per car; would weigh
from 1G, 900 to ls, 900 pounds per car-some
times perhaps little more
l. X. Allen had shipped exceeding 5000,
600 feet OF lumber since it was opened ship
ned some every year. and from Londonderry
Winhall. Wardsboro and other stations als'
Skinned from 300 to 400 cords of bark car
ried from G to q cords of bark to load tn
! bark weighs some 2000 pounds to the cord
J the lumber consisted Of spruce, hemlock, bas
, and hard wood boards, also some square tim
Der most of the lumber shipped has Deel
seasoned carried 10000 feet OF hemlock Il
a car, and it would weigh 10 tons. Supt
= Rrooks allowed him to put on 10 gross tons t.
7 the load. In spruce boards sometimes woul'
o act on II 600 feet. Hard wood boards 500
+ fact and perhaps over. Had carried on fey
I occasions ] ( tons to the car
! Dorman b. Eaton said l live within 40 o
t 80 rods OF bridge; one abutment of bridge l
d on my land. Have seen trains loaded wit
b stone. lumber, etc, pass over bridge; sine
r last MAY on several occasions have observe
+ bridge TO sag as these trains passed alon
4 over il. It's indications, to my mind, wer
= that of an over strained aud over burdene
( bridge. On Wednesday of this week say
It the train rs it appro 'ched, and also as 1t ra
i upon the bridge; the engine gave one shar
T. irregular whistle. In moment there was
g crash which sounded as does lightning whe
k il strikes a building, then in quick sueeessio
1t came sharp snap and splash in the water
It NV view of the bridge was partially obscure
It by the trees, but leaving the trestle-work o
which was the passenger and two treigl
4 cars in sight. Almost instantaneous with Il
If smash in the water the trestle-work fell.
,s DIR. Webster was called simply to show u
As cause of the death Of Engineer Smith and
g. ]. Green. The first, to his mind, died |
10 drowning, and the last from the shock T
Dt eeiyed in the railroad disaster.
f. The hearing stands adjourned subject
b. the call of Justice Haskins Next week it
Of expected that the plans and strain sheets
The bridge will be submitted in evlden
from the engineers Office in New York.