St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-28
WHAT OFFICIALS SAY.
They Do Not Know the Exact
Cause, But Will Investigate
ThOrOughIy

4
II was in Minneapolis with President
Thomas Lowry and General Manager
Il. f. Barr, of the Passenger Railway
company" said Secretary D. Frank
Lloyd, ''when the intelligence of the
catastrophe was received. We boarded
the first train back, and repaired at
once to the scene of the accident and
made careful examination of the cable
line with a view to aScertaining the
cause.
''HOW the car left the track and why
the brakes refused to work will be the
subject of rigid investigation by Col.
Barr, and until this is accomplished [
am not prepared to assign a theory for
this deplOrable affair. Although there
had not been formal transfer of the
line to the street railroad company,
since Wednesday of this week they have
been carrying passengers and eXacting
fares, so that they may be assumed
to have had control at the time.
Had there been a green or untutOred
man on the grip car this might have
helped to enllghten us on the subject of
the failure of the brakes; but, as mat
ter of fact, the man in charge of the
grip was not only one of the most eXpe-
rienced grlpmen in the United States,
but practical engineer as well. 1t was
horrible accident, and coming, too,
Just at time when we were congratll-
lating ourselves that we were in fair
way to close up business III st. Paul
without anything to mar the success of
our venture. makes it all the more to be
regretted. 1t was the intention of Mr..
Webb and myself to have left for the
East Saturday night, but this unfortu-
nate occurrence has caused a change in
our plans, as we'll as had tendency to
unnerve us somewhat. But l promise
that a most searching inquiry Will be
of fixing responsibility for this
disaster, but to avert repetition in the
future. Outside of the drawbacks that
we have encountered incidental to an
enterprise of the magnitude of the cable
line, we were cOngratulating ourselves
that we would escape the calamity that
had befallen Chicago, where fOrty-two
people were killed by the cable cars
during the first year that they were in
operation, and in Kansas City, where a
scene OF horror was enacted recently
through the same agency, when all
our calculations and hopes were pros
trated by this terrible incident of what
had been looked forward to as a season
Vi ulldliOyGu IeSlVlUy.
''When the subject of grips for our
line was first suggested l went to San
Francisco and had personal interview
with Mr.. Root, at which l said to him
that the question of expense would be
of secondary Importance; what we
wanted was the best in use for heavy
grades. Down Selby avenue the incline
is sixteen feet to the hundred, whereas
at San Francisco it is twenty feet, and
the grips that we have are the same as
those used .
ON THE PACIFIC COAST. ' 81
All the employees were instructed to
use every precaution against accident,
and before leaving the power house each
car was tested to see that every bolt and
screw was in position. We lnaugurateda
schedule this morning of half all hour
between the first two cars; then when
third was put on the interval time was
reduced to twenty minutes, and the
fourth grip was put OH to make the
schedule fifteen minutes between cars.
Everything seemed to be working
splendidly when | left on the 80 o'clock
train for Minneapolis, and for the first
time since the road was commenced l
felt perfectly easy in my mind. Before
leaving for Minneapolis paid visit to
police headquarters to see Chief Clark
in regard to prohibiting boys from
crowding on the cars, for one principal
trouble grew out of the mass of people
who, from motives of curiosity, would
persist in piling into the grip and
passenger cars and plying the
trainmen in charge with questions
as to the speed of the cars and their car
rying capacity. While at police head
quarters signal was turned in for the
patrol wagon, but nothing was said as
to the cause, and | hurried to catch the
outgoing train at Chestnut street sta
ton, little dreaming of what had trans
PRED. Upon reaching Mr.. Lowry's
office was enlightened on the subject
and hurried back to st. Paul as fast as