The Asheville citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1885-1889, 1888-07-19

III lHe early part OF the nlgnG 10 re-
member him when the whiskey
came. I rendered him. l told Mr..
Weldon early in the night that I
had sent after whiskey. He said
don't forget me-" I saw Weldon
drink some of this whiskey. I had
three half pints when / went over
there; when 1 left l had a good
drink. The three OF US drank little
over half pint. Wallen took over
spoonful" I considered he was
under the influence of liquor some~
what. l have not said siAce the ac-
cident that Weldon as drunk as
h-ll that night" Wallen told me
next morning that Weldon had told
him he took two schooners of beer
and drin9 of corn whiskey before
he came to the Junction. I saw
wreck Sunday morning. | left the
station g hen the western train Went
down; went to bed. I did not hear
the noise of the wreck. I was in the
depot with Weldon when the train
passed! The conductor on the down
train asked for orders; Weldon said
he had no orders. Mr.. Weldon's at
tention was called by Wallen's talk
ing to him. Weldon acted careless
about the whole affair. l didn't
hear him say anything about maxi
ing mistake. He said something
to Wallen about semaphone lights;
did not understand what he said
I've known Weldon to drink before;
never known him to refuse an ops
portunity to drink, Of my own
knowledge. 1t is not the habit Of
persons to meet and drink at the
station with Mr.. Weldon.
Cross-examined: at was $50
when 1 sent for the whiskcy by
Webber, who works at saw-mill; be
got back at II o'clock. 1 net him
at the Spring. Both of us took a
small drink; l lad some before; [
was pretty full. Webber hadn't
taken any before. There was about
quart in the bottle. I paid for
three pints during the day and had
treated it ou1. l think Weldon was
about three parts full; 1 was like
wise. have taken two drinks this
morning. of about one gill each.
Can't say how many times 1 drank
that night, but Wallen and Weldon
took the bottle three times. Didn't
thin dWallen was drunk. Weldon
is not a gloomy man, but Jolly and
good natured. He had enough to
be lively; he was not drunk
enough to loose his senses. l didn't
know who pulled the semaphore.
Both Weldon and Wallen were
talking about it; didn't understand
what they said; | was standing in
the door when the conductor came.
Weldon gave the conductor to un-
derstani that the track was clear.
Did not hear him tell tie hrakemen
to stop train. Have had no talk
with Weldon since the accident.
Haven t said to any one that Wel~
don was las drunk as a fool" [
have no connection with roads and
had no business in the Office that
night.
At 20 o'clock, D. p. Keever, en-
gineer, of train No. p, was sworen:
s'I am an engineer on the Western
North Carolina railroad, and was on
train No. %, west bound, on the
morning of the 10Th. l came within
the usual distance Of the depot at
Asheville junction, blew station blow,
and rolled iuto the yard; within 800
yards of depot 1 discovered the white
light from the semaphore; pulled six
or seven car lengths by the office
door; got off engine, went back to
office, and went into office, spoke to
Weldon; asked him how everything
was. He said, "everything is o. X. !;
trains have ali passed." l saw that
1st and 2nd "a had registered. Those
were the trains that had the right of
track over me. Conductor Winslow
registered our namse, and number
train on the book. When we went
out of the Office after registering,
| Wiuslow said, GAS soon as this man
seals up this car we'll be ready to go,
them an referred to 1 supposed to be
station hand; walked down to engine,
and pulled the bell, and Winslow
gave me signal to go ahead. blew
off breaks and left. suppose it was
about one mile from station when We
struckNo IS; had one hundred yards
warning before 1 struck No. Is. |
saw the head light of the other train.
The brakeman killed belonged on my
train reversed my engine when l
saw the other engine coming. l am
under the impression that the break
man was killed by the timber falling
on him Harvey Carruthers was
his name. He was behind the engine
about one car length. He was not
drinking. Mr.. Weldon seemed to be
in a pretty lively state; had never
seen him that way before; think
he was drinking; never knew him to
drink. He was lIvelier than usual.
Cross examined by Judge Moore;
Have you feeling in this matter?
Keeyer replied: Il have; it is natural
that should 1 thought he was drunk
because he had drunken man in the
Office with him, Reed was drunker
than fool. 1 have said nothing
about it before this. Mr.. Weldon
followed me out and said as usual,
"It's time you were gotting away
from here. you have been here long
enough" This is susually the remark
he makes to me when / am at the sta
ton. We were behind time that
morning.
Conductor T. E. Winslow: am
a conductor, in the employ of the
Richmond & Danvile railroad, l run
| freight train between here and Sails
bury. 1 ran No. %, on the morning
of the collision. Engineer Keever
and myself were in charge of No. %,
local freight; we came to Asheville
junction an hour and a half late,
After unloading a small box
of cigarettes, went into the Office and
registered our train, times of arriving
/ -, 4lNo A ffoY. 1.oor