The morning call., 1890-11-18
THE LAKE LABIsH WRECK.
Investigation OF the Accident By the Rail.
road Com missioners.

Investigation OF the Accident By the Rail-
road Commissioners.
SALEM, Nov. II. - The State Railroad
Commissioners to-day began an investiga-
ton into the cause of the wreck which oc-
CURED at Lake Labish on the Southern Pa
cifc Railroad last Wednesday night. They
have summoned a large number of experts,
who will testify. State Railroad Commits
sioner Calvig was put on the stand
as witness. He arrived at 1880
O'Clock the morning after the wreck I;
nothing had as yet been disturbed,
except at the north end, where some work
was done. Witness examined the wreck
on all points. He found that 600 feet from
the north approach had fallen down; all the
bents fell to the south, in a line with the
track. Where the wrecked engine lay four
bents had broken and fallen TO the west, at
right angles with the track. The engine lay
fifteen feet beyond where the last bent fell.
Witness then detailed the general appearance
of the wreck. ALI the bents between the
wrecked engine were crushed to the west;
they were of the same pattern, and had been
used from five to seven years. The first
bent before the four that fell to the west had
no mOrlices and no dOwel joints. Older
timber had been used on this than on the
other four. 1t had been cut off below, and
all four that fell to the west were more or
less decayed. Where the posts set in the
mudsills and in the cap above, the lemons
were broken off. The mudsills were
considerably rotted. The second from
the end was the most rotten. The
Second cap from the wrecked engine was
somewhat rotten. 1t was broken and spit,
and the posts seemed TO have been driven
through it. The fifth bent and the one at
the end Of the trestle was OF a newer char
acter, and so was all the rest OF the bridge.
hPntS
braces, bolted with half-inch drift bolts at
each end, but no bolts were in the center.
The stringers seemed sufficiently sound.
Saw no chord broken and squashed. The
wood seemed solid. A split was
caused by swaying to the west
and being boIted together. found rail on
the west side of the track, nearly opposite
the first coach. The rail did not appear to
have been involved In the wreck. On the
east side OF the track was an open space
that this rail would fit into. The rest Of the
rails on the ties 10 the north were still in
place. The cars were on top of the struct-
ure; some Of the wheels were derailed in
space to the east of where the rail lay.
The track OF the wheels could be
seen. Three ties inside the line of
the spikes were removed. The spikes
on the outside were bent, still in place or
driven into the wood. There were no plates
or bolts ON the car underneath the train.
There was no impression on the ground near
where this rail lay, such as THIS rail- would
malo if falling on soft ground. l was in
formed by the rGad-master that a wrench
and claw-bar had been stolen from the sec
ton-boss the day before, and the day after
was shown the tools concealed in the brush,
found by two section-men. The foreman
identified She wrench as the stolen one. he
said the claw-bar was not his. He could not
claim The claw-bar as his; knew his among
thousand. On the second day he was
shown that there were enough rails to com
plete the track without the rail on the
ground.
C. C. Brown Of Brooks confirms this by an
affidavit, which he read. Brown is a car
penter. aud states that there are enough
rails to connect the track without the bar
lying on the ground.
Harry Lane, Superintendent Of the State
Insane Asylum, testified that he went to the
wreck at II o'clock and looked over the
track with Superintendent Fields. They
looked for the rail then spoken of and could
not find it to identify it. Where the
rails were pulled apart the bolts and heads
were gone. They found one cap near the
wrecked engine that was rotten. All the
other timbers were apparently decayed.
The bridge was not fOre-and-ait braced.
The posts seemed to be secure. Tie cap he