Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-12-02
COLIIG " kOEHLER.
Ss1e Startling Facts Brought
to Light.
SR.Cs DISREGARD THE CoNxlSSleN
How the Press Lead BY the
Oregonian Abuse the
CemmiSsiea.
~ o,n- co,riS u tse e-esor..r.

~ com Colv.S. Il tse 6-exon2r-
RoSERCRG, Or Nov. ., lsal-
While I do not feel that IL Is in
cumteot on me ss 8 member Of the
hoard OF railroad commissioners 70
offer any explsastion, excuse or
apology for the report msde on the
Lake I.sk,ish disaster, still, as Mr..
Koehles and otberS have seen 1T TO
critieise and eondemu the acton Of
the b-ard, ! hsve thought It proper
10 make the following statement:
II the Fail ~=- removed by trzir-
~reeker, how could be have thrown
il from the top Of an eighteen-fuot
tre<cie without making sn i'm
preston il the soft ground on which
it fell. II il vAs Jeff OF tie tr.ck
snd knocked of By the engine why
cid il not mxks 81 impres.ioac Yel
the evidence shows nothing Of the
kind ~as .S~a Or observed early
next morning. II strsck oy s train
rIuniDg twenty miles per hour
would il not have left marks on the
r4ii eizisly visible Yet only s
Sigh, aorssioa appeared on the rxil
which Ess 81 sight a. TO escape al
tsntioa except urser ve-y minute
and c,ose inspection. Would il Dot
have left some mark on the pilot
Of the vrec&ed engine, especially
The draw tar, which i the foremost
point o. the engine which voaId -
struck BY such az object giane;ns Up
Il Yet the pcinl Oh the d-s~bar
WAS Endlsturted. The no~e Of the
engine made Of iroa bore no nsrs-
u having mei any such obstruction.
II the rail vas thrown overheard by
the trxinvrecssr ne either earned j,
forward eighteen feet 10 do % or II
wss Carried there by the fall Of the
srruct urs, as that was the position il
occupied or the morning after the
wreck. Is II Reasonable that the
trxinwreeker would go 900 feet from
the north end Of The tr-sil- 10
take I'D thi. rsil and then return
over the same distance 70 hide
his clavbsr and wrench in q rose-
lush 6 ty steps west Of the track,
especially when he had only . few
minutes 10 work between trains? Is
IL significant that the manager OF
the comp&sy On the n0rainx after
me wreck gave oct the report that
the clavbar and wrench had been
stolen from the tooihouse 81 Salem
on Wednesday uorplng, the wreck
occurring the same day Is II sig
niacant that the managers OF tie
company informed me Oh Friday
that the same tools
had been found in tine roeebush
that they lad not been
and l hat The section fore
man could and would identify the
same; but on icing brough; immed-
lately 10 view OF the tools, the
foreman, P. d. Prunty, could only .
Identify the wrench and said posi-. I
lively and emphaticaliy that the
ciavba- was no; hise Is il signifie-
Ant thst on putting another section .
foreman on the stand v ho, il was
claimed, hsd t--eA in charge Of the
.-ction house during the month of
November and part of Octntar, ne .
JAILED "a identity L. tools and said
lbe elavbAf ws> positively one
no. belonging - the tcolhouse AZ (
Il there any Significance ir
tha fact that the first hve bents
north of the wrecked --ugine were
o1ilt with morIis- and tenuon, and
al showed signs nj decay and al
broke over 10 the west, and that the
'wenty-six bents north Of the-e
shich all fell south with the track
we're built with dowell pins and were
Ill new aud ail remained joined
,oeether after the wreck and that
he mudsills of the i've Immediately
involved in the wreck were 20 rotten
nat person could with his hands
~ striking an ordinary blow with
he point of square spade, dig down
nto the caps, where the posts rested,
wo inches: l. il not significant
act that the trainwrecker went eDJ
eet out on the tre-tie 20 remove the
all, and that IL should have oeen
emoved over the very spot where
he rotten ben,s commenced and the
lew bents ended:
As TO wether tile commission had
he courage 20 give "a fair aud impaI-
IaI verdict on the c:suse az the