The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-11-18
TESTIMONY or THE rIMBERs.
The Rail on the Ground Had Never
Been on the Bridge.
II It Had Fallen From Above 1t Would
Have Impressed the Earth-Union
Pacific Railroad Denies That Its
Track Il Unsafe.


Laoish, on the Snuthern Pacific. last Wednesday
night They have summoned q large number
OF experts, who will testify. State Railroad
Commissioner Colvig was put on the stand as q
wituesa He arrived ct 1850 the morning after
the wreck Nothing had been disturbed except
at the north end, where some work was done
he examined the wreck on all points.
He considered the material as evidence
He found that 600 feet from the north ap-
proach had fallen down. All the bents fell to
6fhe south in Q line with the track. Where the
Nrecked 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. All the bents be-
tween the wreck and the engine were crushed
to the west They were of the same pattern and
had been used from i've to seven years The
first bent Of tho four that fell to the west
had no mortises and no dowel-jointG It
was Of older timber and had been used
longer than any OF the other four It had been
cut on below. and all four that fell to the west
were more or less decayed. Where the posts
were set on mui-sill aud in cap above the
lemons were broken off and the mud-sills were
considerably rotted. The second bent from the
end WAS the most rotten. The third from the
wrecked engine was somewhat rotten. It was
broken and sDlit, and the posts seemed to have
been driven through II. The fifth bent, and fhe
one mex: to the end of the trestle. was
of newer character. and 20 was all
the rest Of the bridge. The four bents were
supported by sway braces, bolted with q half
Inch drift-bolt ct each end. but no bolts in
center The string chords seemed sufficiently
sound He saw no chord broken and sQuashed.
The wood seemed solid. The split was caused
by the swaying to the west and being bolted
together. He 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 flt into The rest of
the rails. on the ties to the NORTH were still in
place. OF the cars that were on top Of the
structure. some had wheels derailed in space
to the east Of where the rail lay. The track of
the wheels could be seen. Three ties inside the
lines Of 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 rail under the train. There
was no Impression on the ground near
where this rail lay. such a this rail would
make Il failing on soft ground Twas informed
By the roadmaster that . wrench aud crowbar
had BEEN stolen from the section boss the day
before. and the day after was shown the tools.
concealed in the brush and found by two Sec
ton men The foreman identified the wrench
e that stolen. He said the crowbar was not His
He could not claim the crowbar a. hiR He
knew his among Z thousand.
On the second day he was shown that there
were enough ratla to complete the track with
out the rail on the ground.
G. G. Brown, Of Brooks, confirmed this &C
count by an afadavit which he read. Brown is
q carpenter aud states that there are enough
rails to connect the track without that lying on
the ground.
Df. Harry Lane, superintendent of the state
insane asylum, testified that he went to the
wreck about II o'clock, and looked over the
traok with Superintendent Fields. They looked
for the rail spoken OF, and coald not
nnd 1t TO identify it Where the rails
were pulled apart the bolts and
heads were gone. BE found one cap near the
wrecked engine that was rotten. All the other
timbers were apparently decayed The bridge
was not fore-and-aft braced. The posts seemed
to be secure. The cap he saw had dry rot clear
through. He did not examine the mudsills or
timbers closely. and could not identity any par
ticular bents
Alonso Gesner testified that the lemons Of the
bents in the wrecked place where the engine
was, were pretty well gone. The mudsills, like
the lemons of ..the posts, had also begun to rot.
The rest OF the trestle was not mogtised, but
held TO the CAP and mudsill by an iron dowel
pin.
The afidavit of r. s Swsrtz, farmer near
Chimawa was read. He found the bents reason
ably sound He saw . rail that had been dis
placed eighteen feet back OF where 1t had been.
1t had no signs on it of being in the wreck. The
ties were cot by the car wheels where this rail
was removed He saw the mark of crowbar on
five ties. showing that the spikes were drawn
before the wreck. A car was over this in part
so it could not have been made after the wreck.
There was no evidence that the trestle broke
down from the weight of the engine
J. O. Johnson. division foreman of the bridge
department, was examined. The trestle timbers
were sound and the bridge good enough to hold
the trains that run over this road. The pile
bents were left on to save expense. The track
had been tampered WITH
J. II. Waite, road master on the Southern Pa
cific, said the car surged forward and then
surged back 90 a. to strike my head. We were
running twenty to twenty five miles The
brakes were applied before whistling. a. they
generally do AZ this place. He had seen EVIL
dence OF . rail being removed Conclusive evil
dence 10 found in the rail on the west side that
il missing on the east The substrueture was
good and sound
J. o. wilson saw the wreck and examined it
closely. For three rails lengths. whore the en-
gine went down, 1t was not strong enough. The
rail on the west side could not have got there
without . number of hands 1t evidently had
not been In the wreck. The car wheels had run
on the ties where the rail was removed.
J. H. Alberls, cashier Of the Capital National
bank, owns the place where the wreck occurred.
He had remarked what he considered the un-
safe character of this trestle He had noticed
where the rail appeared to be missing on the
east side OF the track that was found under the
trestle. The rail to the west on tine ground did
not belong in this opening.
Adjourned till tomorrow morning.
NEW NORTHERN PACIFIC SCHEDULE
Seattle Now in Close Connection With