New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-02-27
DANGER SIGNALS WE'RE Sci
81 sAys ONE OF THE TOWER OPERATORS.
THE NEw.HAvEN TRAIN PASSED HIS LIGHTS
AND HE WARMED THE NEXT STATION.

THE W.HAvEN TRAIN PASSED HIS LIGHTS
AND HE WARNED THE NEXT STATION.
Tn tho Coroper's inquest yesterday regarding the
canss Of the railroad accident in the fOurth-a'e'
tlnnel. testimony about the wreck i,seli ana tHc peopo
killed was given by the Rev. David b. Walker and the
policemen +. G. Carson and John Harmon.
Mr.. Franklin, conductor Of the "sh0p" tram, was
reca,led to the stand In the forenoon. lie tstineu
that the last two cars were the regular coaches OF the
,.ostop. Albany Line and the third was a sleeper
Ia thought there were heaters on these last coaches
The regular time for the shop" tram 10 led'e 'o
Central Station was 6 80 O'Clock, but On this morning
he was five minutes late.
George W. Hutchinson, the conductor OF le Nc"-
Haven train, proved an intelligent witness. lie lives
in this city at No. 34S Eighth-ave. AT the tlme vi 'no
accident he was attending to his duties in the baggage
car. His train was making about twenty'tlree mics
an hour-the regular schedule rate.
al felt the shock" said the conductor " ana In
mediately jumped from the car. AS l reachcu y"
track 1 heard an engine approaching on the other
track. / thought II was best TO get out OF te way WV
crawled under my baggage-car. l had no sooner uoio
this when light engine No. 8 anne along and struck lhe
rear end OF the wrecked cars. The shock tWc" 'o
engine against the opposite wall, wmch lhrc" ~ o""
on nv car. / heard Engineer Fowler call Ai@ri
found him / asked what was the matter ana nc repl'u'
Il have run into the shop train. L asked MN - ~
was all right and he said he was. l then hearu ue
cries U i IL uIIlu AOhi oH@
N get one man out and 1 was afraid he would pun
me into the car, so strong was his grip fmahy 4
had to leave him to burn" The collSioh' he Inous"'
WAS at z :O7 OF : :O8 O'Clock. lie had consumed somo
two or three minutes in reaching the scene ol to .0F
dent. but he had noticed the time immedla'eiy aiei
going under his baggage-car, and THIS must nav ooo"
within a minute from the time OF the crash lie jury
a anxious 10 know whether Conductor Hutchinson
had heard any danger bell, and he replied that ne hau
not. lie thought that he and his assistants shouN
have heard it If it had been rung.
The first slgnalman called to testify was William
r. McManus the seventy -second-st operator Mo"ahu'
has been in the employment Of the company Tor tmc"
wears. and in charge OF this tower for about ohe-ahu%
half wears. His hours each day are from Z O'CLOCK
in tbe morning until 3 O'Clock in the afternoon. vi
the morning in question he reported 1r daty AZ o"o
or two minutes past seven. He told Ills storS III
clear straightforward manner. Immediately a'e
coming on duty, he said, he cleared all the signals
for the shop" train.
"When the shop train had passed me-" ADDED te
onerator. al gave four bells to the man at Eighty-siXth
st. That meant that the shop train had ehteieo HE
section. lie answered. / then made my distance sishai
green and I blocked the home signal with the req hsh''
l then gave o clear signal to the man at flty-hlh'h
st. At that moment I noticed Mr.. Jones, a tracknah'
coming on the side track. l called and asked him
whether he was in a hurry, and he replied he was not
/ wished hin to come in. for I feared that the shop
would be stalled, it was going at such a slow rate
of speed, and l might want to give the train some
assistance. ! received word from Flfty-ninth-St' teliihs
me that the New-IIaven train was coming, and l soon
heard it approaching. 1t was coming so fast that l salu
to Jones I am afraid the New-Iiaven train will pass my
lights and he replied he feared it would. l turned
TO Jones and said, You see my signals. They are all
right and he replied Il do The train passed. then
called up the Eighty-sixth-st. operator and told him
that 10 Y had run by my lights. l then asked
Jones 10 go out and make sure that my signals were all
right. Mr.. Jones on returning told me that the signals
were all right and at danger. l then heard no more
until 1 heard a dispatch TO the Grand Central Station
stating that a serious accident had occurred"
The operator fully explained his duties. signals
had to be attended, trains entered by name and
number and lamps and windows cleaned.
He testified further that the shop train had passed
his tower at Z :o4 O'Clock and the New-llaven train at
2 :O6 O'Clock. The "shop" train left considerable
smoke in the tunnel. In his testimony he admitted
that sometimes the distance signals were not in work
ing order. The wires which operated them became
stretched and the lights would be only half turned.
The same trouble had been experienced with the homo
signals, but a new system Of pipes was adopted and
at present there was never any mistake. lie under
stood that all lamps, signals and pipes were examined
and oiled three or four times a week.
"If the signal is at clear when the train passes, can
YOU change II from a clear TO a danger signal lmme-
diately N asked Assistant DistrictAttorney Lynn.
ayes, / can"
"But II 1t Is set at danger can you Grange IL irOh
danger to clear until train IS out OF the block ahead -
"No," was the reply. Il am released by the next
man. But if his sigma does not work, he gives Inc
twelve bells, meaning that l must unlock myself,
which l proceed 10 do by running a pencil in a small
hole"
Then you can unlock yourself from danger to
clear without being allowed 10 do so by the slSualman
abOve7"
Eyes"
allow fast did the shop train 90 by You at Seventy
ii was going very slow, not more than seven miles
an hour
Eighty-sixtlLst. ?"
a couple Of weeks" .
passes yOu7"
NO; l have not"
could YOU not have telegraphed the other man
at Eightysixth-st. to throw his green distance signal
Yes. / did wire him that the train had gone
through and TO look out for It,"
"What did he do?'
ale told me afterward that when he received my
word he stepped 10 the window to look at the shop
train. He shouted 10 the engineer of II 10 hurry up
that the other train was on the same block with him.
At 4 O'Clock the signal operator was still on the
stand. J. Scaver Page. one of the jury. complained
of feeling Ill. and the inquest was then adjourned until
10 80 O'Clock this morning.