New-York tribune., 1891-03-05
DEPEW TAKES THE STAND.
HE TESTIFIEs IN THE TUNNEL DISASTER
INQUEST.
ruE l1ocK SYSTEM HE CONSIDERS TO BE Tim
BEST IN EXISTENCE, AND SAYS ELEC-
TRIO LIGHTS WOULD CONFUSE
THE ENGINEERS.


cbsnncev NJ Depew. the president OF the New-iork
central and Hudson River Railroad H. Walter Webb
the tbird vice president, and Charles =. Clark the
president of the New York, New Haven ana HdrtloN
road testified yesterday in the Coroners inquest IN to
case Of the death OF Helen supple and Others IN the
Fonrth.avc tunnel accident. Not a man OF coroner
LEWIS carefully selected jury was absent, and the
courtroom was crowded.
After Mr.. Dcpew had taken the oath, ana had 'ou
Coroner Levy his occupation and address, Assistant
District Attorney Lynn asked about the control ana
regulation Of the tunnel and the witness eNpIalheu "
him that from the Grand Central station 10 the Junction
across the river the railroad is run under the "rdu
Central DepOt management under the supervision OF
depot master appointed by the presidents OF the ->c"
York Central the New York and Harlem and Inc New
York and Haven roads. The depot master Is ieN
the general manager and superintendent OF the le ioi
the distance mentioned. lie has his own stdn' ap'
pointed by himself and his own rules for the running
of the lne In l-4S an agreement was made by Which
the New York and New-I Haven Railroad Company was
granted the privilege Of running Its trains from ''0
junction near wamsbrdge upon the line OF the hai-
lem road and into its depot
Have YOU" asked Mr. Lynn, given the subject OF
the tunnel and its sanitary regulations as "eI as
ventilatng and other conditions. great ue'ii Vi
thought?'
"Yes sir, great deal Of thought" said Mr. Depew'
"Kindly state If you will, whether or not the pres
ent system can be improved upon
Well, of we rely largely upon uio iONOi"'
mendations of the depot master. who is Immediately
in touch with the safety appliances of the tun-
nel But the question is always up because oi
the constant recommendations that come III resdiN
to 1t from the press, from anony ymouS puOilcd'io"e
and from the universal inventor ana crank "lloSo
letters find upon my desk every morning, with pahS
and specifications and Invaluable remedies. Ever since
the read has been jointly in this way the question:
has been constantly up to whether anything couio
be done TO improve the system in existence IL never
has been a matter of expense with us. we heNoi
thought Of that for the reputation OF our line uepeus
upon having the passengers come into the depo. anu
1, ont of 1t in safety that every plan that mas
/ N proposed, whether electrical or mechancai h"S
been thoroughly examined, to see if it possessed any
merits"
"Tberefores he went on with his testimony. " the
system has been changed from time to tlme' as 'hc
inventive genius OF the country seemed ID suet.e'
somctbn better We started with the Hall signal We
improved on il with automatic appliances winch "eIc'
think the invention of Messrs. Toucey and Buchahah'
ben came the present system, which. upon tests aoo
everywhere we thought had been demonstrated 10 DO
the best block system yet invented 1ou can easily
understand that cannot afford, wheie we arc run
ming over 200 trains day. TO experiment Inc cA-
periments must tested somewhere where the dangers
arc not so great The sykes system up to the present
,,omcnt is | believe in the judgment Of the expert
enced railway men of the country the best sy>em'
Rut in addition on the suggestion OF MI fla't m"1-
acer of the Grand Central Depot we put III eohs>'
Now in regard TO the lighting of the tunnel looH
that matter up three four years ago. because ol o
letters which l had received and the commuhlct
tjons l saw III the press, that the heh'IUs VI
tho tunncl would diminish the danger. ii
,vould we wanted TO do ii, OF course Dolh Oh
humanitarian view and as practical r''Hoao "lei''
We could not adopt this pan that plan ana the oher'
which had not been demonstrated, without bolhs Ill
stantly met with the criminal provisions oi lHe III"
II our adoption Iesdltcd in death. Tile testimony
which received on the subject of lighting was to the
effect that coored signal best in the dark,
that the white light Of the electric light was more
penetrating than the colored light, and the engineer
would be confused by the white light
which means safety. aud BY the time he
reached the colored light the block would be
passed Since this accident and before. we
have had these questions asked of the engineers as lar
as We could get them 1t is a practical test not
scieItifc one. No engineer has answered otherwise
than that light the tunnel by electricity would con
fuse him. If through any process we could ma that
the electrical lighting Of the tunnel would obNate 'he
dangers we would be glad to put it in, and would do
at once But unless put II in under the authority
of the legislature who would thereby assume response
bilty for the accidents which We believe would
absolutely follow, would not dare to do II.
"Of course the atmospheric condition Of the tunnel
has a bad effect the lights. We had testimony
also that in the dampness the dust. SCOT and smoke
stl further add to the dangers of lighting by cleo
trcity The only way know of 10 venate the
tunnel is to open it. But there YOU come in contact
with another trOuble-the property owner On the
avenue We have one long struggle with the property
TO keep the veniiators open at all
Mr. Depew refused TO pass any criticism on the
construction Of the tunnel, because il built under
plans devised by board Of wellknown and well
qualified engineers on which the city had thrceMe>srS.
Campbell Tracy and Claven-and the railroad one, Mr..
Buckhout.
In regard to the recommendation Of the Grand Jury
in 16e2 Mr. Dcpcw said: You see, if may individual
ize myself, the president OF the NcwI Jrk Central
lroad cannot follow the suggestions OF any body OF
IN unless he be protected from the consequences.
"A Grand jury may recommend that the New \ OrI
Central road shall DO certain things. II the prc,i
dent If the New-Nork Central road does these
things and an accident occurs, and life is lost,
or people are manned. and 1t Is demon St1tei
BY expert testimony that the Grand jury dd ho'
know what ii was about and acted upon inNulhcicht
data, it don't excuse the president Of the Central
road lie goes to jail the company pays the damages
aud tie Grand Jury is excused. They may sit on
the petit jury that convict~ him.
Three years ago" said ME Lynn, your Fodn
had the stove system!'
Yes. sir
1T has been di,continued?'
"Yes sir We were the first road to discontinue
"Is the present system improvement 50 far as
ufe and safety concerned?"
THAT i, not demon Stratcd.'
Would YOU think this accident had demonstrated
II somewhat -
WELL said Mr. Depcw " that. Mr.. D,trict-At
torncy. is a mixed question on the practical side.
There was = practically unanimous public sentiment
that the car stove must 80. In talking about car
stoves OF YOU mix up the old alrteht stove
which YOU find in the country car Of the %de road
which barely exist and the Baker heater, which
is the best improvement of the car stove. If tho
upSets ii sets fire TO the The other Is placed
in a metal box, and has every possible appliance f0t
preventing fire. When the Leg Stature ordered the car
stove and steam heat in then had the iu>tica