The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-01-31
THE OMAN INQUEST
Conductor Campbell Makes
a Bad Witness for the
Railroad Company.
ENGINEER CADELL'S DREAD.
Railroad Employees Tried 10 Move
Trains Before the Mangled
Body Was Picked Up.

~ hcSac man, idst u14uts NofoUtf
Parslow and a jury continued the inquest
into the death OF Daniel Dinan. the driver
Of No. Engine. who was so horribly
niangled at the b r5w street crossing OF
the Pennsylvania Railroad on last Satnr-
day night John Culvert. the driver Of
the tender OF No. Engine, testideds-
shortly after seven O'Clock. on the night
Of January "A. an alarm came in the
house. Dinan and myself were in the
house at the time. Dinan jumped aboard
the engine ana started out OF the house
and l followed him with the tender. At
Mercer street the engineer jumped on fhs
tender and ordered me to pass Dinan-
Dinan was going very slow. He was al
ways known to be slow and careful
started TO pass Dlnan as we nearsd the
railroad tracks. The next thing / heard
was crash an wheeled my horse Oh
the track just in time. was covered
with splinters from Dinan's engine"
in answer 70 questions by the jury the
witness said that Oman had taken the
engine out about half q dozen times be-
fore during the absence O. the regular
driver. The regular driver wac at his
supper on the night of the accident He
he saw lamp swinging. and ne IhouxnE
it was signal to come ahead. After the
accident. be said. ex-Sherid Davis put 4
red lamp on the track to stop trains. In
the witness opinion, IL lone Of the hagmen
had left the track and run down q few
feet TO warn Dinan the accident would
not have occurred. Neither could it have
occurred II there had been gates.
MOVED THE RED LAMP.
Policeman John Quinn. Of the First
precinct. testified TO having reached the
scene OF the accident just after il oc-
CURED. He found about three hundred
people on the track and ordered them or
Ex-Sherfh Davis told him to put a red
lamp on the track and to see that 1t re-
manned there. Several employees tried to
remove the lamp and let the trains 20 by
Quinn said that he had often seen trains
running through the city at the rate of
thIrry-nve or forty miles an hour.
Policeman James Toppen, Of the First
precinct. said that he was on reserve duty
on the night of the accident. He went 70
the scene with the patrol wagon He saw
the shattered engine on the track. and
also Dinan's mangled body. He testified
that there was trouble stopping the
trains A red lamp was put on the track
and it was removed. The railroad people
tried to move trains before the body had
been gathered up. One train did move
westward In the witness opinion, II
there had been gates the accident could
not have happened. he th0ughr that the
Barrow street crossing needed as much
protection at night as during the day.
There was just as much travel when
there was a ball in public hail there. He
said that tine present ropes were rIdlcu-
lous and that the lamp signals were IN
derstood by very few persons.
Policeman Patrick Callan testified that
he had seen trains running at the rate OF
thirty miles an hour through the city.
Charles Campbell, the conductor OF the
train which killed Dinan, was the next
witness. Mr.. Campell's eagerness 10
shield the railroad company led him into
some pretty combinations before he got
through He testified that on the night
Of the accident his train slowed up at
Hunts hatcher shop. He heard there
was an accident and went back
He found the trunk of Dinan's body
lying up against the fence on the side of
saw several men carrying Dinan's head
down Then the body was taken of the
track by q policeman Questioned by
jurors he testified that he mad been a
conductor for seven years. His train wds
supposed TO make the run between
Marion and Jersey City depot, distance
of three miles, in seven minutes. He
said that the speed was but twelve miles
an hour on the night OF the accident, a.
three men got of at Jersey avenue and
the engineer sl.cked up 10 let them CT.
He did not know the names of the Ehree
men. but could find them out
QUEER OPINION.
In his opinion the fire engine ran into
the locomotive, at which remark the Jury
Uttered. In reply to question which ne
thought WAS going the faster, the ire en-
gine or the steam engine, the witness said
he thought the IRE engine was, yet he dld
not see the fire engine at all. On being
asked if the accident could have occurred
II there were gates at the crossing. the
witness replied that then the accident
would have been more serious, as the
horses would have dashed through the
gates. The jury smiled broadly. He was
asked if in his seven years experiences he
has ever known or heard of a case where
the fire horses dashed through the gates.
to which he replied that he had not. He
admitted that ae had not seen the horses
on the way to the IRE, but yet he believed
that in this particular case the horses
would have carried the gates away. The
jury breathed sigh Of relief when Nj.
Campbell left the stand.
he DREADs THE CROSSINGS
Thomas ii. CadelI, the engineer. was
| the next witness. He testified that he
lived at Railway and that he mad been for
twenty-five years an employe OF the
Pennsylvania Railroad. eleven years OF
| which be had been an engineer. he res-
/ tihed:-"The first thing that l knew
I the accident was crash al. Barrow stTF
/ We were gong at the rate OF fourteen
miles an hour had the air brakes on,
| intending TO let two men OF &C GROVE
street Campbell testified that t4ese
men were let OF at Jersey avenu9l /
tried 70 reverse my engine after the
crash but could not as the brake was
broken. My fireman sang out to me that
we had hit q wagon and said,
| There goes horse on my side
The speed in the city limits Is twenty
miles an hour west bound aad sixteen
miles east bound The time OF the ac-
cidenf was 7:l7. but l was due IN the
depot at 5:I0. l was seyen minutes be-
hind time. l think that IL gates were al
the crossings it would prevent aceidents-
always dread the Newark Avenue and
/ horse cars.
The inquest was then adjourned until
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