Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-04-22
THE VERNON COLLISION.
Report of the Railroad Commissioners
ApportionIng the Blame for the Accident
Of Jan. 40.

| don Northern railroad, near Mr. Whithed's
Vprnon hetween tho afternoon froi,,bt
! i', =, =, " hOiSii'
| IIalll ana tne 4'4O express from Montreal,
which was nearly two hours late that dav
| and was being RIM soutb from Rrattleborn
"i'' ""' oTi.iS ~ 7'u'ii Oiii DlatuepoIo
as speclaI III charge OF CONDUCTOR spot
| ford. with George WetmOre as engineer
| Tho Communicate, T. oIl ~, ;,,,.,.,f 81.
nv" rii'ii IL - S"'iOli
AT the BfOOks House tuesday, Feb. 10,
| and a full report of the evidence taken
| was nrintad in Tho pbo.niD al tbot ti,,,
m, .,,,,,,,;.i. - -!
ne commissioners, III making their declS-
| ion, rehearse briefly the facts shown bv the
| nvidanno and tbo, ,,ro.ooJ az, Hoo, ,.,,..,,i
| . "''" ''i'' Pi''''" a. "eic iuou'u
III Illll'
ma, ,,,, - a., a.,
" "
1t was not an accident OF that class which has at
any time, under the law made public nvestiga-
tIuu prrrmptury fatality to life has result
eel. but the board ha,, from the first regarded
these rear ard head collisions Of railway trains as
almost always resulting from the fault Of care
ossne~s negligence. hecIesSness Of rules or
reckl'ssu'SS uu the part of somebody responsible
for the safety lt the lives and limbs of th. pdIr
whether Passengers or traumru. and 10 an known
cas.- of SUCH accidents. where pass niger train
has been involved. public lnE cations have b,-.n
had. This accident demanded q public iu,cstiga-
! non lu"ir tHah most 81 them. tad the collision
occurred a ic" rods nearer the cut than where IL
did occur. uuupIrrDiauiH dmiuutpu of the speed
OF the cuhdiug train could have t-on had aud
the passenger train would have Naril Involved 10
. tine wreck. with terrible impact. iu the cut. After
taking milu,tiuouy and making am examination
OF ih~ premises. the board considers and adiuIscs
the responsibility Ior thi- accident To- be- uS iul-
bows
Conductor Rous, If train No. - is found re-
spouslhle because of his neglect 10 ascertain he-
for" leaving Blattlrb"ruani upon getting h. clear
ancr order whether the h-ated Valley train had
preceded linn ON the road He was directed hy
Station gent BIoOhs 60 ascertain at the telegram
office 20 this train. and he knew that il Was
late. lie could have as,crtaiued at thu, telegraph
Office 10y inquiry whether or not it had departed
Is
for his orders and received them as usual but he
made no inquiry As T." whether or not the Valley
train had gone out. He should have considered
| that, # 1t had not preceded his train. it would be-.
liable To follow upon arrival at Brattlrburo a. am
extra, under wild orders With the Information
which he should have sought and could hay,. M
tanned at this Office h,. would have been NOR.
careful Of the standing 1r-tu protect always the.
rear of a train when stalled or delayed from any
causr. Without this information. and il the San,.
could not he had the board finds the rule of safe.
" neglected.
Rule No 10 Of the Rules TO h, observed ia tho.
running Of trains is a. follows: When any train
is delayed at station. or upon the road the con
ductOr must have signals posted mot less than IN
70 is in each direction unless TN. train has r,li
of road and then to the rear only" Conductor
Rouse train had been half an hour in getting nn,.
and half mile forward after leaving Yer.
non station and the last 1870 feet of this distance
was through cut, and on a curve around and
through which. the testimony shows the DELAY Of
his train was remarkable and constant the speed
being hut little faster than a smart walk and IL
was only such at the time of the collision His
train was due at South Vernon AT GASP NJ II ,yas
overtaken and struck a mile and a half ont nf
Vernon at 6:55 p NJ, while DELAYED and SLOWLY
moving said curve as stated He testified fbat
if he had been supplied with torpedoes he shouId
not have considered it necessary 10 us, them a.
he expected he should soon pitch over the grade
and then run right along to south Vernon
The cause Of the delay was green fire. and il
took time to get up steam lsfor, his train r.a,b
rd Vernon and also after leaving thar station
But the caus,. of DELAY does NOT render the r,s
for nsuring the safety of the train dexi6le nor
does the h0p. of getting over The hill 70 tb d,,,
grade Justify the taking of any risk Cnnd,,rtor
Rouse should have drnpDed on his rear trainrnan
with red signal lantern before entering the II,t
and upon the curve or if il was MOI nrcassarV
then he should have done it later as the DELAY If
his train might dictate and have sent him boc.
from the train a safe distance to warn any train
which might possibly he following. SO Ionl, after