Daily Kennebec journal., 1893-01-18

fGsntinael from Is; page,
willful disobedieuee TO the rules of the
road.
Was Conductor ,Jewett ami his engineer
Mr.. Bike wholly responsible for the col
lision or accident. We thiak not. The
eYilsnce toes not SO show it. Were those
in charge Of train No. II IN part respon-
sibies The evidence shows that this srais
was l2 minutes late in leaving Portland ana
was also II minutes late at Brunswick
Mr. Sanhorn says i was 3.3l when he reg
issere,i at South Gardiner. that when he
gave the melton 10 the engineer 10 start, it
WAS in fact 3.3i and - seconds, though his
registry on book shows s,;;ii22. being Il uin-
uses late. at least. hayiag lost ,l,ree minutes
on regular running time between Brunswick
and South Gardner,
Under the rule above quoted he had a
right TO use 10 minutes of the lin" of the
other tram He then had six minutes of
that time left. or, if his story he true, he
i,Sl six minutes AMI 80 seconds tp get 10
and onto the crossing at Gardiner, dis
tanes OF / miles. because that 10 milu,es
expired at 3,5s. The regular running time
given between these points was l2 INMATES.
He says .he had 10 minutes OF los time,
and tha, would be 3.39 10 make Gardiner
freight--the next place given in the time
card
This point as given in the time table is
quarter of mile short of the regular cross
ing point. AM short of the point where the
collision occurred. \ crossing could have
been masse al or near the Gardner freight
We find, though, bat Little evidence of any
attempt To stop or even show up when that
point was reached. 1t appears from the
s.imony of Mr. Storey that nearly six
minutes of the seven. whicli at most they
h ID TO reach Gardiner, had expired at the
time they reached the yard limit, long
distance ont. aul where the semanhOre or
signal at the janction could not be seen.
He SAYS when | came into the yard
looked ut NV watch ut the semapbore; it
was Just 3.a1. | sail 10 the fireman We
have Just tiue to squeeze in. | put the
brakes On. saw the one ball. | let the
brake 90 and before | could catch it again
there were two balls" Rule /. of said
company provides as follows:
"When trains are approaching stations where ii
II expected they will cross nr pass another train,
/ speed must he reduced 10 a four miles per hour
and the train h. under full contrui until if Il
| ti ,sa thar the Track is clear for them
! II appears that train No. 1, on that day
was composed Of 10 quite heavily loaded
| ears, one of which was Pullman psrl0r
ear; that between Brunswick and South
| Gardner they had lost over the regular
running time, three minutes, taking nearly
an hour To run u distance of 25 miles. In
view of that fact is it true that this traio,
in fact. run the distance of four miles. AT
l
minutes? If so, they were running al !.
rate of speed of from 30 to 40 miles per
hour. Mr. Sanborn testifies that they do
this Right along every day" If this state
nent be true, his train has been late every
| day N South Gardiner, because the regular
running time between these points was
nearly twice that, and every day, rule Il,
which we have quoted, must have bcen
violated, if such story be true because.
Gardiner was the regular crossing place fer
| these trains.
We cannot credit this statement. neither
are we inclined to believe that this distance
| was covered by train No. II on that day of
| the accident. in the time they claim it was.
But, even if the statements of these wit
nesses be true, do they furnish sufficient
excuse for taking the risk: We think not
/ tstn IL tlc illluitt tildl liitht IiitH NtIt tA-
ercising the part of wisdom or even ordi-
nary care and caution to attempt to make
that crossing. IA distance of more than four
miles inside of seven minutes, with that
heavy train. when they know that Il portion
of the distance, under the rule, must be
made at a rate of speed not exceeding four
miles an hour. This attempt was made,
too, not by reason of any misapprehension
/ ,I4 ,.I.,
by those in charge of No. lG, but deliber-
ately AMI Intentionally.
| Mr.. Keith testites that hc looked at his
watch when they came under the "sema-
| phorc down below the ward limit: it was
Just 3s ] was noticing the time along-I
snew they were late and was noticing the
| time to see how they were getting along
Mr. Sanborn came into the car after we got
started (from South Gardiner, and said :
| Are you going TO make Gardiner He
said; Yes, we have got six minutes to do
it. Took notice of watch all the way
along. on account of what Sanborn had
said"
| MIR. Sanborn tesiies that when the col
lision occurred, at lacked (by his watch
| just 10 seconds of 50. had my watch in
my hand when we struck. was talking with
the baggage master. | was calculating to
make Gardiner freight at 3.39 | had him
with the flag all ready in case we could not
get there to the switch crossing, to flag.
| Found that there was a difference of 45
/ seconds in our time. BY his time Zen
| Iineer) had time to get across there. =
Here is a confession that he was governed
not by his own time. but by that of the en-
gineer. The train, as Mr.. Shorey testifes
was running within the yard limits at rate
Of speed of at least L. miles an hour. How
h. expected the baggage masier to get of
and flag the other train, we have not yet
| earned.
In view of the facts here disclosed we
can come to no other conclusion than that
| those in charge of train No. II were guilty,
m that day of a violation of rules 10 and
Il. AMI of extreme daring and carelessness.
As we have sail by a rule of the company
engineers in charge of trains have the same
res sponsbility as conductors, and will be
governed by the same rules. This we pre-
sumo is right; but we cannot but feel that a
greater responsibility rests upon a conduc-
tor. His Office or place is superior to that
of the engineer. He is. as the same i'm
plies, in command. The engineer is sup
posed, ordinarily, to obey him. 1t often
makes it disagreeable to dsobey, or to ques-
ton the conductors word or direction. but
under the rules, engineers cannot be ex-
cused.
We therefore fnl that the collision of
trains No. II AMI Is at Gardiner. on the
22nl day of December. 1892, was caused
by a violation of rule No. ., by those in
charge of train No. lG. and of rules Nos 10
and J Z, by those in charge OF train No. H..