The sun., 1894-01-17
TRYING T0PLACE THE BLAME
,,rs,pENr SLolv ar TEE INQUIRY
NIo THE d.. T.. AND W DISASTER.

MO THE D.. T.. AND W DISASTER.
,.,s,ct,nE Testlwony and Littie Learned by
which the Respon-isiiity Can he Fixed
A. sloan No Believer In the Block system
.toroner's Jury visits tho sce-e OF the
wreck Three OF the wousdsd May Die
d a Fourth Is In n Critical Cosditio..
rhs officers Of the Delaware. Lackawanna
AL yestern Railroad began searching in
.niry Yesterday into the accident OF Monday
~ which nine men lost their lives and over
,h,,,v we're badly injured. The investigation
,aot Mace in the ofIlce OF Superintendent
p,,.oner, in the rear Of the barrel.vaulted
,,,ninal station at Hobolen. At II. W
p,s.ident Sloan was seen approaching the
,sss through tho station. and a buzz went
,o,nd among the employees lie entered the
.nosrintendent's room and all was still. lie is
.hsrp.featured man with snowwhite hair
aida fringe OF white beard around the lower
psrt Oih!s face.
"Tsll Reasoner want him." was his order
n the superintendents secretary. who had
,ollowed him. Mr. Bray. the secretary. went
an, and presently returned with the informa-
uon that the superintendent was conducting
an yestigation In the room OF the manager
Sloan 10 go thore.
"Tsll him to come here" was the angry re-
ply. which resulted in the speedy presence OF
Mr. Reasoner who has long white hair and q
longer white beard. After hearing what he
hal 10 say Mr.. Sloan rose and followed the
,upsrintendent into the room where the in
ouiry was going on. No one except officers and
smployees was present at this hearing. as IL
was private but the part Mr.. Sloan took in 1t
MAY be inferred from the remark OF q train
hand when he came out. to the effect that the
Old man i" was raising hades.
At4 o'clock Mr.. sloan had heard enough,
and he left the building in company with Aa-
sistant Superintendent +. J. Grifith. whose
beard Is even longer and whittier than that OF
Mr. Reasoner To reporter Mr.. Sloan said
the investigation had developed nothing new.
All the employees OF the road who could pos
s!bly throw any light on the subject had been
ummoned. After hearing the testimony for
On hour Mr. Sloan said he saw no reason to
change the opinion he had expressed the day
before that the engineer OF the local train
which ran into the express was to blame for
running too fast in fog.
At the same time" continued Mr.. Sloan.
81 think the faGman OF the express. whose
duty It was to drop of the rear car and flag
the approaching local, may have been also at
fault for not running back sooner than he did
Iwsnt to thank YOU" he added. " for tho ac-
eurate report OF the accident which appeared
In The SUS. The story published In some OF
the papers to the effect that tho local was
Tieing with train on the Pennsylvania road
before passing the car shops 10 untrue"
Mr. Sloan. why has not tho company
Eopted the block signal system2" the re-
porter asked.
Because we do not believe It is the best
Tstem. Roads on which the block signals are
ised often have collisions. l regard the block
scheme as still an experiment 1t is not to save
the cost OF signals that We have RETAINED from
htroducinR them. but because We believed
ours to be better system, and our record Of
not a passenger killed In nfty Ave years seemed
y grave problem. and not to be solved in a
Although the hearing was secret. interviews
with some who We're present will Indicate
pretty plainly the limo Of the testimony Con-
SS SSetoT saII Of & train ~, which i%medlately
state Of the track and the thickness Of the fog
lust before the collision occurred When his
been placed on the track. which caused tho
express .o to stop Engineer GEORGE Stitcher
sSd how he had begun e it tsIOw down bic train
shows whether 1t is safe to cross the HacEen-
sack, lie was slowing down to the rate Of five
the shock OF the collision In the rear ear
tnA, sent him flying forward, at a much
Cooper Uy name. testified to the same effect.
John Pierce brakeman on the forward end
q his train lust before the shock. and told how
he had notified the companys officers by run
n,ng TO the nearest telegraph of1ce. a distance
On the other hand. De Witt II. wheaton of the
express, tried to make out that his ira in was
m si,l going at ggite a rapid rate Of speed when
eiafed II was going faster than twelve miles
tn hour, and that he ran some risks Of injury
vas running at the rate OF at least tweaty-iivs
niles an hour. II not faster. The testimony OF
pAniel balantine. the bagRagemAster. on tho
BOY IN his arms and rolled down the mbank-
nent. tended to conilrm the version OF Whoa
npd rate @ and tRst shs s1s oegs gG'9is iSlovSnp a. prs
meg a. an almost recSless rate OF speed.
no offset this testimony Conductor W. 7.
hunaio declared that his train. the colldniR
Iocal, was not runnlng rapidly. lie was pre-
pared TO swear that when the train crossed
We .hoi plank road atthe Pennsylvania hallway car
hoLs mile back from the scene OF the wreck
ne heArd the engineer blow his whistle. and
ne ne icy, tne Sars slow W. He had a conversa-
With his engineer David Hoffman. who
@s @s, !c,,onotivs Of the local. and Hon:
agree with his when the engineer Is able to
maseA deposition, Ihe doctors forbade his
Easing one Yesterday. Mr.. Rundio was fol-
" twln Met" the fireman Of the local,
n sAll The train was slowing down when
80 IoaE car oi the eNpross lOomeu out of the |
~ lol mora Than 100 feet distant. lie denied
,rsatt Ahy torpedOes had been struck BY his |
Snl,ot dan, OF inat any signal Of any kind had been
HilaJedto give warning OF the presence Of
lac Nlless, winch seemed scarcely to be- NOV
"a. neNeral trhinnen EN- mploYed on the local
AEEe lhelr Impressions
IN lhs one hand the testimony Of those on |
Ia rat
msl,Nas ing pretty fast and the accom-
EnEinaa NJ rItCAie'sY fast. in which case |
thro1Het norman was clearly TO blame: ON /
the iNssI we statements Of those on hoard |
eresp,Ss 'nalcatel that the express was barely
ourkHS ing and that FAgmRn Wheaton |
fTs yHaHe UNI ed on several minutes be- |
the tract y, ~ IN winch case a torpedo or two on /
even n bsshutl have prevented the accident. |
the Iear 10 ieia HSa not displayed his red flag. II
much r,s.th tlh were not going At rate OF speed |
lag esh tel lhan that of tho express moth |
OF The Ayeount for III. appalling extent /
last i've ",etAagr. except tho theory that the /
= tartse'aIs eaIs oi the express. which are run on /
hi'ehsJ rSSulITI tTauch road until they are 1
Old AMI A. 90 lHe express at summit, are SO /
On aTv,',t'thsB ''hsB as 70 be- unsafe for passengers /
az f.,itf4iroah Everybody who travels TACK /
road taI.y on tho suburban trains OF this /
e0ns,sn,to"s mat more than halt the cars In /
ubssi,N u's arc Old and uncomfortable, n not |
Re SsrflIH ne caring Mr. Reasoner was seen.
tha f'..f, "Su If AHIesS Any opinion a. to Whery