The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-18
THE KILLING OF BUTLER.
TWO VEBDICTs RENDERED. ~ THE
CORONER's JURY.

other Charges Negligence on the
Part of the Railway Company.
Conflicting Testimony as TO the
Ringing of the Gong and whether
the Car Had n Headlight burning.
The inquest held yesterday to fix the
| responsibility for the death Of William
| Butler. who was killed by an Electric
Railway car on Bay street Sunday night.
resulted in a doubtful decision. -Four Of
the six jurymen held that the fatality was
entirely accidental. and the other two
/ rendered a verdict to the effect that the
cause of the death was the negligence Of
I the railway company Ia having incompe-
/ tent employees.
The evidence did not establish criminal
| careIessness on the part of the motorman.
1t was confusing and contradictory, how
! ever, several Witnesses testifying that the
car had no headlight and that the motor
man did not sound his gong. while other
/ witnesses testified with equal positiveness
! that the car did have a headlight and
that the motorman sounded his gong and
called out as well.
]. L. Carter, the negro passenger, testi-
/ fed that he boarded the car at Farm and
Indian streets. He was sitting in the
! corner near the motorman when he saw
man standing on the southeast side of
the track. between Lincoln and Price
/ streets. He heard the motorman shout
! Lookout two or three times. Mr.. But
! Ter turned facing the car, and by that
time the car was on him. He was knock
| ed down and the front trucks passed over
| his body.
Carter helped to lift the car off of Mr..
/ Butler He then got back on the car and
4 "a q far a ma Of 4
street
Before the car got to Mr.. Butler the
motorman was ringing his bell all the
way along" said Carter. The car was
not going very fast. l think ! could have
! gotten off had / wanted to. don't think
/ it could have been more than five feet
| from Mr.. Butler when the motorman cried
! lookout! and put on brakes"
Carter could not say whether there was
/ a headlight on the car or not as he got
on from the rear. If there was a head
I nght he thought il must have been veryi
uiM. Ills impression was that the light
! that was reelected on Mr.. Butler was
/ from the inside of the car
superintendent Mcfarland of the Elec-
soon as he heard Of the accident he
! started for the scene from the office
! When at the corner of Jones street he
/ saw two cars turn the corner at East
| Broad street The front car was No SO
/ and the headlight was burning brightly
Isaac Brown said that he was on the
I green on Bay street. He saw Mr. Butler
I there, sitting on bench The witness
/ crossed over TO the other side of the
| street. Presently ne saw Mr.. Butler start
! across the street. At the same time he
] saw car approaching, coming east He
/ heard the motorman call, Look out
| there, several times. Mr.. Butler was
crossing the track when the motorman
/ called to him. The car was then a dis
lance little wider than Broughton street
! from the man. He had nearly crossed the
track when he threw up his right hand
| and said, Save me, save met The wit
ness was positive that the motorman was
| not ringing the bell the car approached
and that the brake was not put on. When
/ he saw Mr.. Butler on the green he spoke
70 him He did not think he had been
There was headlight on the car,
! burning brightly, and the motorman was
/ ness"
S. d. Alderman testified that he saw the
car on East Broad street just after the
! accident; that the headlight was lit and
| that all the lights were burning brightly
/ Motorman J. NJ Holder made his state
! ment lie said that at $40 o'clock, he was
| gong east on Bay street, between Price
| and Habersham streets. He saw a man
| walk towards the track as If he were go
/ ing to cross. on reaching the track he
| stopped and stood still. He was ringing
| his gong when the man walked on the
| track. When he saw him stop he contin-
ued ringing his gong, and shouted to
| Lookout The man paid no attention,
! but stood still.
Just the second I noticed that he had
| stopped still said the motorman, Il APP
piled the brakes and reversed the car.
! That Is all l can tell you"
Conductor Joe Hagan testified that he
| heard the motorman ringing his bell and
| call to some one to look out He looked
toward the front Of the car and saw
man standing on the track. He could not
| say If he had time to get off. The car
was running about six miles an hour.
Henry w. Hansen proved an interesting
witness. He said that he was sitting on
! a bench on the green on the north side
of Bay street with his wife.
I saw two cars coming along" said
i Mr.. Hansen. The one ahead was a closed
car. l saw the old fellow 1 didn't know
who, he was, but / would recognize him
not see a thing. The car had no head
light. l looked to see If there was one
to my wife, God, that old fellow is going
to get run over The car was coming
along fast, which gave me the impression
that he would not get out of the way. 1t
was going at the rate of between s and 10
miles an hour. l am a pretty good Judge
of speed, having been a steamboat man
for twenty-one years. l had no sooner
remarked to my wife that the old fellow
was going to be run over than the car
struck him, going about three or four
feet. ! saw some lights in the car, but
no headlight. l did not hear the bell ring
nor any shouting until after the man was
sixty feet from the ear"
About two hours was consumed in hear
ing the evidence, after which the Jury
spent another two hours in discussing it
The result was two verdicts. The majority
verdict, signed by four of the jurors was
to the effect that the killing was accident
al. The four jurors were c. f. Whelan
John Fitzpatrick, Edward ]. Seymour and
solomon Wilensky.
The minority verdict was as follows:
That We consider said death accidental
que, however to negligence on the part
of the Electric Railway Company by hay-
ing in its employ incompetent employees .
This was signed by w. J. Fitzpatrick and
George T. Byrnes.
a TROLLEY PARTY AND OYSTERS.