Evening journal., 1897-07-20
'SERVOIR INQUEST.
pner Begins His Search For the
Cause Of the Disaster.
Be GIVEN TO THE GRAND JURY.

& age Suits May Arise Out Of the kill
& OF the victims-The Water Com
Il any Watching the Proceedings.
The District Attorney Present.
3 &lghkeepsie, N. Y, July 2O.-The in
into the death Of the seven VIC
Of the food caused by the burst
HI the Melzingah reservoirs in the
&Ikill mountains last Wednesday
& hing has begun at Matteawan.
Ae evidence, while not sensational.
*rmed the interviews with experts
II dy published to the effect that the
E ter was due to an insufficient spill
or overflow in the upper reservoir.
h allowed the water to run over
s liam and thus eat it away until it
4psed. The jury has not yet heard
81 the evidence, but there is little
# { that they viii hold the FishlSill
Matteawan Water company respon-
for the terrible loss of life. Dis
Attorney Wood, who was present
Assistant District Attorney Hoys-
examined the witnesses.
trick Murphy, proprietor of the
81 .dway House. in which five Of the
+ ms lived; John Conroy. engineer in
s fDney's brickyard, whose wife and
children were drowned. and sew
other brickyarders were first eX-
Yied to establish the facts. Their
4 fmony was immaterial. except that
had not been warned of the swollen
Hilton of fha r.acaf.trpfre
shcars Most Important Statement.
Nlmund Sheaf, superintendent Of the
ar company, testified that the reser-
Is We're in charge Of a watchman,
7se duties were 10 see that they were
full of water.
pur fear" said he has always been
aving too little water, and we new
Z counted on the reservoirs running
The watchman was not expected
be at the dams day and night. The
ls We're I'm perfect order, and l can
q account for the overlooking unless
WAS due to a Capitalization Of the
IS, which had been very heavy for
be days. 1 have never seen the wa
over six inches deep on the spill
and never knew Of its overfiowing
dam before"
r. Sheaf said that no one had ever
him that the dams were consider
unsafe In the village. He said that
president of the company is Gile:
.raintor Of New York, and two Of The
sctors are George II. Holt and Gas
d. L. Huilier. He did not know the
ers. The company is incorporated
has an Office at IL Wall street.
he most important statement made
Mr.. sheaf was that the spillway
raised from u to IS inches undef
direction about four years ago.
ohn Gordon. &C years old, who wat
watchman in charge of the reser
rs, was not sworn. because the dis
. Il attorney said that he might b
arged with an offense. but he wa
led upon to make a statement. whicl
gave willingly. He said that h
tied the dams in the morning Of tn
before they broke. and everythin
s safe and sound then. The waite
s seven feet from the crest Of tn
ms That night the heavy rain mad
N restless, and he would have gon
the reservoirs, he said, had he an
# ipated any danger. He had neve
own the dams to overflow In his min
ars' experience.
-he gates Of both dams were opened
said. and he could have done moth
more, unless it would have been t
IN the people in the valley OF thei
niger.
Neglect Charged.
Before that. William Thorn, a forme
retaker, had testified that in his opin
If the gates had been open the dam
. build not have been overflowed.
03revoort, the civil engineer who wa
'nt by the district attorney to exam
e the reservoirs and dams. testifie
at the workmanship of the dams wa
st class in every respect. They woul
F sist a pressure of 60 tons to thes squaI
T ot, while the pressure Of water whe
e reservoirs were full was only i
ms. The trouble was with the spill
ay of the upper reservoir, said the er
.neer. This had been originally cor
|ructed 8 feet Z inches lower than II
est of the dam, but later it wa
ised. evidently to increase the ca
betty of the reservoir.
|"It was the insuficlency of the spill
ay and overflow of the dam thi
|.used the accident" he declared. ''
ere had been six inches Off the spill
Jay or six inches more on the dam, "a
brding to my calculation, the latt'
|ould never have overflowed. As ne,
can be judged. the water had bee
inning over the dam at least six hOu
'sfore it gave way
Mr.. Brevoort was corroborated
PIN Robertson. an engineer OF Dutcl
Ls Junction.