Evening star., 1898-12-02
GATEMAN KEYS HELD
Declared to Be Responsible for Death
of George Gray.
VERDICT OF TIE CORouER'S JURY
Neglect Of Duty and Defective
Gate at Crossing.
REPORT OF THE EVIDENCE

A coroner's jury this morning began an
investigation into the death of Fannie Bell
Harris ard George Herbert Gray, the two
little children who were killed yesterday
morning at the county road crossing, Ivy
City, while on their way to school. The in
quest was held in the squad room of the
sixth precinct station. There were num-
Der of persons present, including Attorney
Simms, representing the district attorney:
Mr.. NJ ]. Colbert of counsel for the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad; Mr.. Edwin B.
Hay, representing the parents of the dead
children, and Mr. Tucker of the Northeast
Washington Citizens Association.
The jury was sworn and was composed
as follows: Charles w. Downing, Afford
s. Wilson. Charles c. Langley George
Gill, William H. Harrison and John F
Garner.
The first witness was Deputy Coroner
Glazebrook and as it was decided 10 in
quire into the little boys death frst he
told Of the injuries received by George
Gray. The lad was six years old, he said.
His skull was fractured above the right
eye. Death was due to a hemorrhage of
the brain following the injuries inflicted
by the engine. The little fellow was bruised
on the left side also.
story OF the Engineer.
o. a. Peters OF Baltimore, engineer of the
train, was next called. His train he said,
was running between thirty-five and forty
miles an hour. He blew his whistle for the
Ivy City road crossing, and did not antici-
pate anything unusual until about thirty
yards from the crossing he saw the vehicle
In which the children were riding appear
just ahead on the track. His steam was
shut off and his hand was on the air-brake
lever. He appued the brakes with their full
force Just before the crash came. The
fireman was ringing the engine bell all the
while.
Were tie gates at the Ivy City crossing
up or down.? asked Coroner Carr.
Il could Eot say about that for it all hap
pened in such short space of time"
How are the tracks at that po:nt?"
rhc tracks are perfectly straight for a
Instance OF two miIeS-from the Boundary
to Langdon. The tracks and the road are
in a cut.
us there regulation governing the speed
ot trains at that point"
None that ! know of l believe We are
allowed TO run at full speed until we reach
the Boundary
Where do you begin to slow .lp coming
into the city? asked Mr.. Simms
The other side of Ivy City. The steam
was cut off yesterday morning when the
accident happened
is the tram an express?"
Yes, sir. 1t is a t1-minute schedule be-
tween Baltimore and Washington, with
i've stops.
w. f, Harris, fireman on the engine, said
he did not notice the gates. He was ring
ing his bell. The train was running on time
and not faster than usual. He did not see
the gatcman at the time of the accident.
His testimony was of no weight, as he saw
little or nothing of the tragic occurrence.
Testimony of Gateman.
William \. Keys, the gateman who was
on duty at the crossing at the time the
children were killed, was sworn and put
through searching examination, the coro-
ner, the attorneys present and the jurors
joining in the interrogatories. He is
white man about forty-fve years of age.
He lives at No. 41s I street and told his
story of the tragic affair as follows:
Yesterday morning about $50 O'Clock
was standing in the gate house. My hands
We're on the gate levers. Mr.. Virtue the
engineer Of No. 25, was sitting in the house
eating breakfast, and MIR. j. A. Clark, an
acquaintance of mine, was standing in the
door. The gate on the west side of the
tracks, the side from which the children
approached, was down, the yard en-
gineS Were constantly moving back and
forth, and at such times l always let it
remain down and raise IT 10 let teams pa IS.
This gate had been down some ten minutes
or more before the accident. When heard
the bells ring the warning of the approach
of the express train ] went to lower the
gate on the far side Of the tracks
w hiie doing this ] noticed the rig in
which the children We're riding coming up
the boy Mcdonald driving the horse in a
fast trot. The horse came up to the gate
and slipped the young man checked
him. The animal. however seemed unman-
ageabie, and the boy couldn't control him,
seemingly. The horses head struck the
gate, and 1t bounded up about one-third of
the way. The iror rod support. which rests
IN an upright position when the gate is
DOWN. was broken by the wagon as II went
under. and as it acted also as a counter
balance. its removal allowed the gate to
swing all the way Up.
Seeing the predicameut the children
were in. left the far gate up. and thought
the boy might then get out of danger He
succeeded IN checking the horse again on
the tracks, and the engine struck them.
A Fiery Animal.
The horse was fiery animal and as
the children We're late in going to school
yesterday morning, they were going faster
than usual. The boy who drives the chill
dren always goes across the tracks at
fast gait. ard ] always have to keep a
sharp lookout on him"
How high are The gales from the ground
when in the lowered position?'
"A bout five feet-abOut 10 my chin
We'll. how high was the horse?"
He was a mcdium-sized horse. but 1
could not say exactly how high"
Mr.. Simms asked tine witness n number
OF questions concerning the height or the
gate. Mr.. Hay asked:
How many people Were in your gate
house,
Three. including myself. The engineer
was eating his breakfast. / was not talk
ing to either of the men,
How long have You been employed as
gateman at this point?"
Three months. l have been employed
number of years by the Baltimore and Ohio
as operator and agent at different stations"
"Where?'
AT University, Langdon and New York
avenue
What do you mean by operator?'
Il was telegraph operator
Were you promoted then, when placed in
charge of the gates at Ivy City?''
TT WAS transfer
And a promotion?. questionngly inter-
posed Mr. Hay.
TT was reduction
Why were you reduced?"
Il failed to pull a lever one day and
stopped y train"
Didn't YOU tell IA colorcd man the rea-
son you did not lower the gates at the
time of accident was because they were out
or order?"
No, sir; l did not
The Broken Rod.
Mr.. Keys did not know exactly how the