Evening star., 1898-06-14
SUIT FOR DA M A G e S
Executor of Attorney Claughton Sues Rail-
road Company.
Claimed That the Lawyers Death
Was Due to Negligence of
the Corporation.

The suit of Rudolphe Claughton, adminis-
TRAITOR of the estate of Heroine o. Claugh-
ton. against the Baltimore and Potomac
Railroad Company. claiming $4,000 dam
ages, was begun In Circuit Court No. 2,
Justice MCComas, this morning. The liti-
cation Is thes result of the accident at
Deanewood on. the Baltimore and Potomac
railroad in which II. o. Claughton and Miss
Villa c. Custis were killed August 20, 1897
The administrator is suing the railroad for
the statutory amount of damages
Franklin H.! Mackey appeared for the
plaintiff and Messrs. Enoch Totten and J.
s. Flannery for the defendant corporation
A jury was chosen as follows: Andrew
L. Payne, Thaddeus b. Hall, G. Warfeld
Simpson. Walter Burgess. Geo. 7. Pad
gett. Clarence E. King, James Trimble
ard Gasch, Chas. T. Lowell and Fred. S.
Young. q -#r--
After the jury was sworn and seated
Mr.. NIackey, with the aid of chart, ex-
planned the circuns tances of the accident,
and declared that it was due to the fact
that the gate at the grade crossing was
left open negligentiy by the railroad com
pany. t-- d.
Mr.. TOtten ContrOverts.
Mr.. Totten In turn addressed the jury
and controverted The statement. declaring
that the accident could have been avoided
in crossing the railroad. He said this Is
particularly true. as at Deanewood there
are double tracks and that for a distance
of quarter to one-half a mile each way
there is an unobstructed view Of the
tracks.
The first witness was Chas. n. Van Hook
a surveying engineer, in the employ of the
District, who identified the chart or draw
ing upon the wall above the jury box as
having been drawn by himself. He then
explained the relative positions of the
tower house, platforms. tracks and gates,
and gave the measurements as taken ty
him.
John X. Graeme. a photographer. identi-
fed photographs of the scene of the acct
dent which had been made by him.
A little humop was interjected by Mr..
Tottens question of the witness.
did Mr.. Mackey tell you to have that
chicken taken in the picture?" He pointed
to the figure of chicken in the fore
ground of the photograph.
IT object. That's fowl" replied Mr..
Mackey.
had an apoplectic fit from restrained laugh
ter.
Operator Thirles a Witness.
James E. Thires, operator in the tower
at Deanewood, was called next. He testi-
fed that he has been there for two years
doing day work. He was not in the tower
at the time of the accident. He had been
relieved by the night operator. The lat
ter has since then enlisted for Cuba. His
name is Levi Baker.
Mr.. Totten objected to questions concern
ing the gate. He said he admitted that the
gates We're open at the time.
Il will show that they were open through
the negligence of your corporation" added
Mr.. Mackey.
.No-o-o-o. was the long g-drawn-out mono
syllable reply of Mr.. Totten.
Mr.. Mackey then went on to explain that
he proposed to show by the witness that
the operator in the tower had too much to
do, and that the railroad company endan-
gered life by permitting such a condition
to continue. He said he would show that
there was work for at least two men Joint
ly to do.
Ross J. Sellman, called next, livery sta
Bile keeper, testified that he knew Mr.
Claughton. and often hired him horses and
vehicles He was not in the city on the
day of the accident. He said he knew Mr.
Claughton to be a good driver of horses
and to be careful about it. The horses in
the buggy on the day of the accident were
a pretty fast team. They obeyed the reins.
One was nine years old. the other FIVE
'"They couldn't make three miles in a
minute?' joculariy, asked Mr.. Totten.
mo, SIR" + i. ro,.
Gould they go a, mile in three minutes"
was the counsfrs pext question.
Witness coutd not say just how fast they
could go. They had often been driven to-