The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-05

Other Workmen viii lie Heard.
A coroner's inquest that promises to
develope no little interest was begun
last night in the case of owen Davis,
the young man killed by the bursting
OF a ily-wheel in the Green Ridge Iron
works last Tuesday morning. The in
quest was held in the arbitration room
at the court house.
The examination Of many witnesses
whose knowledge, it was thought, might
determine the primary cause of the
fatality and thus place the responsible
ity, were heard but without definite re-
suit. The importance attached to the
affair by the family of young Davis and
by those interested in the works was
shown in the fact that each had attor-
neys present last evening, John i.
Scragg for the former and +. f. New
comb for the latter. The father and
brother of the deceased, were present.
the brother sitting with Mr.. Scragg.
With Mr.. Newcomb was F. A. Spencer,
the general manager of the works.
There was a large crowd of iron work.
ers present.
Contrary to his usual custom, Coro-
ner Longstreet permitted the attorneys
to question the witnesses. The care
and minuteness with which the coroner
conducted his examination was further
evidence of the import with which he
views the case. The investigation was
not finished. An adjournment was
made to this evening, when possibly all
the evidence will be in. 1t is not i'm
probable that the jury will ask the
coroner's permission to visit the works
for the purpose of examining carefully
the broken wheel and the havoc it
wrought.
WHAT THEY TRIED TO PROVE.
1t was attempted by Mr.. Newcomb.
for the company, to bring out evidence
that the big wheel was broken by the
falling of the counter shaft or by the
unforeseen circumstance Of something
falling into the wheel pit or on the
wheel. For the Davis people Mr..
Scragg was as energetic in trying to
draw an inference that in the wheel
itself was the first cause of the dis
aster. OF the many witnesses exam
ined none were able to swear positively
as to the cause. a few ventured opin-
ions and nearly all were positive that
the wheel itself was safe.
Assistant General Manager Frederick
w. Gerecke, of the Dickson Manufac-
turing company, was the first witness.
The Dickson company built the wheel.
Something must have fallen into it,
| Mr. GereCke said Its speed could not
| have caused the bursting owing to its
| peculiar sectional and flexible construc-
| ton. He had examined the parts of
! the wheel since the accident for the
| purpose Of having a new one made.
Mr.. Gerecke had with him drawings
made of the wheel before its construc-
! tion over twenty years ago He did
| not know the drawings existed when
| Mr.. Spencer, the son of the owner Of
| the works, telephOned him to make
| measurements for a new wheel He eX-
| planned the drawings to the jury and
| said if the wheel had "wobbled' the
circumstance did not signify its unsafe
condition. Nearly all big fly wheels
"wobbled" unless they had been
| turned. The wheel could not have run
| unduly untrue for six months. as al
legged, unless the shafting or foundation
was loose.
w. b. Cobb superintendent of the
works, testified he had inspected the
| wheel with more or less thorOughnesG
every day, as he did all the machin-
cry. The rim of the wheel ran perhaps
three-quarters Of an inch out of a true
| line He considered il as safe as any
| wheel he ever saw, and he had exam
| ined or been in charge of many such
in his many years experience 1t was
| not secure, however, until about six
months ago, when a new bed of furn-
ace cinder. cer>,nt and iron binding
rods had been built for it.
CAUSE OF ACCIDENT.
superintendent Cobb said he believed
the break was caused by the falling
of a part of the counter-shaftng, which
was suspended above the open space
between the engine and the rolls. The
"wavering" or untrueness of the wheel
had nothing to do with it. Its shaft
was found to be true after the acci-
dent. He admitted there We're two
groves for keying the wheel to the
shaft, and that only one key was in
place before the accident, but ex-
planned that only one key had ever
been used.
| The regular engineer was not on duty
when the accident occurred. The man
in charge Of the engine performed that
duty occasionally when not at work in
the blacksmith shop He knew that
weights were on the governors of the
engine at the time Of the accident il
order to increase the speed Of the en-.
ginc, but the speed was not above 1SC
| revolutions per minute though the
wheel could do 400 or 500
william Cox, the boss roller. who
2 had worked twenty-eight years in roll
ing mills. said he knew the wheel wav
! cred. That signifed no imperfection
p He considered it safe. He did tell tn,
elder Davis the whole rolling mechan
ism was unsafe. but that was hefor,
the new bed was put i'm. Before tn,
accident ne first heard cracking from
above, evidently from the counter shat
or betting. He then saw dust nyn,
in the wheel pit and ran just before tn
} wheel broke.
} What appeared to be the beginning
} of sensational evidence was offered b,
} John Gehrens, who had worked 81,
! years in the mill, and whose position
! as rougher at the rolls was only thre
( feet from the wheel He had seen /
raise the foundation five or six inches
( on perceYing the interest attracted b,
( this statement Gehrens explained tha
( this insecurity was before the ney
: foundation had been built.
} Before the wheel burst, Gehren
} heard a cracking sound from above an,