Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-04-21
THE COMMISSIONERS DECISION.
Their Report on the Portland & Rocheste
Accident. April S.


decision, Thursday, on the accident tina
occurred April on the Portland & Rocn
ester Railroad. by which Inc enginee
and fremen of the engine were killed
They attach the cause of the accident L
the broken stay bolts and though the!
blame no one personally, they say tina
greater caution by the employees in til.
inspection, would have prevented the ac
cident.
The following is the decision in full:
on the 9Th day of April, a. ID. 1899, III.
board of railroad commissioners re-
ceived notice by telegraph from Mr.. IL
w. Davis, superintendent of the Portland
and Rochester Railroad, that the boilei
OF locomotive in service on that roat
had exploded when near Westbrook sta
ton on said railroad. The board went I,
said station. examined the location, an,
made arrangements for an inVesJisa d OF
10 be held the next day at 10 O'Clock A
NJ. at said Westbrook. Previous notice
had been given 10 Eben y. Perry, Esq.
q coroner Of Cumberland county, who
had commenced action in the matter
that the board of railroad commissioner,
would investigate the accident.
Hon George Libby, county attorney
for the county Of Cumberland, appeared
for the STATE and took part in the pro
ceedings. Stephen e. Perry Of the firm oi
n. * II. b. Cleaves and stephen &. Per
~ dDItdlti tllt company
on the morning Of the sixth Of April
the fun board met at the roundhOuse Oi
the Portland and Rochester Railroad and
examined the locomotive that had beer
injured as aforesaid the day before
known a. the Presumpscot ana numbered
They found the inside shell of the fire
box on the engineers side torn from the
outside shell and blown 10 the opposite
side, tearing of portion Of the crown
sheet. bending it to "A lap. the said in
side shell torn from the den sheet; the
stay bolts down to the mud ring broken.
bur the sheet sin connected to the mud
ring. The broken stay bolts at once indi-
Gated to the board thar many of them
had been broken for sometime, ana those
broken by the explosion. showing a con-
stderably reduced area Of good metal at
point Of fracture. The conclusion then
and there made by the board. that such
broken stay bolts was the immedia e
cause Of the explosion, was fully corrob-
Grated by the testimony Of the experts.
subsequently chosen. as well as by other
testimony.
At ten O'Clock of said sixth day cf
Aprl, the board met az the municipal
court room OF the city Of West brook. the
counsel afoTenamed ana Coroner Perry
being present. The board heard all the
testimony then to be heard or known.
An adjournment of the hearing was
OF Portland. for Monday the tenth ia \
of April, \. u. 1899. a; TWO o'clock in the
afternoon. Experts had been agreed
upon by he board. the county attorney
ana the railroad company, 10 examine
the boiler and report IN writing at the
aforesaid adjourned meeting.
The board met at the West End hotel
according % the aforenamel Adjournment
ana heard such testimony AZ was pre-
scented. ana accepted the report Of John
". Estlo and Frank L. Hitch.ngs, bo;n
Of said Portland. who had been as af0re-
said chosen a. experts.
The. testimony showed tlEf the llppmO-
tive was built by the Portland Company
in the year lSSG. That IN March lS4S. 50 id
locomotive. having been IN collision
that had injured hcT frdnt Huc sheet
had been extensively repaired by said
Portland Company, part of which re-
pairs was a new front tiue sheet and a
full set Of new tubes. the expense there
for being more than twenty-six hundred
dollars. quite number OF new stay
bolts We're put in at that time. bur the
board is very strongly inclined to the
belief. judging from the condition Of the
rent over the fractured ends nf the bro
ken stay bolts. that many Of them Were
in such broken condition at the time Of
said repair. or before. Be that as /; may.
was the result OF the large number NJ
broken stay bolts found Just above the
water leg, 50 called. in the flare of the
outside shell. on the engineers side. ana
this confidence il StTeng heped ana fully
corr0bOrated by the report ana testimony
uf the afore mentioned experts ana hy
other testimony.
Testimony was introduced a To 4 leak
the day before the accident in one stay
bolt In the firebOX ANA Of notice to the
foreman and master mechanic Of such
leak. While such leak may not indicate
a broken stay bolt. il is a warming Of
danger that should he Needed.
An examination by amy Of the methods
in common use today would have detect
ed more or less OF the stay bolts found
broken. which had been broken Tor somr
months
We are aware Of the fact that those III
charge Of this ana all locomotives OF the
company may have been less watchfu
than they otherwise would have been,
because this particular locomotive had
been 50 fully repaired By the Portland
Company at 4 comparatively LAKE date.
especially the boiler. VIII Oh had been re-
paired by having new front tube sheet.
ana new tubes tine labor bill alone being
about four hundred ana sixty dollars for
boiler repairs. While such repairs were
being made a good opportunity was had
for examination of stay bolts. Many
were found broken and replaced, but the
rusted condition Of many OF those found
broken after the explosion indicates th3t
they must have been broken for some
time, and it Is more than possible. quite
probable. they were broken before tile
engine Went to the Shop for afprenamel
repairs
The board. while charging no wiuiul.
or criminal negligence to those employees
Of said railroad. whose duty IL was ana
Is 10 see that all boilers are Ill SAFE con-
dition believes that the exercise of the
degree of caution and skill reasonably 10
he demanded OF men in such positions
would have instituted examinations and
caused repairs and renewals TO be made
in the stay bolts in said boiler that
would have prevented said explosion.
In view of all the facts and testimony.
the board OF railroad commissioners find
that James A. Bickford and John f. FL
bridge. both late of Portland in the
county of Cumberland and State Of
Maine. came 10 their deaths on the fifth
day Of April, a. d. 1899. by reason Of the
explosion Of the boiler Of a locomotive
named the Presumpscot and numbered ];
then owned and in use by the Portland
& Rochester Railroad and Of which said
James A. Bickford was engineer and said
John F. Eldridge was fireman.
Dated al Augusta this eighteenth day
of April. \. d. 1899.
JOSEPH Is. PEAKS.
BENZ. +. CHADBOCRNE.
FREDERIC DANFORTH.
Railroad Commissioners of Maine.