The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-04-07

ovokooOs9u~ NJ INV bobo 49, W.
taken ont and new one put In; she
was also equipped with new tubes.
Had you sand cd her stay bolts late
lyw asked Mr.. Chadbeurns.
"No." replied the witness, mot since
she came out Of the Portland Conpsuy's
shops That order was left with the Port
land Company. Thsy were supposed to
examine hsr boilers and put. her In first
class oondidtion."
ibid you look into her nrsbox when
she came back from westbrook, JESTER
day.
~ did
t'And into the front endw
"Yes. sir. Everything in front seemed
to be all right, except the cast iron right.
which had been blown away. The bsanch
pipe was all right. She had blown out
the diaphram and netting"
''Dfd you notice that one Of the nues
had started littlei"
81 did not. but was told that one Of
our men did
Ibid you examine the edges Of the
plstess"
"No, 1 simply gave her q hssty glance.
and they put her In out Of sight TO await
the Official Investigation"
"How long bad Engineer Bickford been
running on your roadf'
"He came on to the road as fireman In
1859, and has been an engineer since 1870;
% years of that time he was under me.
He had been running the noon train
since the death of Frank Edgerly. He
ran the Presumpsoot one morning and
No. the next. The Presumpscot had
been run o great deal as . freightsr,
but for some months had hauled the noon
train.
"Yop regarded Mr.. Bickford as tho
roughly competent engineer. didn't your"
"The best 1 ever saw, not only as an
engineer, but ss 9 mechanic
"How about the fireman."
"Eldridge bad been firing about eight
years, q part of that time as a spare. He
had been q regular with Biokford two or
three years. Regarded him AZ oompe-
tent man; / never heard word Of fault
found with his work"
ibid You ever hear Bickford say there
was anything the matter with the Pre-
sumpscots"
mot a word. 1 don't think you would
ever hear Of such q thing as an engineer
mistrusting that the boiler of his locomo-
tive was liable to give out"
"How does the water Affect your boil
ersf"
1.-THE water We use is excellent. We
take most water at Portland. We also
have water stations ut Gorham and Koch
ester. In cleaning our boilers we find
very little evidence Of scale or corrosion.
I have taken ont tubes that have been
in use 10 years. and found them good
enough. after cleaning, to put back
again."
"How often do you wash out your
boilers
"Once in four weeks, and oftener when
a locomotive is IDLE"
Ibid you ever find evidence Of pitting
in any of the plates you have taken ohr'
AZ never noticed any.
"what kind Of safety is there in the
Prssumpscot''
a l-S lhCub WhAoh 30 hoA W. AhSsA
larger than is usually used. She had an
open Portland Company valve. In put
ting q muller on increased her valve,
as 1t freed her easier than two-inch.
The valve was muffle, pop valve. with
adjusting screw. / never set her screw
over 100. and usually made it 14S, 90 as
to be sure to be under $50. Standing still,
she would PROBABLY blow at 140. but when
on the road, with a good fire, she would
probably run up to lac or l47 before she
would full OPEN" =
"You considered the Presunpscot tho
roughly reliable, didn't you"
1T regarded her as one of our best. She
was the last engine on the road I would
have suspected of giving ont in any such
manner, for she had been go recently
overhsuled.
Mr.. Tompson furnished the board with
q copy of the specifications upon which
the Portland Company built the Pre-.
DR.. Thomas p. Smith gave in detail
the story OF his attendance on the sngi
neer. He gave him opiates and strong
and cared especially for his
eyes. On the way to the hospital tho pa
tient asked frequently what the prospects
of recovery w,re. The opiates relieved
pain, but 1t was impossible to stimulate
the action Of his heart. At no time did
he have any palse. The scalds also were
sufficient to have caused death. He
passed away painlessly. The doctor made
no inquiry as to how the accident hap
psned.
Robert Hamilton, watohman and care
taker at the round house. testified that
when the Prasumpscot went out OF the
round house. she had three full guages of
water and 90 pounds Of steam. He cav
tn engineer try the guage tefore he left.
Three citizens of Westbrook. Samuel
r. LArrabee, Charles I. Ames and George
d. Barbour. who were syewltnesses Of
the accident, described st. They all agreed
that there were two distinct shocks. the
first appearing at the. fire box and causing
a shower of hot Goals, which preceded the
escape Of steam Mr.. Ames said that at
ter the first report he heard distinctly ex-