The San Francisco call., 1899-07-15


Newman seems to rest with the au-
thorities Of Stanislaus County. II
the subject matter should be left
with the Southern Pacific managers
no doubt the unfortunate ladies who were
crushed to death In the wreck would De
blamed, but the usual railroad method OF
putting the responsibility on those VINO
cannot speak for themselves will not De
acceptable in the approaching inquiry
Practical railroad men assert that
Hartwell the operator at Newman, can
not be implicated by any fair line OF
reasoning. It is contended that he opeyeu
rule 800 of the revised regulations, Whlch
fits the case at Newman While the spe-
cial passenger was an irregular train the
orders on which it was running gave II
certain rights. Train 245, the freight hao
notice of the running of the special When
1t received copies of the double order. 10
make the matter clear, here IS an Illus
tration of the system:
The special, which may for example be
designated No. I, came from sacramento
70 Tracy under the supervision OF dis
hatcher who has nothing whatever to do
with the line from Tracy to MENDOZA, that
line being under charge of dispatcher NO
2 who is advised of the time that the
special will reach Tracy from Sacra-
mento. Dispatcher No. 2 arranges his
business so as not to delay the special
and put out an order in this form:
To conductor and engineer No. 245-
Tracy.
To conductor and engineer extra 1721-
Tracy.
Engine 1721, Fassett, will run extra from
Tracy to Mendoza and will pass No. 240,
engine 1414, where overtaken.
This is signed by the conductor Of No
245, and he is given two. copies-one he
keeps, the other is given to his engineer
The conductor of the special likewise
sgns 1t and gets two copies for himself
and engineer. In this way train 245 is
advised to be on the lookout for the fol-
lowing train and the same order is the
authority of the special to pass No. 245
Now If this order was used-and it is
about 100 TO 1 that it was-No. 245 should
have been prepared at any station to let
the special pass. If the order was not
given in the form as above, then the dis
hatcher at the superintendent's headquar-
ters is culpable. Assuming that the dou-
bic order was in the hanus of both crews,
then No. 245 should have protected not
only the rear of their own train, but have
been on the alert to facilitate the move
ment of the special by having the switch
thrown so the special could pass through
the siding. The results do not show that
this was done
The facts so far CLEANED establish the
belief that Operator Hartweu at New
man properly changed his signals as the
regulations reQuire-from white to red
and back TO white again. His signal was
answered by Engineer Allen. The answer
to the signal shows that the engineer of
the special was not asleep. 1t was not
HartwelIs duty to go out in the yard
and ascertain if the switch was placed
TO permit the special to pass, but 1t was
somebody's duty to adjust the switch.
The track is straight for two miles west
Of Newman. Allen, the engineer of the
special, could see the white light in the
semaphore signal. He had no notice that
the signal was to be at white; He must
see it red and see it changed to white,
else he must stop. There is one point
raised against Allen and that is that he
violated the rules in not having his train
under control in approaching a station.
He had signals however, that the track
The inquiry by the Coroner of stani-
slaus County should bring out all the
facts regarding the display or non-display
of red tail lights on the freight train;
may be important on this point:
Freight trains usually have caboose on
the rear. Train 245 did not, but instead
where is the difference?" Here it is: A
caboose has a cupola that eXh1olts a
bright red light showing +, 6ota IN [rTfaeq d0rwaea
feet from the rails, and in addition there
are two side lights hung on either side
Usually two side lights at an elevation
Of eight feet from the rails and some
times a red light placed on the platform
on a level of the car floor.
1t appears that No. 245 goes TO FRESNO
as a fast freight and returns to Oakland
pier as a passenger train on daylight
runs where lamps and lanterns are not
Practical railroad men maintain, that
the conductor Of the special is not blame-
less He should have known exactly
where his train was. If the speed was
Rou6 too 6iga Eave eoRReeked Il by Using the ar
brake appliance just inside the door OF
lFT Tbe sc GaToner,s Jury of Stanislaus County
should see that all the facts are brought
10 light, regardless of the favor or dis
favor of the Southern Pacific: The day
road company to prepare in advance de-
crees for the courts to. sign and verdicts
The us' iiITv to Investigate the causes of
the loss Of life at Newman should find
out: .a,,..or - oas
when the accident occurred-whether In
the telegraph office or elsewhere?
second-What part OF fhe e; tralb nbere was epe tre
his brakemen-in the cars or out on plat
forms?
Third-what Instructions did the con
ductor Of 245 give to his rear brakeman
in regard to this special; why was IL tnat
he did not have a red lantern to nag with
instead of a white light? ;. ~,
rear Of car No. PAS to the switch
leading to the side track that the special
S0OulQ nave Deen run INTO 41lu luS W ar
man pass this switch in his efforts TO flag
the special? If he did; why DID ne not NOT
throw the switch to side track? II Op-
orator Hartwell could see or hear the
special, why could not the rear brakeman
of 245, whose duty it is to always be a.
rear car of train, see or hear 1t?
If these questions cannot be sat1sfac-
torily answered it would be well to in
quire just how many hours elapsed from
the time the crews of the two trains ar
rived at Oakland and Sacramento, before
they were called to come out on their re-
spective trains, for if they did not have
a sufficient time to rest, then 1t Is easy easy
awake IN the small hours" of the night
A question some one in authority at the
yellow building should be asked is this:
Why are special passenger trains run
past Lathrop over to Tracy, thence to
Fresno via Mendoza, when time and mile
age can be saved on a road going direct
from Lathrop to Fresno and on a line
where train seldom runs at night?
Possibly the reply to this question will be
satisfactory to the manipulators of the
traffic, but 1t may not give satisfaction to
the patrons of the road
Perhaps the Pacific Improvement Com
pany owns the bridge across the San
JOAQUIN west of Taf6rDn and If II dO4s