Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-09-16
FIXES THE BLAME.
Train Dispatcher John Jones Held
Responsible for tho Rock Island
Wreck and Four Deaths-Jones is
Missing.


Iowa City, Sept. 1.-THE Daily Re-
publican says: Train Dispatcher John
Jones, now said to be missing from Des
Moines, is adjudged guilty of the negli
gent act which resulted In the Chicago,
Rock Island & Pacific wreck, four
| deaths, the injury of seven and a vast
| financial loss at midnight Monday. The
coroner's jury fixed the responsibility
of the calamity upon him Friday. The
| jury has been celebrating, singly and
\ together, since Wednesday night on the
| evidence then given by the railroad
crews. Sitting and weighing the test-
mony thoroughly, the jury decided this
morning that upon Jones must rest the
| terrible onus. The jury's decision will
| throw the case into the hands of the
grand jury, which is now in session at
the city hall. The latter body will take
| the evidence under consideration also,
and may bring in an Indictment, as II
probably will. holding Jones on a Grim
| inal charge, which may go as high as
manslaughter. Criminal carelessness'
| is the way the coroner's jury describes
| Dispatcher Jones act. The exact Lam
guage of the verdict can not be given
| here, as Coroner Schneider, acting I'M
der County Attorney Zemunt's advice,
withholds the document from publica-
1 ton.
The testimony before the coroner's
4 jury brought out the conclusion that
4 Dispatcher John Jones-not Fred, the
| chief dispatcher - inadvertently left
| Rohwedder's extra west out of his
schedule after it's arrival at West Lib
Ierty Tuesday night. and being thus
omitted from the train sheet it escaped
| his attention until about 1140 p. M,
when. in looking over the train sheet to
Iarrange for the possible emergency of
getting the meat train to Titfin, or fur
ther for No. 25, the west bound limited.
he thought of Rohwedder's extra. The
latter had received no information con-
corning the meat train. and would
/ doubtless endeayor to make oxford for
Nos. 25 and s, which were carded to
meet there. From the opposite direction
the meat train was racing to reach
| Tiffin in time to get in on the side-track
ahead of No. 25. expecting to go to Dav-
export ahead of No. g. Having no no.
tice of the meat trains presence on the
4 line, and the track being clear from
1 Iowa City to Oxford. so far as the time
card indicated, Rohwedder was privi-
! legged to make Oxford to meet No. 6,
and to let No. %, going in the same di-
/ rection as the extra, pass. Engineer
/ Quinn and Conductor Brien knew
! nothing of Rohwedder's extra west and.
| surprising they had a clear track to
4 Tiffin, We're making goou time to that
station when, on rounding curve two
/ miles east of Oxford. they were Stupe-
i fled to see q headlight burst into view
1 coming toward them. The two trains
lcollided with results already known
One engineer and a fireman of the two
train crews and three men who were
/ riding on the trains without the know
ledge of the crews We're killed. Three
others of the train crews, including
4 Conductor Brien, We're painfully in
jured.
1 1t is reported here that Jones, when
he recalled the fact of the extra wesl
being on the line, dropped everything
else and began calling the operator at
!: Iowa City. The latter responded, but
when asked to turn the signal and STOP
} Rohwedder's extra west he replied that
, the train had gone five minutes pre-
vious. There We're no night offices at
J Tifiin, Oxford, Homestead or South
Amana, and hence the dispatcher could
not stop either of the trains then speed
! ing toward each other in a mutual race
, to get in to clear each passenger train
Jones called UP Chief Dispatcher Fred
Jones and superintendent Hobbs, per-
haps feeling they could invoke some as
} sistance in the emergency that might
avert the impending wreck, but they
like himself, were helpless
Probably every bride directs one OF
more OF her wedding Invitations, feeling
that those to whom they are addressed