The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-19


Down brakesr' but the signal was
never finished. The engine gave a
great leap forward. crashed into the
front end of the wagon, now half way
across, and hurled it back The wheel
ers were crushed to pulp, and the
pointers dragged against the side of
the engine and killed, while the lead
ers, torn loose, dashed snorting into
the gloom.
The train seemed hardly to have
struck ere it disappeared, rocking and
plunging, into the distance
Under the wreckage of his wagon
and its load of rock lay Dick Young.
teamster, dead.
Public indignation ran high in Black
county against Engineer Ware. 1t
was not so much that he had killed a
man-other engineers had done such
things, and it might have been un-
avoidable-but Ware had not made the
slightest effort to save Young's life,
he had not reversed or called for
brakes. On the contrary, he had
opened the throttle wide and the en-
CINE was going at such a speed that
it could not be stopped till it had left
the shattered wagon nearly a mile
behind.
That the wagon must have been
l.
but if Ware had reversed his engine,
Young might have jumped in time to
save his life.
Those who felt inclined to seek eX-
CuSes for the engineer advanced the
I theory that he had been excited, and
| did not know what he was doing: but
all agreed that he should be punished
that is, all but the railroad men; they
| knew that it was a case of Drenedi-
/ tated and deliberate killing; and they
also knew that Engineer Ware had done
a glorious deed, and not for gain or
/ fame.
The engineer was charged by the cor
| oner's jury, at first, with manslaugh-
| ter; but it transpired that he slad made
a statement admitting that ne had ex-
! peCted to kill the teamster, and he was
/ indicted for murder. Acting on his law
yer's instruction, he declined to give
| his reasons for killing Young.
The courtroom was crowded on the
! day of the trial, and full Of an air of
suppressed excitement
The first witnesses heard were two
stonecutters who had been at the spur.
Their evidence showed that no effort
had been made to slow dOwn-thGt the
train was going much faster when the
! engine struck the wagon than when
| it first appeared around the curve. The
defense waived the right of cEOss-ex-
animation, and the testimony % those
witnesses stood.
Poor DEVIL Knows he's gonel"
| 'Poor fellow He takes it hardl" Such
were the whispered remarks in the
courtroom when the prisoner took the
stand to speak in his own defense. His
CHASTITY face, eloquent in its agony
gained him much sympathy. He be-
gan excitedly:
Il had to do it" Then, recovering
himself he continued:
when I saw the wagon first l start
ed to call for brakes, but l instantly
saw that they would be of no use, and
! decided to do what I could with the
lever. I was about to reverse when il
flashed upon me that the wagon was
loaded with rock-that it would be
straight across the track when 1 STRUCK
it, if I tried TO slow down." He hat
| been speaking eXcitedIy, but now his
| voice fell.
IT had two coaches and the mail and
baggage car; the hghtest car was be-
tween the other two, and in that one
were more than thirty people; TO strike
that load of rock was to telescope tina
middle car His voice had risen: ht
spoke wildly Yes, and to crush i
like an eggsheIl, and everything in it,
What could I do? threw the level
over; we plunged forward; 1 killed
that man. Oh. my God. didn't want Il
kill HIM"
Ware paused, with his arms stretch
ed out as if in appeal to those before
him, pleading with them to tell hin
if he had done wrong to sacrifice {
human life; and the answer came in {
choking cheer.
Now followed expert testimony t.
prove that reversing would have tele
scoDed the car.
His own life was in dancer" salt
the counsel for the defense. "A mai
has the right to protect his life" War
made a deDrecatory gesture The law
yer continued:
DO you think a man can delight il
killing people for whom he has no dis
like. Look at himl He has saved man,
lives by his unselfish devotion, yet tn
memory of the life he was forced [
take has proved upon him till he is
wreck. The people in that car truste
themselves to his care; would you hav
him kill them all? No: his first dut
was to them, and he saved them at
cost of more than life
The district attorney did his duty i
spite of the angry muttering in tn
courtroom. He pointed out the fact tina
the teamster was not in any Wa
threatening the engineer, and that tn
latter had killed him deliberately. H
did his best. but he knew the case 70
the people was lost.
The presiding judge summed up tn
case on legal grounds. giving no indi
. cation of his opinion. Perhaps
knew there was no need.
The jury was out five minutes, an
found a verdict: Not guilty.