The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1901-09-04
NOBODY IS
RESPONSIBLE
For the Terrible Wreck on the
Great Northern
THE CORONER'S JURY
Return the Expected Verdict Exoneratine
Both Employees and the Rail-
road Company.
THE CORONER'S JURY

Despite ,ne most searching invest;-
cation that has been going On since
the frightful wreck which occurred at
Nyack Friday night. the cause of the
horrible catastrophe remains an insol-
uble mystery and the chances are ...at
just what caused the wreck will never
be made public, nut will remain n....en
in the breasts of the few that do know,
tut through fear refuse to max, tho
facts of the case known.
AT the same time the exac. number
O. deaths is also unknown, Inv. i.
near as can be learned 80 lives we,e
gwen lip as a sacrifice to som b uly's
Criminal carelesness or, worse stI,l.
:e:be,ate act in releasing a.. brakes
:iat the train crews swOya we.a s,..s.
.i'.'e are also 12 badly u ,,'4t m.u
q. 'ne m spitai, several OF whom are
ba'iy turt they may die O. .np,r IN
ilrieS
(.HfW;o: Swain of No. =. said !"
his testimony at the inquest yesterday
that he checked up 45 fares in the la.
bOrers' coach at Havre. and that three
men from that car left the train at
Shelby Junction, and three more al
Cut Bank. whether any more had lef.
or not he did not know. With the six
out that would leave SO men in the
car when the wreck occurred and of
that number four dead and II wound
ed are all that remain not a man in
The car escaped without bruise of
some kind. In Supt Downs car the
three inmates, Mr.. Downs, his. son and
their cook, were all killed The body
of Mr.. Downs was afterwards identi-
fed at the morgue, mangled beyond
description. The body of his son was
never found and Was burned to ashes.
The body of the cook was in a natural
condition and was not badly mangled.
The remains OF the unfortunate la
borers that were left in the flames
were cremated and when it was DOS
sible to do so, the ashes and what
few bones were left were gathered
together and buried near the wreck.
The dead labOrers that had been
brought to Kalispell were buried Mon
day from the undertaking rooms of \.
Willoughby at the Demersville Gem.
etery. Dan Maahan, one of the men
who died at the hospital Sunday, was
also buried at the same time. The
remains of Supt. Downs were shipped
to Spokane Saturday night. The
names of the dead men buried Mon.
day were: Nick Mattison, William
Ellery. and William Sanford. Their
homes are unknown, there being no
letters or papers on their persons to
give any clew to where they resided.
The inquest called to investigate
the cause of the wreck met at the
cOrOner's Office yesterday morning at
10 O'clock and afterward adjourned
the sitting to the court room. There
was nothing done in the morning, the
session taking recess until o'clock.
Lee Kerr, Robert rauline, Fred Rus
sell, Jay kakestraw, marry Williams
and Chas. Goodrich comprised the
cOrOner's jury anu heard the taking of
the testimony.
There were nine witnesses on the
stand and Their testimony throughout
was practically the same. Conductor
Matthews testimony was to the effect
that he had charge OF No. 10 when it
pulled into Essex station and that he
,nrew the switch whiIe the rear
brakeman Gates cut off the helper en-
gine. which went on up the main
track. while .ne freight train pulled in
on the side track. He said he saw
the rear brakeman, after he uncoupled
the helper engine, climb to the top of
the rear freight car and set the brake
and that he also saw MIN on the sixth
car from the rear setting the hand
brakes. He says that every precau-
fn NJ 20 hn fvnf
cure and that ii was not possi..e for
NE freight as it was left standing to
run away unless the brakes had been
tampered with. Rear brakeman Gates
testified as to setting the brakes and
.hat me train was standing still
when he set the last three or four
brakes. Conductor Strain of No. 3
was presen. and gave mis- tesl,mOny
as to the number of men in the labor
ers' car. Harry Sharrar, engineer OF
he helper, testified that his engine
was cut off just before reaching the
west switch at the Essex yards and
that he went on up the main track to
the round house track and backed in
on that. He and his fireman went to
supper and ne did not know the
freight train was gone from the siding
until notified to that effect BY Con-
ductor Matthews. He said that as his
| engine went past the freight train he
saw the rear brakeman in the act of
setting brakes on the freight cars. His
fireman also testified to practically
! the same effect. No. passed Essex
| at about 10 minutes past O'Clock and
No. 10 in charge of Matthews and
the helper had went on the siding SO
as TO leave a clear track for 1t. The
! testimony of the head brakeman ON
the freight simply cOrroborated the
others. One of the witnesses, a rail-