The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-31
ROAD AND EMPLOYEES
BOTH TAKEN TO TASK BY THE
JURY's VERDICT.
WRECK ON THE GRAND TRUNK
COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED, THE
JURY THOUGHT.

Wreck Was Caused by Wrong Or
ders Responsibility Between
Operator Carson and Dispatcher
Kerr-RaiIway Company Guilty of
Contributory Negligence in Not
Having Employed More Experi-
enced Operators mt stations where
Train Might Have Been stopped.
Wyoming, Ont. Dec. 30.-The coro-
ner's jury. which has been Investigate
ing the wreck at Wanstead last Fri
day. in which twenty-eight lives were
lost. brought in verdict shortly be-
fore midnight tonight. The verdict is
as follows:
I'VE find that Arthur w. Ricketts,
was killed in the collision at Wanstead.
Dec. 26. 1902: that said collision was
caused by wrong orders being given to
No. at Watford. Responsibility for
the issuance of wrong orders we are
not agreed upon as between Operator
Carson and Dispatcher Kerr.
THAT after No. 5 had left Watford by
the issuance of wrong orders. we con-
been averted by the operator at Wyo-
ming or Kings Court Junction, had
the railway company had more exDer-
fenced operators at those points Zone
being but "A boy of 16), at each of
which places the dispatcher having had
ample time to do 1t, endeavored to get
the opposing trains stopped"
Evidence Before the Jury.
The inquest into the cause OF
the death of the victims of
Fridays night wreck on the
Grand Trunk Railway at Wanstead
was continued to-day.
James A. Smith, a brakeman on the
freight train, was the first witness. He
said that when his train arrived at
Wanstead snow had blocked the lever
of the switch, and about two minutes
were lost. At the time of the collision
the switch was open, but the freight
was still on the main line. The train
was delayed at Wyoming about eight
minutes, taking water. The sema-
phore, he said, was not displayed. He
saw the stop" signals given by the
rear man, and had they been contin-
ued. the train would have been stop
ped He saw the express lights fifteen
second before the crash.
James Troyer the night operator at
Kings Court Junction. the next wit-
ness, said the FIRST call he heard from
London was to stop No s, the express
train, but 1t had just gone by. He put
up the semaphore Immediately.
Troyer said he was is years old. He
was In charge at Kings Court for the
first time on the night of the accident.
Prior to his appointment he had
passed an examination which lasted
twenty minutes. He was not familiar
with the telegraph call for Kings
nd In in frv
time before he heard the dispatcher
calling him.
Carson, the Watford station agent,
was recalled and reiterated the state
ments made yesterday. A number OF
copies of orders were put on exhibition
and were submitted as evidence. All
of the cancelled orders had been an
nulled by sending second order. Car
son testified that orders had frequently
been cancelled by the dispatcher simp-
ly saying Bust it," Carson said that
all papers and books in the Watford
office had been taken possession Of by
the assistant superintendent, leaving
him without means of substantiating
his statement in regard to this
method of cancelling orders.
Carson could not remember the ex-
act date on which he had received a
cancelling order in the form of BUST
It." He said that for six weeks prior
to the night of the accident he alone
hal been doing the work previously
done by two men.
George Hicks, Carson's assistant at
Watford, told the jury that he had
seen orders cancelled by marking them
Busted but was not sure that such
orders as he had seen had been mark
ed 30. X"
The coroner gave the evidence TO the
jury at o'clock.