The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-10-10
coRoNER,s JURY LOOKING INTO
SATURDAYS WRECK.
THEY DIFFER NINE MINUTES
Conductors Greatly at Variance as to
Exact Time When Trains
Met.
From Tuesdays Daily Gazette.

.g5Ea 1AC COlOAC4 . JUL OA1p0AA1O1ACu at
the scene of the wreck near Rapids
Saturday afternoon, for the purpose
of inquiring into the cause thereof,
convened at the court house at 4:so
last evening.
County Attorney Hathhorn was
called ont Of the city yesterday morn
ing and was not present to- examine
the witnesses and the examinations
were conducted by Coroner Chapple
and members of the jury.
The first witness called was R. M.
Stack, train dispatcher at Livingston,
who was on duty the morning of the
accident. Mr.. Stack stated that
neither of the wrecked trains had
received any orders from the dis
patcher's Office and that both were
running on their time card rights,
just the same as if there had been
no telegraph wire. This he said was
the usual way for trains to proceed
over the road, unless one or both.
were very late and it became neces-
sary to have orders against each 9TH
er.
He said No. 5 was reported out of
Billings five minutes late and accord
ing to reports from Laurel station
had lost five minutes between Billings
and that place and five minutes addi-
tional, according to the report from
Park City operator, between Laurel
and that station. Consequently the
train was Is minutes late according
to his time sheet when it left Laurel.
He said that when he received the
Park City report at Asp he had no
other idea but that the train had sim
ply pulled up to the west switch and
backed in to await No. 4, Is there
was only five minutes left in which
to make the nine miles to Rapids,
which was an utter impossibility.
z. B. Brown, agent at Park City,
c~orroborated Mr.. Stack in the time
he reported No. 5 out of there, viz,
4:5O. Mr.. Brown further stated that
he had had no conversation with any
of the trainmen on No. 5. That he
arrived at the depot after the train
came in and attended to his work of
unloading baggage and express. That
he took the time reported to the dis
patcher from his own watch.
Conductor M. w. Kelley's statement
was greatly at variance with that of
Stack and Brown. He said that his
train left Billings at 400 a. M. and
arrived at Park City at 4:39 and left
to run to Rapids to make the meeting
point. He stated that Engineer Vau-
pell got off his engine at Park City
and that they compared watches and
both agreed that they had IA minues
in which to make Rapids, and as they
had been running it easily in IL min
utes the engineer told him he could
make it handily. Mr.. Kelly stated
further that the trains met at 4:52
or 4:53, two miles this side of the
meeting point, and that they had
from two to three minutes left in
which to reach Rapids. In other
words No. 4 was two or three min
utes ahead of it's time at Rapids, two
miles back, when the collision occur
red.
Conductor H. l.. Marcus testiged
that the trains struck at 4:59, four
mintes later than they should have
met at Rapids and seven minutes lat
err than the time testified to by MI.
Kelly. He said his train was n
and one-half minutes late when they
reached Rapids, and it being the SUI
perior train he was not compelled to
No. 5 was not there. He had no
right to pull over the west switch
of the station until his time was up,
and because of the fact that it was
already more than up he was not COM
PEELED under the time card rules to
come to a stop.
F. G. Rowbottom, operator at Co.
lumbus, was examined as to the time
NO. 4 lett HIS SIdIlCu anu COfiODOidL-
ed Conductor Marcus in the state
ment that it left there three minutes
late.
j. e. Unger, brakeman on No. ),
and Frank D. Bevins. mail clerk on
No. 4, were examined, but could
throw no light on the time the trains
left the last station on either side of
the point where the collision occur
red. Mr.. Unger stated that his train
did not lose time between Billings
and Park City. That it made better
than schedule time. Conductor Kel-
ley also stated the same thing. He
said that he had a light train and a
GOOD engine and the reports sent from