Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1903-11-12
An ACTION
IN TRESPASS

pduy went on tTlal MOnday morning.
President Judge r. r. Little and AS
soCiates DR.. Thompson and Frank G.
Blee occupied the bench. Elmer Hime
and G. W Bennett were appointed as
tipstaffs to wait upon the court.
There are large number of wit
nesses to be examined, good many
Of them representing both sides being
from Watsontown, where the dreadful
accident occurred which robbed the
plaintiff of her husband and little son.
There is fine array of legal talent on
each side and the trial promises to be
a stubborn aud hard fought contest.
James Scarlet, W. J. Baldy and E.
S. Gearhart represent the plaintiff
and l. \. Grier and former Judge II.
NJ. Hinckley appear for the defendant.
The following jurymen form the
panel selected to decide the case Isaac
Confer, Joseph Law, Frank Ellis, John
Oruikshank, Lands GosS, w. J. Leidy,
A. A. Geyer, John Barrett, Jacob
Bloom, A. E. Hostelley, Peter Vought
and John f. Springer.
Owing to the non arrival of some
important witnesses at II O. clock court
adjourned to reconvene at 1 80 o'clock.
Upon reconvening in the afternoon
Edward S. Gearhart made statement
of the case. On January 8, 1902, JOS
eph B. Cromley and his little son
David of Anthony township, Montour
county, with a two horse sled drove to
Watsontown for the purpose of selling
a load of wheat and some turkeys. On
the main street crossing on their re.
| turn home they were struck by the
Buffalo Flyer" Father and son and
both horses were killed, while the sled
was reduced to splinters. The accid-
ent, it was alleged, was due to neglect
of the company and the present action
is brought to recover damages.
The first witness sworn was Mrs.
Sarah @. Cromley, the widow. She
was married to Joseph B. Cromley in
1890. She had but one child, the boy
David, who was killed with his faith
er. Her husband was 81 years of age
the boy was between five and six years
of age both were in good health.
The remainder of the afternoon was
occupied with hearing witnesses for
the plaintiff, nearly all from Watson
town.
Charles Mitchner was one of the
first on the spot after the accident and
found father and son dead.
Jere Donovan is employed in the Table
Factory opposite the station and from
the window where he works the view
tnhos AZ ,,or zion or the CROSSING. ms
description OF rf1v aUUiuUnV WAS very
thrilling. The train, according t4his
testimony, was running over fifty miles
an hour and half enveloped in cloud
of snow and dust. He saw the sled
within two or three feet of the cross
ing aud the next moment everything
was in the air" He saw what appear
ed to be a bundle of clothes" flying
overhead as high as the signal pole.
He ran out of the factory and was
among the first to reach the bodies of
the man and boy, which were lying 20
to % feet apart Mr.. Cromley was al
ready dead his son merely gssped and
died.
Edward Kreisher, another employe
of the table factory, saw the accident
from the window His attentionSwas
aroused by loud whistle. The sled
was already on the crossing and before
the man could drive off he was strack.
The train, he said, was running at an
unusual rate of speed.
Alfred Mufley, a farmer who. re-
sides near WatsontOwn, was hauling
ice and witnessed the accident. He
first saw the team when some twenty
feet of the track it had stopped and
was just starting up when he saw it.
The train, he said, was 'going for all
it was worth.
James Montgomery, who travels
"a, 600 miles a year" and once week
on the Buffalo Flyer" testified that
from what he knows of speed he Is of
the opinion that the train that day
was running through Watsontown at
from 80 to 80 miles an hour. The point
from where he viewed the Buffalo
Flyer" that day was nine squares
from where the accident occurred.
On account of the snow on the track,
he said, the train made little noise.
d. II. Kistin, Secretary of the Bor-
ough Council read a section from the
Borough Ordinance regulating the
speed Of trains passing through the
borough. The speed limit is fixed at
six miles an hour.
Dr. Derr,a practicing physician, was
| a witness He examined the bodies of
| Joseph b. Cromley and his son after
the accident The formers neck was
broken and the skull of the latter was
| fractured In his opinion death i'll the
case of each resulted from the acCid-
ont
Altogether fifteen witnesses were
| heard for the plaintiff. Among these
was former Congressman, Alexander
Billmeyer who testified as to the earn
ing capacity of Joseph B. Cromley.
Only a few more witnesses for the
plaintiff remain to be heard.
The action in trespass brought by
| Mrs. Sarah c. Cromley against the
Pennsylvania railroad Company is still
before coust But little progress was
made in the trial Tuesday, nearly
the entire day being consumed in argu-
ment.
The few witnesses on the plaintiffs
side which were not heard Monday
testified yesterday morning. The evid-