New-York tribune., 1903-02-07
TELLS or 7'ORPEDOES.
ONeiN. tire Brakeman, Says ne
Pit Them on the 7fach.
JURY co OVER THE SCENE IN ENGINE

IRY TELEGRAM THE TRIRUNE
Plainfeld. n. j. FEB. EN- the course Oh the
investigation into the causes of the Westneio
disaster this afternoon the coroners jury as
sembled at the bedside OF Samuel Mccarthy. the
fireman in the MuhIenberg Hospital. The most
important testimony that of Harry A.
oNeiI. rear brakeman on the Easton local. who
swore that he placed torpedoes on the track
and took all the necessary precautions to warn
the Philadelphia express of the presence of his
train In order more graphically to portray the
scene of the wreck the members of the jury
were carried tonight over the scene, OF the dlS-
aster in observation engine.
NcCarthys statement that while the
steam did leak from about the cylinder the en-
gine in good condition Much steam es-
capped every time the train started but after it
was under good headway the steam cleared
away. so far as he could see. He was kept
busy firing good part of the time, but noticed
that the engineer slowed down several times
before reaching Crawford. supposedly for sig
nails He was back at the tank at the time of
the collision and could not tell how it hap
pened He heard no torpedoes before the crash,
Ten witnesses were sworn in the course of the
afternoon. Their testimony was comparatively
short.
Harry A. O'Neill a rear brakeman. insisted
that he went fully seven hundred feet back
from his train and placed two torpedoes on the
track. When he saw the express coming ne ran
back to meet it, and waved his red lantern. =.
f Chambers master mechanic on the Jersey
Central examined the engine after the wreck
and found that the throttle and other levers in
the cab they would have beeh hau tiie
engine been going at full speed
Daniel Witherspoon ronndhouse foreman at
Jersey CITY saw Davis and his engine on the
afternoon of the wreck, but heard no complaint
against the locomotive.
George w Tinsinan, an insurance agent III
Eliza beth. declared that he had had much eH-
perience as a railrosd man. and thought the en-
gineer of the local used poor judgment in stop
ping where he did to cool hot journal r->
Bernard Mum. now engineman on the Jer-
sev Central declared that the engineer of the
local had used good judgment in stopping where
he did Trouble with the injector might cause
steam to form that would cloud the window OF
the cab but the engineer could still work on his
injector and thrust his head out of the side win
dow and see without trouble. He admitted that
it would he a relief 10 have another man IN the
cab but did not think it would relieve the eng1-
neer of any of his responsibility.
Pierre Garvin of the law department. and Ar
thur E owen, OF the ignal department, both OF
the Central had pictures and plans to illustrate
the scene of the wreck.
Ellis L. Ayres. assistant maintainer OF Signals
happened TO be on the eastbound train that was
passing and took look at the signals imn1edl-
atelv after the wreck He found them working
properly James Major ticket agent and opera
tor at Westfield, corroborated the story Oh
Meaney. the train dispatcher, of the day before
declaring that Meaney called him just as the
express was passing the station. So.
The last witness was Father Andrew W:
Egan, of St:-.Maty's Roman Cathohe, Church
this city He was called TO administer the last
sacrament to Davis, DAVIS understood that he
was dying before he made the ~staten1ent to
Kfely Father Egan afterward called to see
h6w he was doing and out of curiosity. asked
Iaxis what caused the wreck The reply was
that the engine had been leaking since they left
Jersey City. and that he could not see the sig
mails , l.... -,
An adjournment was taken until February 10
a - o'clock