Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-17
ALEXANDRIA AFFAIRS
RESULT OF VOTE ON LOCAL oP-
TIoN'YEsTERDAY.
The "Wets" Garry Two Districts by
Majority Of Two to One-0ther
News.
Evening Star Bureau.


7O1 King Street,
Bell Telephone 106.
ALEXANDRIA. Va. February II, 1903.
Returns received at the Alexandria coun-
ty court house this morning from the cleo
tfon held in Washington and Arlington dis
tricts yesterday Of the question of hcens-
ing saloons chow that on the whole the
"wets" carried the vote two to one. The
total number. Of votes cast was 31S, OF
which 106 were against license and 212
were for it. The vote in each district was
as follows: Arlington. wet" 12O; dry,
60. Washington, wet. 90; dry" 81. The
election was held on the authority Of an
order issued upon petition by Judge J. NJ
Love of the county court. There was no
election held in Arlington district.
Investigating Railway Wreck.
Detectives in the employ of the Southern
Railroad Company are engaged in fnvesti-
eating the wrecking of the southbound
New York and Florida express, which &C.
CURED at Ravensworth, ten miles below
Alexandria, early Sunday morning. 1t Is
the declared intention Of the company to
fix the responsibility for the disaster, If 1t
is possible to do SO, and in order to further
the efforts in this direction General Man.
ager c. H. Ackert has offered a reward OF
5000 for the arrest of the person or persons
who caused the derailment Of the express.
The offer of this sum was made with
view of securing the assistance Of others,
thus adding to the efforts of the railroad
detectives.
That the wreck was the result Of mali
cious design is regarded now by the COM
pany officials as being as good as proved.
All Of the circumstances which have come
to light under the present investigation
lend weight to this conclusion. The perfect
condition of the switch and main track
only short time before the wreck, as
proved by the safe passage of several.
trains; the absence of the switch light
when the Inflated engine turned the curve
the switch lock, which would have been in
Its place had it been handled by a railroad
employe, together with many other facts,
have Influenced the officials in directing
their energies to the apprehension of some
deed
Although Mr.. A. Gordon Jones, superin-
tendent of the Washington division of the
DRY of robbery the motive for the as
sumed crime many railroad men hold the
view that the wrecker intended his work
for the southbound Chesapeake and Ohio
express, which passes Ravensworth about
midnight. the New York and Florida ex-
press, being nearly two hours late, was
running within a few minutes Of the sched-
ule time Of the Chesapeake and Ohio train.
Previous Attempt to Wreck Train.
Several years ago an attempt was made
at Ravensworth to wreck this express, and
since then there have been evidences on
number Of occasions Of other attempts
which proved aborfive owing to the Wig
lance of the railroad men. The Chesapeake
and Ohio train was understood to carry
large sums of money for the express COM
panies Saturday evenings, and the expecta-
tlon OF securing this was supposed to be the
motive for the attempts
The fact that. no robbery followed either
wreck was supposed by Division Superin-
tendent Jones to indicate that the efforts
were made out of ennlity for the road
rather than because; Of an expectation of
gain. But it is pointed out that the man
or men supposed to have wrecked the ex-
press Sunday last might have been con-
cealed near the scene and that the inten-
ton of robbery was abandoned after it
was discovered that the Southern, instead
of the Chesapeake and Ohio train had run
into the trap The fact that the passenger
day coach and sleepers remained the
rails prevented the chance of tragic end
ing to a honeymoon just then begun. In
one of the cars was the Galaudet-Cockrell
wedding party. No one was injured, for
tunately, and the parties continued their
journey to Florida later Sunday morning.
Reports Made to Executive Body.
A meeting Of the executive committee for
the George Washington birthday ami
versary celebration here February o was
held last night in the rooms of the Busi-
ness Mems League. The reports received
of the work already done and that in con-
temptation were very encouraging. 1t was
stated that Commissioner Macfarland and
Fire Chief Dutton had been interviewed
and had given assurance that the Washing
ton fire department will be represented in
the parade unless the weather is unfavora-
ble 1t was also stated that one of the
chemical engines was expected to be In
line The committeeman who visited the
Secretary of War and other high govern
ment officials in Washington had received
assurances that about 1900 uniformed men
from the capital city and the nearby forts
will be in the procession. The acceptance
OF the invitation to attend was reported
from the Spanish War Veterans Associa-
ton of Washington. 1t Is expected that
that organization will have from 600 to 500
men in the parade
1t has been decided that the procession
is to start at p:m.,. but band concerts will
be held in various parts of the city before
that hour. Gov. Montague has transmitted
his formal acceptance of the Invitation to
be present to Mr. F. j. Paff, chairman of
the executive committee. During his stay
in this city the governor will be the guest
of Corporation Attorney Gardner l.. Boothe
at his home on Princess street.
Funerals of Wreck Victims.
Funeral services over the remains of En-
gineer Thomas Purvis. who met death Sun
day morning In the wreck of the New York
and Florida express over the Southern rail-
road at Ravensworth, were held this morn
ing at 10 o'clock from the late residence Of
the deceased on South Patrick street. Many
railroad men attended, and the floral trib-
utes were beautiful. The services were
conducted by Rev. j. P. Stump of the M. E.
Church South Later the remains were
placed on a Southern train and conveyed to
Charlottesville for interment
The remains Of Mr. Harris Freeman,
whose death occurred Sunday at Bealeton,
Va, were brought here yesterday afternoon
and inferred IN Union cemetery beside those
Of his wife, who died, several years ago. Mr.
Freeman was efghtyithree years of age. He
formerly resided in This city, where he con-
Quoted a real estate business, and where he
had many friends. VI He was prominently
connected with' the Business interests of the
M E. Church seuthS in which he held mem
bership since the eafy years of his life
Rrrief Mention.
The Medicatsoeiety of Alexandria met
yesterday in the office of DR.. William R.
Purvis on South Columbus street and elect
ed the following officers for the ensuing