News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1904-03-30
The Burlington and Lamoille Accident,

From the Burlington Daily News
we take the following account of the
hearing before the Board of Railroad
Commissioners at Cambridge last
Friday as to the cause of the recent
serious accident on the Burlington &
Lamoille Railroad
The investigation of the railroad wreck
near Cambridge was held in the Amer
lean House at Cambridge Friday before
| the commissioners. The Central Yer.
mont was represented by c. w. Writers
and S. F. Burgess of St, Adams and the
people by States Attorney Fred Bick-
nell of Johnson and H. F. Brigham, of
Bakersfield.
The first witness called was w, l..
Tillotson, clerk at Clarkson's. He
testified to being on the wrecked train
on his way to Burlington was in pas
senger coach when the train left the
iron il was between 200 and 800 feet
from where the car left the track to
where it went down the embankmeut ::
the car he Was'in was over on its side
10 or IS feet from the roadbed; was
running fairly fast when it went down
the bank; there was no whistle for
breaks and none of the train crew was
in the passenger car at the time.
Eli Wescott of Waterville was on the
train could not say if the train was
late or not, but was running very fast
from Cambridge, Jet. to where the wreck
occurred heard no whistle for breaks
the rails on right hand side of the road
bed went down the bank the rails on
the other side were not involved, the
spikes looked as If some were pushed
out.
Mrs. Dickerson of cambridge heard no
whistle; none of the train crew was in
the car she was in.
DR.. Hubbell of Cambridge thought it
was 300 feet from where the cars left the
track to where they went down the bank.
J. Hutchinson, the engineer. The
train was II minutes late; was not max
ing up time; do not try to make up
time when late; l noticed somewhere
about $50 feet from where welanded that
something was wrong with the train;
applied air brakes; went about three
rails after breaks were applied, we
were running about rs miles per hour;
no trouble with ties could see no trouble
with track anywhere along there; can't
give any reason or cause of wreck shut
off steam first, then applied air brakes.
Air brakes will stop train on the iFeafts
600 feet, but stopped it there in about
$50 feet.
Nelson Gray, Cambridge, was at the
scene of the accident; saw the track
badly torn up; part of the track off the
bed. The condition of the ties he con-
sidered unsound. The raiswere spread;
the spikes were pushed out, l should
say for 200 feet l think from where they
left track to where they landed.
B. Whitaker, fireman, had no theory
of the cause of the accident, track and
ties we're all right,
III. Dunbar, Conductor, St. Adams,
testified. We were running II to IS
miles an hour. l examined rails and
ties and found them all right.
N. J. Haley, brakeman, Burlington tes-
titled that the train was running IL ORA
miles an hour.
w. P. Elrod, roadmaster, went to the
wreck Monday morning the track had
been repaired, could see no cause for
the accident.
A number of other witnesses were ex.
amined but nothing new was ELECTED.
States Attorney Bicknell asked the COM
missioners to accompany him to the
scene Of the wreck saying he would pick
out spikes for a souvenir for each of
them