Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1904-10-21

After the Selectmen had seen Mr. Hop
kins's body they ordered an inquest to
determine the manner in which he met
death, and selected Lawyer Robert c.
Bacon as the Justice to hear the testi-
mony, which was taken by a stenogra-
pher The inquest was held In Mr.. Pa
cons office. Lawyer \. F. Schwenll APP
pearing in behalf of the town and Lawyer
James f. Hooker for the contractor. The
testimony will be submitted to the county
court.
Contractor Kilburn was the first wit
ness He told what the general scope
of the work was to be and said that at the
time of the accident he had dug down
% feet, leaving an embankment 60 feet
long. supported by eight or nine timbers
eight inches square. Back of the timbers
We're plank. but he could not tell how
many. He had examined the soil care
fully, and on his return from Bellows Falls
Monday morning he looked the bank over
to see If ii was all right and saw no in
dication of any trouble. He had no warn
ing of any accident and was on top
of the bank when the slide started. When
the holes were dug for the dead men" to
which the retaining tmbers were guyed
he examined the dirt taken out and was
satisfied that everything was safe He
said blasts had been exploded within 10
feet of the cmbankment, but that the
charges Of dynamite were so small that
they would not disintegrate the soil SO
as TO cause a slide and they did not dis
turb the ground more than three or
four feet away from the explosions lie
said the retaining timbers We're not fas-
tened or braced except at the ends a :
he thought there was no necessity for IL.
Peter ]. Wilson, of Weston Junction,
foreman. was the next witness. He was
81. Id
stood when the land slid. He said the
first retaining timber was about - feet
north of the granite retaining wall al
ready mentioned, leaving that amount
of the bank unsupported, and that the
men were digging a hole preparatory to
putting in another timber at that point
when the bank caVed in. He said the
banking back of the timbers extended to
the bottom of the gravel strata He said
the dead men We're sunk into the
ground five and half feet but did not
reach hard pan.
a J. Burpee OF Lyndonville a work
man. testified that ne had just gotten
out of the ditch when saw the gravel
falling He told the men near him to
keep tneir eyes on the bank. Two min
utes later the bank began To cave and he
called to Mr.. Hopkins to get out Thos
Campbell Of Brookline. Mass. said he
began work on the job Saturday He
Nlu not remember seeing any plank DaCk
of the retaining timbers He thought
as did all those who testified. that Mr.
Kilburn used every reasonable precaution
to prevent the bank caving in
The inquest was resumed Tuesday
morning, the first witness being Thomas
Lynch of Brattleboro. He said he dug
four holes for the dead men" and that
they did not extend below the made
soil. He thought the bank would hold
itself without supports and had not the
slightest expectation of any accident The
dirt which slid was that which was used
in filling in a gully back of Hooker build
ing long time ago. He told the con-
tractor that it was not good soil to set
dead men" in. but the contractor said:
IN risk it He said heavy trains shook
the bank in passing and that the explo-
sion of dynamite would have a tendency
to loosen the dirt He thought the dead
men would have tendency to pry of
the bank If heavy weight went against
the retaining timbers.
John c. Pellet of Worcester Mass
| the well known contractor, visited the
works Sunday. In view of his experience
as contractor his testimony was inter-
esting, although in cross examina tim
| by Mr.. Hooker the fact was brought out
that he was one of the unsuccessful bid
ders for the Hooker contract. He said
| the bank was not safely propped up:
that the timbers should have been braced
| four times between ends: that there
was not much difference between made
land and gravel in its liability to slide
that he was surprised to see the bank
stand up as well it did: and that If he
| had been doing the work he would not
| have removed the dirt on the east side
of the trench, but would have dug a deep
/ trench and secured the bank on both
sides by stretching heavy timbers across.
! Charles Affair of Brattleboro said that
| he was in the trench three feet and Mr..
| Hopkins was in five feet; that he saw the
! gravel fall half an hour before the slide.
! lie jumped out of the trench when the
! timbers began to crack and ran north. Mr.
| Hopkins ran north in the trench. Wes-
! ley Ash of Brattleboro, another workman,
! saw the sand sitting down near the wing
wall 20 minutes before the accident. He
was assisting in the preparations for
| putting in a retaining timber at that
! point, and noticed that the made land
| there extended clear to the bottom of
! the excavation. He said: I'VE were all
! scared of the wall and the men all struck
! one day because they We're afraid of it,"
At this point the inquest was contin-
! ued to yesterday in order that the prem
| ises might be examined and measurements
made. On account of other engagements.
| however, the attorneys We're unable to
! resume the inquest at that time