Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1904-10-20
Railroad commission Hearing.

! held an inquest at the Bsscom Hous
Thursday Of last week relative to tn
deaths Of Lynch, Shea and Smith, Sept. Is
, There were present Fuller {. smith OF st
Adams, H. ~. Bailey OF Newbury and ii
. s. Bingham OF Bennington, the board; III
H. Blanchard Of Springfield, states attor
ney; &. W Writers Of st, Adams, appear
ing for the railroad, and NJ NJ. Gordon OF
! Barre. who appeared for the relatives Of
the deceased. There were also present
three whole bottles and one broken bottle
said to have been found near the place Of
the accident.
The testimony OF the train men was 70
the effect that engine No. 81, southbound
reached South Royalton at l3.25 and prob
ably passed Bethel about II or 1905 a. m.
That the brakeman, when the train set of
on the siding at South Royalton, found
part of shirt on a brake beam and blood
and hair on the pilot Of the engine. That
when the train went through Bethel il
was going at he rate Of Is or 20 miles per
hour, "drifting through That the night
| Wasifoggy. so one was not able to see well
in front OF the engine. The whistle was
blown and bell rung at the crossing in
Bethel village. II was so foggy the train
men could not see signals till passing, and
! then only the reflection.
! c. H. Hill, the fireman, testified that the
air pump obstructs the view out OF his
window and that he kept his head inside
while passing through Bethel on account
/ Of closeness Of yard.
Thomas smith, mason, testified that he
saw the three meu Saturday evening, the
! 18th OF Septem Der, at the store OF Brooks
1 a Washburn and near the depot. Robert
Carroll was with them. They were per-
| fectly sober about p. m. At about nine
| p. m. he drank with them on the depot
platform, from a quart bottle similar TO
the one shown in court They appeared
"sober and slightly under the influence Of
liquor. | went home about 10 o'clock.
The bottle was about o-thirds full OF
whiskey. Smith and one other drank
with me. They talked as il started to
feel pretty good. ! worked on the quarry
setting up boilers, and in tins way got
acquainted with the men. / was with
them 10 or 20 minutes and was then back
OF the hardware store. II was a pleasant,
warm night and no fog as / noticed. =
W. G. Clifford testified that he was
going home from club about half past
eleven, saw four or five men on the rail-
road at the end of the bridge, about 80 to
IS feet from end OF bridge and about 400
or 500 feet from depot They acted as II
under the influence OF liquor. There was
no fog, save above the water, and not
enough to hide mans view.
Robert Carroll, a quarryman, testified
that he was % years old, that he drank
with Lynch, Smith and Shea after
O'Clock, one or two drinks; then went
down the track and sat down beside the
track near the water tank. Lynch and |
Shea were on his side Of the track and
Smith was standing in the middle. "We
drank there and had three bottles. | be- |
came intoxicated so that ! wanted to Sleep |
About half past eleven / went into a car. !
The others were then about 40 yards be- |
low. We were on the third bottle when |
my memory fails me. ] left them stand |
ing about 20 yards below the water tank |
! went 70 sleep at once and awoke about |
$3.50 or a. m. There was nothing belong
ing TO the other men in the car when III
went in but when ] woke ] found hat, I
drawers, etc, in the ear. Found the men
killed when ] got out Of car and went up |
on street and saw a man and told him. /
saw two dead on the track but did not /
know third was dead
One 9th bottles found near the acct
dent was shown witness but he did not 4
identity it, He said, ''rhey had one bot
tie when / went there. ! missed Smith
once. Cannot tell where the other bot
ties came from. Quite positive that !
drank from the third bottle. The men 4
were not sober but were standing when j /
left them about half past eleven. Ii was
misty with the moon shining through the 4
mist When | left them there was MOTH
ing TO prevent their walking home. They
were not boisterous; they said they were
going home and said ! was, too. ! paid
a fine for intoXication. Think / heard
the town clock strike eleven. Smith came
back with cigarettes and popcorn. Could
see buildings and there was no fog when I /
got up. No one else was with me when /
was in the car. Do not know whether the
other men were in the car with me or not. |.
DO not know whether they tried TO get IN
to the car or mott
Bert Rogers testified that he saw the
men about eleven TO half past eleven p. m.
Saw about five men at the water tank;
they had bundles with them; they wanted
to know II Rogers had anything on his
hip. II was foggy. The men said, ''Ne
have got to get q move on u.s. This COM
pleted the testimony, and the hearing was
adjourned.