Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1905-04-01

CTlullndl TSSpOnSlDlnly VI any peISOH
for this explosion, which caused such
large loss of life and in which the
public is so deeply interested" said
District Attorney French at the close
of the inquest into the Grover fac
tory horror of March 20.
"The explosion was due to a dan
ger peculiar to this class of boilers, a
danger in the structural form of the
boiler, almost impossible OF detec-
ton, and therefore a defect all the
more dangerous because so subtle.
"To paraphrase an old saying,
would say that the person morally
responsible for this explosion and
loss of life is the man who devised
this particular type of boiler"
"And he is beyond the jurisdiction
of this court?" naively asked Judge
Bixby.
He is" replied the district attor-
ney, almost jokingly.
Then the court announced that the
testimony would be taken under ad-
visement.
Thus ended the formal inquiry into
the most terrible disaster of its kind
in the history of the state The in
quest began Wednesday morning in
the superior court room of the Ply
mouth court house, was continued un-
til /, when a recess was taken to 215.
Half an hour later the inquest had
ended.
Fifteen witnesses had been on the
stand. Three of them, comprising
the medical examiner, the city mar
shal and an employe in the fated fac
tory, testified as to the death of Rich
ard Spriggins, the one victim chosen
from among the great company of
men and women who met death in
the same way and at the same time,
to make a test case in determining
the responsibility.
Three other witnesses told about
the exploded boiler. In this group
was the man who made the boiler,
the man who bought it, and the man
who last inspected 1t.
Then came five boiler experts, in
Guiding two state inspectors of steam
boilers and three inspectors of boil
er insurance companies, who told of
the characteristics of the type of boil
er which exploded-the lap-seam boil
er. They corroborated each other in
all essential points, chief of which
was the liability of the development
of cracks in the lap-seam and of the
impossibility of discovering it by any
known test.
The last four witnesses testified as
to the condition of the engineer on
the morning of the explosion, and as
to the amount of steam pressure in
the boiler as shown by the indicator,
few minutes before the explosion.
Then it was that the district attor-
ney, addressing the court, said he
could find no evidence by which to
fix criminal responsibility on any per-
son.
The inquest was held before Judge
Fred NJ. Bixby of the Brockton police
court. The 25 witnesses, and the
members of the firm and the counsel
for the various interests involved,
composed the audience which occu
pied part of the seats in the spacious
court room. The general public was
not admitted, and so widely published
was the fact that the public would
not be admitted that none tried to get
in
Mr.. French directed the inquiry to
the following points: The history of
the boiler, its appliances, the extent
of its use and its inspection and re-
pairs, the details of the last inspec-
ton and what report was made there
on: the amount of pressure on the
boiler just previous to the explosion
and its condition as to water.
The boiler was not one Of those
which are regularly inspected by men
of the state police department, as un-
der the statutes the district inspec-
tors are not required to examine a
boilI,' which Is insured.