The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-05-25
TIE JURY'S vBKDIUT.
Pcnna Railroad Company Exoneraiod From
iny Blame for Disaster.

The coroner's jury returned a YER
dict exorerating the Penua Rail
road Company from any blame for
the disastrous wreck at South
Harrisburg, in which twenty-five
lives were lost and more than one
hundred were injured.
Following is the jury's verdict:
1--WE find as fact that the rail.
road company and its employees
were not guilty of any negligence
by reason of which the accident oc-
curred that, from the testimony,
the rules of the company with re-
gard to the tagging Of trains and
the stoppage of trains were strictly
observed, and the company and its
employees are to be commended for
their actions after the accident in
taking care of the wounded and
distressed; that the cause of the
accident was the result of applying
the air brakes TO the freight train
in order to stop it so that it would
not collide with the shifting engine
and train which were on the east
bound freight tracks on which
engine No. 2,I88, together with its
train and crew, was going east
ward on the morning of the acci-
dent; the shifting crew, with its
train, was properly on this track,
and the crew of this train were per-
forming the duties, and, so far a.
the jury can learn, were guilty of
no negligence on their part; the
train was standing on the same
track on which the train drawn by
engine No. 2,ISS was going east
ward; that, by reason of applying
the air on the freight train, two
cars of said freight train, Nos. IS
and SO from the engine No. 2,ISS,
the car No. SO being loaded with
twenty thousand pounds of Rock
Chief blasting powder, commonly
known as Judson powder, which
according to the testimony before
us, is low grade explosive, con-
signed to H. S. Kerbaugh & Co.,
at Columbia, Pa, and car No. IS
being loaded with steel billets, were
thrown from the freight track over
on to the west bound passenger
track of the said company.
Just at this time, the passenger
train, whose wreck caused the death
of the aforesaid people, known as
second No. I9, and also as the
Cleveland and Cincinnati Express,
was going westward, and ran into
the two derailed freight cars. and
the fire from the engine Of the pas
senger train, SO far as the jury can
ascertain, set fire to the powder and
caused terrible explosion. which,
together with fire which came from
some other unknown source, burn
ed all passenger coaches, including
the Pullman cars.
Under the evidence submitted to
us it would have been impossible
for any human agency to have stopp-
ed the passenger train on its west
ward way from running into the
freight cars, because it was due just
at that time, and every effort was
made to flag all trains in both di-
rections from the wreck as soon as
any of the employees knew anything
was wrong.
From the evidences submitted to
the jury we find that the freight
train drawn by engine No. 2ISS
consisted of o8 cars, the first "a
cars from the engine were cars
whose brakes were controlled with
the air system of the Pennsylvania
railroad and the rear "a cars of the
train had nothing but the hand
brakes to control, so that the two
cars that were thrown from the
track over on the west bound pas
senger track were the first two cars
not controlled by the air brakes.
The jury has been informed that
the law of Congress requires that
railroad trains be equipped in this
way, fifty per cent. of air brakes on
all freight trains, aud it was in COM
pliance with this law that the freight
train drawn by engine Nc. 2IS8
was made up
The terrible results of this acci-
dent and the frequency with which
similar accidents have been occurr-
ing throughout the country, we
sincerely hope will lead the proper
authorities to a careful investiga-
ton as to the proper method OF
regulating brakes on freight cars. "
@ IL