Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-08
MOTORMAN SAYS
DIDN'T SEE AUTO
JURY Ex0NERATES STREET
CAR EMPL0YE
coroner's Inquest over Body of
Victim Of Sunday Nights Tragedy
Returns Verdict Of
Vindication

1T Is the verdict Of the jury that the
deceased, Mrs. Lulu Austin, came to
her death November 4 from fracture of
the skull from being thrown from an
automobile as the result of a collision
with trolley car of the Los Angeles
railway. We release the motorman
from all blame in the premises"
Such was the verdict Of tho coroner's
jury which held an inquest over the
body Of Mrs. Austin at Pierce Bros
morgue.
The above verdict is the sequel of the
terrible automobile accident of last
Sunday night. The party of four, two
men and two women, had been racing
all evening in the machine
On the return trip to the city they
were going up the hill between Concord
and Lorena street on First street.
There they collided with a Los Angeles
car and one of the party, Mrs. Austin,
was Instantly killed. The other woman,
Miss Policy, was also fatally hurt
The first witness to be called was
Mrs. Wayne Policy, a sister of Mrs.
Austin and mother Of Miss Policy, who
is momentarily expected to die at the
Good Samaritan hospital. Her testi-
mony showed nothing beyond the facts
that Mrs. Austin was a widow, 3S
years of age, born in Los Angeles
county, and that she was the proprie-
tress of rooming house in this city.
Motorman Didn't See Auto
G. e. Sampson, motorman of the car
which killed Mrs. Austin, was next
called to testify. and his statements
were that he was an experienced oper-
ator of an electric car, that on Sunday
night the car which he was running
collided with an automobile containing
four persons, on First street between
Concord and Lorena streets.
He also stated that he was running
his car on the left side of the street,
but that that was the general practice
among the motormen who ran cars on
that line after dark.
He said that he was running his car
at the rate of about twelve miles an
hour when he first saw the automobile
on the track and that he Immediately
threw the air brake to the emergency
notch, but that owing to the extreme
grade on First street at that point it
took him about a hundred yards to
get the car under control But that
he had struck the automobile before he
could stop the car. According to him,
the car was moving al a speed of about
six miles an hour when it struck the
motor, but that in spite of the low
speed at which it was moving, the
fifteen hundred pound auto was carried
a furrow through the solft sand nearly
a foot in depth.
Sampson also said that the downward
curve of the hill at that point is convex
and that the light from the headlight
of the car did not strike the automobile
until too late to avoid an accident.
Afraid Would Burn Fuse
The most peculiar statement made by
the motorman was that he did not re-
verse his car because he feared that he
would burn out the controller or the
fuse.
No testimony derogatory to the rail-
road company was introduced.
F. E. Kendall was next sworn. He
was the driver of the automobile at the
time of the accident. He said:
Il had attempted to go up the hill
on the high speed clutch, but as the
engine began to die, L changed to the
low speed clutch. The wheels revolved
in the sand and could not get any
grasp to propel the car forward. II
ran the machine backward and forward
a few times to get down to hard dirt
| was doing that when I heard some
one say there comes a car I imme-
diately said we are all right for the
car runs down on the other side, as
indeed it does in every other place in
town
Then L was occupied with making
the machine run and | paid no more
attention to the car until / looked up
and saw it right on us when shouted,
%, God and didn't know anything
more until L awoke lying on the
ground.
Car Running 30 Miles Per Hour
"As near as ! can tell the car was
running at the rate of about thirty
miles an hour when it struck us, for
the machine was dragged seventy feet
or more"
When asked by Coroner Trout
whether the party was intoxicated
Kendall denied that they were, but said
that they had all had some three or
four drinks of roadhouse whisky.
c. G. Davis, the other occupant of the
wrecked auto was next to testify, his
testimony varying little from that Of
Kendall
DR. Campbell the autopsy physician,
said that the deceased came to ner
death from fracture of the skull and
from internal hemorrhages. He also
stated that there were no indications
of the presence Of alcohol in the
stomach.
The only question Of moment that
was touched upon by the coroner's jury
is whether n street car company has
the right to run its cars on either track
in either direction.