The Washington times., 1905-06-23
SUSPICION POINTS
TO BOY AND A MAN
AS TRAIN WRECKERS
Inquest Over FIier's S
Victims to Be Held
Monday.
ALL PRECAUTIONS TAKEN
Railroad Orders Guard to
Watch Switches-Con-
ductor's Bravery.
ALL PRECAUTIONS TAKEN

CLEVELAND, Ohio, June 23-There
is some circumstantial evidence that a
boy was the cause cf the wreck of the
Lake Shore Twentieth Century Limited
train at Mentor Wednesday night
William Usher and James Barnes, of
Willoughby, while on the way to the
wreck twenty minutes after it occurred
met boy carrying a lantern. They
asked him where he had been.
Il was down to shut the SWITCH the
lad answered. walking on.
Further questions were asked The
boy called back answers which were
not understood. After some hesits ton
the men went Oh to the wreck
Boast Of a Boy.
III. S. Storrs, general superintendent of
the Lake Shore, says he heard that a
Mentor lad had been telling boys that
1t was easy 10 open q switch and had
shown a key with which it was said
he had declared he could do it. The
suppositicn is that the boy with the key
and the boy with the lantern were the
same
rigid investigation of the two tales
viii be made by the Lake Shore officials.
A score of detectives ARE now at work
General Superintendent StorrS said a
certain man is also under suspicion of
having caused the wreck. It is believed
he had motive.
Detectives are on the case Arrests
may be made al any time
Storrs denies that Engineer Tyler put
on emergency brakes q half mile back
of the wreck. He says sand showed he
discovered danger onlv d hundred feet
away from the switch.
Inquest on Monday.
The State railway commissioner. j. C.
Morris. and the coroners of Cuyahoga
and Lake counties will try to find the
cause OF the disaster and fix the blame
An inquest on the deaths OF the nine
men whose lives went out at the scene
OF the wreck VIII begin Monday. at
Painesvil1e conducted by Coroner H E.
York, Of Lake county. The following
day Coroner Siegelsten, of Cuyahoga
county, will inquire into the deaths of
wreck victims which took place in
Cleveland hospitals.
Among the witnesses to be called by
the coroners at the inquest will be pas
sengers who survived, Lake Shore Of
Tciais, and train men.
Precaution Divested.
Extraordinary precautions will be
taken By Lake Shore officials to prevent
a repetition of the horror. Orders were
issued today that at all facing
switches in this vicinity guard must
be stationed twenty minutes before the
Gier is due
This order will be In effect at least
until the mystery as to the cause of
the Mentor wreck is cleared and the
guilty one--if there be such a person-is
apprehended.
Charles l.. Pack. of Cleveland, one of
two survivors of the entire party that
boarded the train at Cleveland. is of
the opinion that more lives would have
been lost but for the courage of En-
Glneer Tyler.
Fiier Applied Air Brakes.
THE speed of the train was greatly
slackened in the few seconds before the
crash came, said he. indicating tnat
Engineer Tyler had seen the peril and
had done all he could 10 minimize the
disaster.
But for the sudden and heavy appli-
cation of the airbrakes ! am satisfied
that all the cars would have been shat
tered and piled in hea~ in which event
the death list would have been multi
piled"
buffet car, in which all the loss of life
occurred.