Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-28
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In the verdict of the coroners Jury
yesterday which concluded the inquest
on the death of E. H. Shirley, fatally
injured in the wreck on the Redondc
line, August 13, caustic comment was
made upon the methods employed by
Coroner Trout, upon alleged dilatory
action upon the part of the district at
torney, and the Los Angeles -Redondo
Railway company came in for it's full
share of blame.
The conorer was censured for re-
peating an alleged blunder when he
allowed Conductor A. L. Smith of the
Pacific Electric company to escape
shortly after the terrible wreck at
Oneonta park and then took no meas
ures to insure the appearance of Con-
ductor e. B. Witty of the Redondo line,
although the verdict of the jury was
considered a foregone conclusion in
view of the facts.
The district attorney was blamed for
not taking steps to place Conductor
Witty in custody to prevent his flee
ing before the coroners jury brought
In its verdict. Above all, the text of
the verdict reflected upon the officials
of the street car company in more Sc
we're terms than at any previous in
quest held in this city where an at
tempt was made to fix the responsible
1ty for street car accident which re-
suited in the loss of life
Coroner Trout stated that he regret
ted as much as any one that the con-
ductor had been allowed to escape,
both in the case of the Oneonta park
disaster and the wreck on the Redondo
line. He intimated that action should
have been taken by the district at
torney's office, inasmuch as a repre-
sentative of the office was present at
the first session of the coroner's jury
District Attorney Fredericks made
the following statement yesterday af-
ternoon:
After Judge David Allen reported
the trend of the Redondo wreck in
quest we thought it best to issue a
complaint charging Conductor e. B..
Witty with manslaughter. The part
ner of E. H. Shirley was notified to
come to our office to swear to the COM
plant but no one has appeared to date
to swear to the complaint and it has
lain in pigeonhole ever since. I am
sorry that the man has escaped, but I
do not believe our office was remiss
in the affair."
Officials of the railway company alb
solutely declined to discuss the verdict
of the coroner's Jury which practically
makes the Officers of the road GRIMM
ally negligent in the employing of in
competent men and laying the bur-
den of the death of E. H. Shirley upon
the company itself.
The inquest was held at the under
taking establishment Of Bresee Bros.
beginning at o'clock The personnel
of the jury called for comment from
many of the spectators.
1t was as follows: F. M. Coulter of
the Coulter Dry Goods company, fore
man; H. Darling of Barker Bros, J.
o. Smith of Lyon Mckinney Smith
company, w. G. Weir, ]. F. Salyer of
the Bartlett Music company and D. M.
Sutherland, merchant tailor.
Motorman E. Mckenzie appeared as
the first witness. He was on crutches
and apparently suffered considerable
pain. He said he was a new man on
that run, having worked only one day,
and was not familiar with the time
schedule system in vogue on the sin
gle track system.
He said he saw his conductor open
the telephone box at the Figueroa
street switch and then signal to him to
go ahead. Mckenzie said when he
saw the other car bearing down upon
him around the curve he remained at
his post and did not jump until at the
of the impact.
In behalf of the street car company
Manager Charles H. Burnett asked
that several old employees be called to
testify. They gave glib testimony
about the rules but failed to enlighten
the jury how their personal knowledge
availed green men who apparently
trusted to luck to make the next sid
ing without meeting a south-b bound
car.
When Coroner Trout announced that
Conductor Witty was missing, al
though the officials of the company
had agreed to produce him in court
there was an evident buzz of disap-
probation among the members of the
jury.
No one could be found to throw any
light on his whereabouts and after
hearing a few unimportant witnesses
the jury retired and returned with the
verdict that astonished the railway
officials as we'll as Coroner Trout.
Although I do not believe either of
those missing conductors will be
brought to justice" said a prominent
business man who sat upon the Jury,
"at the same time the sense of the
people at large is, believe, represent
ed by the verdict In the east / am
told a motorman is at once arrested