Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-21
UNDER INVESTIGATION
BRoTHERHooD's INQUIRY RE-
aARDINa ENGINEERS DEATH.

Some dissatisfaction IL being expressed
regarding the action Of the police at Mary
land avenue and 9Th street the night OF the
18th Of this month, when an engine over
turned and caused the death Of Hugh Muir
ply, the engineer. Members Of the Broth
erhood of Locomotive Engineers, Of which
organization Murphy was a member, have
heard complaints against some OF the po-
licemen, and Harry Sparks, a member OF
the organization, has been appointed to
make an investigation. He Is obtaining
statements from persons who were at the
scene Of the accident and, 1t is stated, It
is likely the investigation will result IN
charges being preferred against Capt. Ma
thews, the commanding officer OF the fourtn
precinct. A member Of the Brotherhood 0!
Locomotive Engineers, who was present az
the time the accident occurred, was seen py
a Star reporter this morning, but oecnneo
to make any statement for publication.
Sparks" he said, land / feel that l have
no right to make it public at this time"
Capt. Mathews Statement.
Railroad men. Capt. Mathews stated,
tried to lift the engine from the dying man,
and while some Of the railroad officials
stated that such attempts were useless
made to stop them.
''They thought they might be able to- re-
Meve the engineer" said Capt Mathews
land We let them go ahead, but 1t did pc
come necessary later to keep some OF them
back In order that the dying engineer
might get some air.
Capt. Mathews denies that there is any
truth in the report that he prevented any
Of the men from using wet blanket.
When the task Of taking the statements
of witnesses has been completed, 1t Is De-
Meved, formal charges will be filed against
Capt. Mathews and possibly against others
connected with the police department. MAJ
Sylvester said this morning that ne had
heard nothing Of the intention OF the or
ganization to prefer such charges He SAID
he knew of the incident in which Capt
Dixon and Capt. Mathews had figured, put
+ that in his judgment it did not amount 10
anything.
Friction Between Departments.
The night the accident occurred, it is
said, there was some friction between the
police and fire departments, Capt Mathews
of the former department and Capt. Dixon,
commander of Truck c company, being the
participants, but before the members of the
two departments left the scene Of the ac-
cident, it is stated, they reached an AMIGA
Bile understanding 1t appears that Capt.
Dixon who was without hat or coat, was
pushed back by Capt. Mathews, and he
objected to the treatment accorded him,
but when it was explained that the police
captain had no reason to know he was a
| fireman no more thought was given the
affair.
In conversation with a Star reporter this
morning Capt. Mathews told Of the trouble
encountered by his men in their efforts to
| keep back the crowd for the purpose OF
| giving the dying man as much air as posi-
| Bile. There were many railroad men In
| the crowd, he stated, and majority OF
them may have carried lanterns. When
| these men were asked to step back they
invariably responded that they were rail-
road men, seeming to think that their en-
ployment gave them the right to be In
! front When Capt. Dixon came along carry
| ing a lantern there was nothing about him
| to indicate that he was other than rail-
| road man and he was pushed back.