Omaha daily bee., 1906-07-07
BLAME FOR TRAGEDY
0nus Of Disaster Placed on Street Railway
and Manawa Amusement Company.
c0R0NER'S JURY FIXES RESPONSIBILITY
Decides Through Owners Negligence Six
People Lost Their Lives,
NO WARRANTS FOR ARREST ISSUED
Question Of Jurisdiction Stands in Way Of
Further Action.
} WARRANTS FOR ARREST ISSUED
IOWA AND NEBRASKA BOTH INVOLVED
Aside from Verdict Of Council RIuHs
Jury Inquest L. Held bs
the Sarpy County
Coroner.

Coroner.
At an nquisitlon holden at Council
Buns, IN pUttawattamie county, on tus
hith and sixth days OF july. a. D.. 1895,
before Y. l.. Treynor, coroner of tne saId
county, upon the body OF Mary west ami
Olhers, there lying dead, by the jurors
whose names are hereto subscribed, and
sald JURORS, upon their oath, do say that
the deceased came TO their deaths by
drowning In LaSo Manawa on the ~, ght oi
July 1, 1906 following their precipitation
INTO the water of said lake By The COLI
lapse OF the floor or platform at tho Kur-
/ saal upon which the deceased ana others
were standing.
We furthef find that the said platform
! was carolcssly and ncgligenuy tul,-
| structed and was not built strongly
enough to support the weight of The peo-
PIE VINO f,rtbr SGuid snS ana d,a gather upon II,
did not have sufficient force Of en-
ployes TO manage and properly safe
! present at the Kursaai at the time OF
/ the accident.
! We further find that the MANAGEMENT
/ did not have in attendance any person
! or persons of sufficient skill and knowl-
edge to give proper aid to drowning per-
sons.
/ We further find that the Omaha & Com
! Gil Bluffs Street Railway company and
the Lake Manawa Amusement company
| the deceased met their deaths by reason
| OF such negligence.
! The jury empaneled by Coroner Arm
/ strong of Sarpy county, Nebraska, failed
| to arrive at verdict. Two OF the Jury
| declined to join in a verdict condemninB
/ either the street railway company or the
| amusement company operating the resort,
while the other members were as decided
! In returning a verdict holding both of them
! he would summon another jury and resume
! the inquest early next week
| The above is the fun text of the verdict
| rendered by the coroners jury at the In
quest held Friday in Council Bluffs by
Or. v. L. Treynor, coroner OF Pottawatta-
mie- county. Iowa, over Mary West of that
| city and the other Ave victims of the dis
aster at the Kursaal, Lake Manaws, on
the Fourth of July.
The Jurors were Divide Wen c. c. Cliff
ton and A. M. Hutchinson, all Of Council
Bluffs.
Attorney C,1M. Harl of the legal Arm
of Harl 4 nley represented the street
railway company and the Manawa Amuse-
rpent company while the state OF Iowa
was represented by Attorney Dillon Rosy.
assistant county attorney OF Pottawatta-
me county. A. l.. Werrick of Omaha
took shorthand notes OF the testimony at
the instance of Mayor Dahlman of
Omaha Two local stenographers did the
luI All1 oNlNNL ihllNoS NoHlP0hS ahh
the county authorities,
The testimony of Chris Jensen, promi-
nent Council Bluffs contractor, was that
the construction and design OF that part
of the Kursaal which broke was faulty.
The inquest was held at Cutters under
taking establishment
Ten witnesses Examined.
Ten witnesses were examined, the only
expert testimony being that of Mr. Jeu-
sen, who testified 10 that part OF the
Kursaal which collapsed. lie declared ths
platform faulty I'm construction and design
and said the joists which supported the
platform were not placed on top Of the
girders but simply placed end up and
nailed. In his opinion It was a miracle
that the pls tform had not given way be-
fore. as 1t was not in any way constructed
to hear the weight that it evidently was
intended for
; r. c. Brown. deputy game and nsh
warden, Tom Kendall. Reed Hsnchet and
} l. Won Gorliis testified in a general way
regarding the collapse, scrambling OF the
, | victims and the rescue work.
, Other witnesses were Albert Heaston d.
b. Dentler, +. p. Gooden. Samuel Dohson
and d. p Cowles. Dentler and Heaston
are employees OF the Manawa Amusement
company at the Kursaal. The testimony
of the former was not OF Importance, but
Heaston testified that he had been en-
ployed at the Kursaal ever since it was
constructed and had never known Of any
repairs or any inspection Of the structure
being made.
No Arrests Yet MADE.
Owing to the jurisdiction OF the Iowa au-
: thorities over that portion OF Lake ManawA
in which the KursGal is located being in
dispute. both Coroner TTeynor ana As
sistant County Attorney Ross declined 10
order warrants issued for the arrest OF
any OF the management OF the lake resort
on charges OF criminal negligence imputed
; by the coroner's jury.
The verdict was returned about 3 o'clock
; yesterday afternoon, the jury having gons
out at 1890 At p. m. Coroner Armstrong
OF sarpy county, Nebraska, began an In.
quest.
The list Of dead remains At six No more
bodies have been found, though the search
has been continued. Yesterday three OF
the victims were buried and others will be
laid at rest today.
In Omaha, South Omaha and Council
BLUFFS the feeling is pronounced In favor OF
thorough action in this terrible calamity
, that will tend TO guard against a repetition
OF the disaster Manawa and it's attrae.
. tions are denied to the public for the pres.
ent.
, saFpy County Inquest
The inquest held yesterday afternoon a,
the Kursaal by Coroner r. V. Armstronr
OF ssrpy county, NebraSka, over the victim,
. Of the Fourth OF July disaster at Lake
n Manawa failed OF results. as the jury
Z; could not agree on a verdict. It was stated
! that two members OF the jury declined to
- agree on any verdict which would throw
], the responsibility for the catastrophe on
either the street railway company or the
= Manawa Amusement company. while tbs
remaining members we're equally de-
. termined that both corporations should b
= held responsible
When was found that the jury could
. not agree on a verdict Coroner Armstronq
n announced that he would empanel anothel
jury and hold another inquest the 6rst
part OF next week at Papillion. the count,
; seat of sarpy county The jury ate,
being smpaneled viii be taken 10 LAX,
ManAwS to view the scene Of the disastsE