Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-26

time. and the chauffeur sounded his horn,
and both he and | yelled to the boy to LOOK
out The boy had his back to our car ana
did not look around once.
Franklin Remington of New York was
called and he said he was sitting just BACK
of the chauffeur in the automobile. Tne
automobile was running quite slowly. ana
he caught only glimpse of the colored
boy
81 heard the horn sounded" he said and
both che chauffeur and footman yelleo
something. The next thing the machine
jolted and 1 knew from that that we had
run over the boy.
Policeman Greene on Stand.
Policeman Greene of the tenth precinct
said he stepped off the distance and found
the automobile had stopped forty-ive feet
or forty-eight feet from the spot the boy
was struck Marks on the paving showed
he said that the automobile skidded, as
though the brakes had been suddenly ap-
Piled.
Harry j. Lee of 1888 Columbia road tes-
tilted that he left the trolley car at the
front platform and the first sound he heard
was sort of squeak, as though the brakes
of the auto had been suddenly appned. nc
took warning at that and ran to the SIDE
walk and did not see the colored boy
until he was under the car.
II have ridden in an automobile great
deal and would say the Letter auto was
moving not faster than eight miles an
hour said George II. Van Kirk, the next
witness He said he could not tell from
his position whether the boy was struck
by the trolley car or by the auto -
Speaking of examination of the scene
afterward, witness said the boy was about
half way between the car tracks and the
sidewalk when he was struck.
Charles G. Dade, motOrman or the trolley
car said his car was just coming to a full
stop when he heard some one cry out and
Immediately afterward also heard a
crunching sound, though brakes had
been suddenly set, and then a thud. He
said he heard no sound of horn
Auto Sounded a. Warning.
Anderson ]. Mourning, who lives at the
corner of 14th street and Columbia road,
testified that he was standing at a bed
room window on the second floor Of his
home. when he saw an automobile which
moving at very ordinary rate OF
speed. brought suddenly to a stop AT the
same instant something which he at first
took to be a blanket or robe rolled In front
of the car and the wheels went over 1t.
After the car passed the bundle still lay
on the street." Mr.. Mourning continued,
land did not know boy had been killed
until after the crowd gathered" Witness
said he heard the automobile horn blow
warning before the accident.
Oliver Sears of 1876 Newton street said
ne saw nothing until the body of the boy
was being picked up, and he was not re-
CURED to give any further testimony.
Although he had not been subpoenaed as
a witness. Elmer King, boy residing In
Georgetown, came to the morgue and vol
unteered the statement that he saw the
whole affair. and he was placed on the
stand.
Il was right behind the automobile. riding
my bicycle" he said. II had been follow
ing hte big machine for about square or a
square and a half"
Asked whether he had any difficulty in
l.
and he estimated the speed Of the at
about six mile and hour.
"A trolley was just ahead King con-
tiuucd. and when it slowed up at the cor
ner of Columbia road a little colored boy
jumped off and started to run toward the
sidewalk. The chauffeur blew his horn and
yelled but the boy did not turn around
once and the automobile struck him.
Deputy Coroner r. w. Baker described an
autopsy he performed on the body, stating
that the skull of the colored boy was
crushcd-a wound that was necessarily
fatal.
The Chauffeur's Testimony.
Taking the stand to make his statement
Chauffeur Raymond said he was guiding
the Letter automobile up 14th street, pro-
ceedng at a rate of six to eight miles an
hour.
We were about twice the length of the
machine behind a trolley car" he said
road l threw on my brake l always do so
in such cases, because people getting off
cars often walk directly in front of an auto
mobile without looking for possible danger
] saw the colored boy jump from the trolley
before il came fully to a standsill and@I
blew my horn several times, and when he
still did not stop | applied both brakes as
hard as | could. AS soon as | struck the
boy | eaSed off the emergency brake, be-
cause il makes the rear wheels drag, and
! was afraid the boy would be dragged by
them and probably more severely injured.
Everything on my car was in good working
order and everything worked perfectly at
the time of the accident. / do not believe /
could have done more to avoid striking the
boy" Replying to a question Raymond
said he had seven years experience a
chauffeur and this was his first accident.
After the inquest Joseph Letter was asked
concerning the report that he and his moth
err proposed extending assistance to the
family of the colored boy.
Il do not care to go into particulars about
that, he said. 'Of course We will do some
thing"