Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1907-08-17

66 was in the block No. 2120, operat-
ed by the four men, approached Ia
koma while the station was in opera.
ton and the operator displayed a red
light, indicating that the block was
not free and was INSTRUCTED by an
other train. all Of which was an i'm
perative direction to the crew of No.
21zo to stop
Because Of their alleged neglect OF
duty, resulting in the death of the
wreck victims, another section of the
indictment deals specifically with each
one Of the defendants and fastens
upon each of them the charge of GRIM
inal responsibility. Substantially each
Is charged with ~"neg1ecting his duty,
unlawfully and feloniously emitting to
carefully watch for and see the red
light displayed at the station"
BY can of the collision caused
and occasioned by the alleged negli-
gence of the four men, it is further
charged that they "unlawfully and fel.
cniously made an assault and to him,
Theodore l. King, did give and cause
to be given divers mortal wounds, etc,
from which he instantly died. And, so
the grand jurors, upon their oaths, do
say that Henry II. Hildebrand, Ira c..
Mcclellan, Frank F. Hoffmeier, and
Ralph Rutter, him, the said Theodore
|. King, in name and form aforesaid.
did kill and Stay against the form of
the statute" &c.
Crime Is Set Forth.
The crime of ma~nslaughter is also
set forth fully in the second count, ia
addition to enumerating the charges of
neglect of duty in disregarding the sig
nails, it is charged that the train was
"recklessly handled by the crew, be-
ing operated at the rate of fifty miles
an hour through a dense fog. The fact
that train No. 66 was a regular, accus-
toned to make many stops, it is stat
ed, should have influenced the crew of
No. 2120 to proceed with caution, but
this they neglected to do.
The disaster at Terra Gotta was not
only one of the worst in he history OF
the city, but also one of the most hor-
rible Of railroad catastrophes. The
dead-head equipment train No. 2120, in
charge of the men just indicted, plow-
ed through a dense fog and telescoped
No. sc, with hundreds of passengers
returning from pleasure outings in
Maryland. The accident occurred at
6 o'clock, Sunday evening, December
80, 1906. Most of the number who
died were killed instantly, while 9th
ers fingered for a few hours in hos
pitfalls and elsewhere.
Made Many recommendations.
The coroner's jury, which was in
session three days probing the causes
leading to the disaster, in addition to
holding eight employees of the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad as being either
directly or indirectly responsible,
criticised the manual block system OPP
Grated on the Metropolitan branch of
the road. 1t found that the low wages
paid to many of the employees of the
company was responsible for much of
the incompetency that existed. 1t also
made recommendations which, if
adopted, would better conserve to the
safety and rights of passengers, in
GLIDING more rigid inspection of time
pieces and a uniform compulsory rule
for the comparison by trainmen a1d
others charged with the duty of oper-
aing trains of their watches with
clocks designated as standard time.
The jury also urged that the practice
of closing signal towers at night be
abolished and the twenty-four hour
| day be established.
The findings of the coroner's jury
had a %far-reaching effect in r~emedying
existing evils, and formed the basis
for a thorough campaign of inspection
and investigation by the Interstate
| Commerce commission.
Claims for 100000 Filled.
As a result of the wreck, claims for
about $4,000 were filed against the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Many of
the cases were settled out of court.
The sum thus far spent is estimated at
over $500, 900. Seven suits are now
pending in the District supreme court,
in which claimants ask S175, 600 dam
ages. A total of twenty suits were
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