East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-09-10

| trans-continental line:
On the morning Of the 18th of Au-
| gust, three days after the Milan
wreck, all members of the commits
sion and A. w. Perley, inspector of
tracks and afety appliances in the
employ of the commission, visited the
scene of the wreck and proceeded to
! examine the grounds and surround
ings at the track, and the track at
! considerable distance on either side
thereof.
on the 18th day OF August Mr..
! I.ovelace, engineer in charge of the
wrecked train, was examined, as was
also Mr.. Perley. Mr.. Lovelace testi-
! fled that ne YVES unable to attribute
any cause for the wreck other than
an unaccountable spreading of the
rails Some "a passengers suffered
! injuries more or less severe, but no
fatalities resulted.
All witnesses, passengers and crew
alike, testified that the train at the
| time of the accident was running at
a comparatively low rate of speed,
| probably 20 to 25 miles an hour. The
| testimony of William Gunten and ].
Z. Hurley, men in charge of the track
/ repairing, showed that at the point
I where the rails first spread and
where the wheels of the engine left
the rail as aforesaid, several new ties
had been inserted under the rail that
| spread or turned about three days be-
fore the accident.
At the point CT the wreck several
new ties We're on the side of the road
bed broken and splintered showing
plainly that they had been through
the wreck. Mr.. Perley testified that
many evidences of ties having been
removed and replaced by NV ties.
where the track had not been raised
or the old ties retamped or the track
surfaced, the new ties having been
placed in the bed Of the old removed
ties and tamped At the edges.
New Ties Iu-1rOpcriy Placed.
The evidence further disclosed that
there had been a very heavy rain
storm in the vicinity of the wreck
between the time Of placing the new
ties under the rail which first spread
or turned and the time of the wreck
Mr.. Perlcy testified that IN his
judgment, based upon a careful ex-
animation both of the scene of the
wreck and the condition of the track
on either si7e thereof, and a consid-
Grafton of al the evidence, the spread
ing or turning of the rails causing the
derailment was due to TIE fact that
/ s,l,
were improperly placed in thar the
track was not raised and surfaced nor
the old ties change from their then
he'd, and the heavy raias coming on
Immediately had washed the tamping
from under the new ties, allowing
them to settle and be of no support,
and the old and remaining ties were
insufficient to hold the rail in place
under the heavy strain placed upon
1t.
Mr.. Perley's testimony shows that
he called the attention of the district
roadmaster of the Great Northern to
the manner in which new ties had
been placed, without the track being
properly raised or surfaced, and in
formed him of his theory of the rails
turning or spreading.
The commission found that the
track in the vicinity of the wreck was
not in proper state of efficiency.
A greater proportion of defective ties
were found than should exist From
the evidence the commission finds
that during the years 1905-6 suffi-
cient renewals of ties were not made
to retain the roadbed in such state
of efficiency as should exist on a
transcontinental road operating the
heavy equipment used by the Great
Northern railway.
This condition applies not only to
the section where the wreck occur
red, but to other portions of the
company's line in this state. Mr..
Perly found the track defective and
below the proper efficient state on his
examination particularly in the vicin-
ity of Leavenworth, and the COM
pany's attention was directed there
to. During the present year, however,
the company has made much greater
efforts to improve its track and road
bed. Extra crews were at once
placed on the line near Leavenworth.
to which the company's attention was
directed. and repairs made.
On the particular section where the
wreck occurred, consisting of six
miles, more than 1000 new ties had
been distributed prior to the wreck,
and an extra gang of 81 men were
then employed in repairing, improv-
ing and surfacing the track and road
bed, and bringing the same to a state
of higher efficiency, and the work
on this section would have been COM
pleted in few days from the time
of the wreck
Equipment Is Now Heavier.
The evidence disclosed at this hear
ing that since the construction of the
Great Northern the equipment of the
Great Northern and such foreign
equipment as II uses have been ma
terially increased, both In weight and
carrying capacity, and consequently
the track is subject to much great
er strain than at the time of It's con-