Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-29
SAY THERE WAS
OIL ON TRACKS
WITNESSES so TESTIFY IN
: HARRIS CASE
Eagle Rock Motorman Charged with
MansIauehter viii Take the
Stand in His Own Behalf
Monday

Monday
The preliminary hearing of John Harris
charged with manslaughter was con-
tinued before Justice Stephens YESTERDAY:
Harris was the motorman In charge OF
the Eagle Rock car which was deralie9
and overturned June g. killing TWO anu
injuring q score of the passengers;
DR. r. p. IIilliker testified that ne was
passing in his automobile at the time OF
the accident, and said that in his opinion
the car was travelling at the rate OF
thirty miles an hour. He based ms
opinion from his experience with the
speed9meter ts on his maehine renipe ana down @
Central avenue at the rate of eighteen OF
twenty miles when ne first saw the car
two blocks from the curve; ,r,,,,.
acknowledged that he was unable to estl-
mate the speed of the car as 1t left the
track, but he thought it had been con-
siderably reduced.
Mrs. Gertrude Myers, a passenger on
the car who was injured in the wreck
testified that she had heard the motor,
man tell her son, that he was late ana
was going to make up time. On cross
examination her story was unshaken and
in spite of Attorney Allender's objections
the testimony was admitted.
. Car Travelled Fast
G. X. Kingdom, assistant teller of the
First National bank, also passenger on
the car, testified that the car was golng
at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an
hour and that less than five minutes
were required to make the trip from
Eagle Rock station to the curve whele
the accident occurred, distance OF
nearly mile On ross-examination ne
was sure the trip was not longer than
five minutes, and perhaps much less,
We'll, now much icss?" asked Attorney
Allender.
After gazing at the rear of the court
room moment as if trying to collect
his thoughts, the witness replied that IL
might not have been more than three
instantly the counsel for defense was
on his feet. "To whom have you talked
about what you should say mere TO-DAY
he asked.
"Well, a moment ago you said 1lVe
minutes, and then after looking at some
one back there you say three minutes.
Who was it that prompted you?'
The question was ruled out on objec-
ton of Deputy District Attorney Nc
"Well, then. at whom did you look be-
fore you answered my question: per-
sisted Attorney Allender.
"You will have to modify that ques-
ton" remarked Justice Stephens. In its
present form it assumes that the witness
did look at some one. The witness may
answer the question If he did look at any
particular person, but if not he may
Kingdom stoutly denied that any one
had prompted him, and averred that he
did not know a single person in the room.
Testimony Is Corroborated
His testimony was corroborated by his
brother. in-law, W. E. Potter. also
passenger on the car.
Because none of the preceding witnesses
had been able to identify the defendant
as being the motorman on the wrecked
| car, j. S. Weber, foreman of the Eagle
| Rock division was called to TESTIFY tnat
he had assigned Harris to that run that
day.
| Gwendolne Burroughs, who was in
stahty killed in the accident, told of the
trip down the hill and of digging away
the dirt with his hands to eXtricate Miss
Burroughs head from under the car, hav-
ing been unable to procure lever to pry
the car up. He declared that the car
was going at the rate of thirty miles an
hour, and on cross-eXamination he in
sisted that he was able to judge the
speed, having been a fireman on the
Southern Pacific railway for two years.
AS an experienced railroad man, he was
sure he had not felt the car go over any
distractions, such as dirt or stones on
the track, as claimed by the defense.
Here the state rested its case, and w.
H. Dudley was called as the first witness
for the defense
Mr.. Dudley had had thirty years ex-
fore retiring in 1890. He had inspected
the curve where the accident occurred a
few days afterward and was of the
opinion that there was was not elevation vat on
the tangent there was about three inches
elevation, but about a third of the way
around, or at the very place the car is
supposed to have left the rails, it had
diminished to a fraction over an inch.
He had found considerable oil on the
ground, but none on the rails.
Says Car Was Late
r. e. Palmer testified that he had been
relieved by Harris on the day of the dis
aster and as he remembered he was
several minutes late on arriving at the
barn.
Palmer had noticed nothing wrong with
the car and was sure the brakes had
worked satisfactorily on each of the
curve He remembered having some
trouble with oil on the rails some days
before, but not within several blocks of
the curve.
The witness refused to commit himself
as to there being a Clipped tlange on one
of the wheels at the front of the car, be-
cause the car was double-ended. and
either end might have been in front.
e. Haggerty, imotorman who had run
car on that division the day of the
wreck, was sure there was oil on the
track, even on top of the rails. In an
swer to question by the prosecuting
attorney as to how he knew it was OIL
the witness replied that he guessed he
knew the difference between oil and milk
He had been unable to sand the track to
keep the wheels from slipping, because he
could not run fast enough, and there was
no provision for so doing without getting
off the car.
Two railroad engineers testified that
car could not be stopped if there was oil
on the rails and that the car was abso-
lutely beyond the control of the motor
man.
The case will bee continued next Mon
daY The defendant will take the stand