Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-05
TIE (oRonG:b jury
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lAFSttneDl Oh OF Improvement III It's std
tons station houses or landings. or any
change in the mode of operating its road
or Transportation line. or in conducting
Its business. which said corporation COM
mission deems reasonable and expedient in
order to promote the security. convenience
and accommodation of the public, such
company shall, in the discretion of the
commission be fined not less than 500 nor
more than $1,000
In commenting further upon the law In
the case, Mr.. Mackey said: The corpora
ton commission also has many other pow
ers pf forcing the railroads to comply with
the law regarding the safety of travelling.
and has power to revoke the charter Of the
corporation or suspend the charter
When asked whether an extra term of the
grand jury might be called to consider the
question NJ returning indictment based
upon the verdict of the coroner's Jury the
commemorative attorney said that the sec
ton OF the statutes already quoted made 1t
necessary for the presiding Judge to convene
Special term of court before there could
come together grand jury in special term.
The Railroads Side
The company's side Of the story as re-
lated by Vice President F. b. Hubbell
who also acts as general manager is gen.
orally to the effect that the system of oper-
utloh vi IT'S iOilIllS SlpNh IS lullS 'iutiudtc'
Mr. Hubben declared today that the fact
that no accidents had occurred in all the
company's history was one of the strongest
arguments to the efficacy of the :;ystem.
A meeting of the officers will be held at
the COmpany's offices in Georgetown this
may he suggested a that time will be
carried before the board of directors at a
jpecial meeting of that body to be held in
he near future
'All the stories that have been extant
during the excitement of the past few
lays" said Mr. Hubbell today seem to
be based upon lack of understanding
of the company and Its methods. 1t has
been said that the car which was WI ecked
on Wednesday was old and rotten. The
car itself is in our shops. and it offers
the best proof to refute this tale. Again
II has been said the brakes were poor
The brakes on that car were of the Pea
cock make. which is generally regarded
by railroad men as one of the best nand-
brakes manufactured.
There are many sides to an accident
such that of last Wednesday. but the
two principal points that occur TO me are
whether the signaling system was calcu-
whether the company. besides being
financially liable for the injuries received
by its patrons. should be held crlminally
negligent as indicated in the report by
the corOnerS jury yesterday.
Getting Passengers Names
The number of passengers carried on
the Inflated car has been variously and
wildly estimated to have been as high as
100 persons. The report turned in by our
conductor shows that there were exactly
fortytwo persons, and this is corroborated
by the number of tickets which were
turned in with the conductors statement.
We have the names of forty of the persons.
and Will probably have the other two be-
fore nightfall We are also keeping in
close touch with all of the injured. and we
are deeply gratitied to learn this morning
that all Of those still under surgical treat
mert Will probably recover"
Referring especially to the signal system
In vogue the line of the w. A and F. c.
railroad. Mr.. Hubbeil denied that the So
called 'Snger code is used, or is in any
way recognized as an adjunct to the sys-
tenn by the officials.
The conductors or motormen may have
fallen into the habit of raising one or two
fingers TO Indicate that one or two more
sections We're following them" Mr.. Hub
bell said. but that was scheme for which
they alone were responsible We maintain
a telephone system between stations on the
road and the plan OF having the operators
transmit instructions verbally to the crews
OF cars has been found very satisfactory.
The principal fault 10 my mind would
seem 10 be that in case of an accident there
would be no method of proving that orders
had been given In case the responsible
crew might choose to make denial
In the accident OF Wednesday however
the motorman and conductor charged with
the duty of transmitting orders to the city
bound crew have admitted that they forgot
20 give the order respecting the work train
and this should offer all indication Access
Sdry that the system was not at fault but
that the human agency, which must enter
into the operation of every railroad some
where, demonstrated it's fallibilty
Crack and Morgan admitted they had re-
celved instructions from Superintendent
Garrett. but they clearly forgot to notify
William Mock motorman of the wrecked
tram. that they were followed by the work
train. In this case the company is not CON
fronted with the necessity of proving that
orders relating To the safety of Mock's car
were issued nut II may be considered bet
ter policy in the future to have all such or
ders issued in written form and thus furnish
check TO the company upon It's men,
"A report from the Georgetown University
hospital today states that all of the wreck
victims who were taken there from ,hs
scene OF the ACCIDENT are improving and are
DONG as well as can be expected
Mr. T. j. Taylor of the Treasury De,ort
Ineiit, one or the victims. is at his home n,
rams church. Va. and is reported 10 be i'm,
proving. " D an
No Written Orders.
The evidence presented to the iurv ,a.
terday afternoon. although largely that q,
railroad men connected with the svstar
under investigation, was a severe arraign.
nent OF the methods of operating the cars
over The line where the wreck occurred
The evidence showed that there were n,
written orders issued for the running o.
cars. there were no telegraph or telephon,
signals used in that connection. and that
although telephone system was main
tanned over the line several important juno
ton and passing points were not equipped
o. with the service. Cars were run the eyi
dehce showed. on verbal Instructions giver
by Supt. Garrett TO various employees some
times TO motorman, sometimes to a con
ductor and sometimes TO a motorman of ,
third train. and the safety OF operation de
pended on the memory of an employe &C
lively engaged in other duties
The jury was composed of +. w. Graham
foreman: j. Kennedy Campbell and Arthur
J. Porter OF Ballston. and William Ball
A L. Martens and William H Suite O
Clarendon. Commonwealth Attorney Gran
daI Mackey conducted the examination o
the witnesses. and they were further cues
toned by Attorneys r. c. L. Moncure. w
u. collins and G. W. Garner, who repre-