The Washington herald., 1907-01-04

displayed. If it so appeared to him. con-
slider the station closed. and continue as
he did," was the final question.
I have nothing to do with running the
] trains myself. and cannot answer that
question" replied Mr.. McCauley.
RObey Expected No TaIS0ma Signal.
Still another point that is expected to
aid Engineer Hildebrand materially In
trying TO establish his claim that he had
no reason 10 expect any signal at Takoma
Park appeared during the examination Of
William C. Rebey, the assistant station
master on duty at the Washington termi-
nal station al the time Of the accident.
Mr.. Robey was telling the jury what he
did Sunday evening after hearing OF the
wreck.
Just before the wreck" stated Mr.. Ro-
/ hey, II had inquired Of the operator at
/ the depot regarding train &C. RE wired
/ University and was told that 66 had left
/ Silver Spring. and although more time
! than was necessary had elapsed. &c had
not arrived at University 1t was then
learned that 212O had also passed Silver
/ Spring. I knew that they were in the
same block, and was worried A few
minutes later ] was called 10 the phone
and found Baggageman Norris, of 2l2O on
the other end at Terra Gotta. Norris
/ told me that the wreck had occurred"
You say" interrupted the coroner
/ that the knowledge that 2120 and 66 We're
/ in the same block was received from Uni
versity and Silver Spring? Didn't you
have any communication with Takoma at
/ that time?"
No sir"
why not?"
1T was after 60 and Takoma was
/ closed, or supposed to be-
/ Then TakOma did not enter at all into
your calculations"
NO. sir; We never had anything to do
\ with Takoma after $50"
Cars Were Light.
Mr. Robey was questioned as to the
material of which the cars Of the wrecked
train were made. and finally said that
! two o fthe cars We're Of medium weight
/ and one car-the rear one-was Of light
/ construction.
Are not vestibule ears stronger"
/ asked the coroner.
| Yes, sir said Mi Robey.
/ When Operator Dutrow took the stand
he appeared nervous. and under the FIRE
Of questions became confused on several
/ occasions. For this reason a great deal
Of his testimony was not at all clear. but
the salient features concerning the al
legged display of The white light at his sta
tiou, Silver Spring and the message from
Takoma were clear enough.
Dutrow declared that his block signals
and levers were all In perfect order on
the night Of the accident. and showed by
his train or block sheet that he is in no
way responsible for the disaster.
Questioning as to the advisability Of let
ting 2l20 into the Takoma block so soon
under the weather conditions and the
fact that 2lo0 was moving so much faster
than 66 only served to emphasize the fact
that among trainmen. operators. and rail-
road officials of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad the block system is absolutely
relied upon. No possibility Of danger is
admitted so long as no two trains are in
the block on one track at the same time.
UphoIds Hudebrand.
Dutrow also corroborated Hildebrands
claim and the deductions drawn from 2l2Os
time record that 2120 was running at
twenty-five or thirty miles an hour only
when it passed Silver Spring DutrOW
was asked to explain just what the de
tails of his business were during the few
minutes prior To and after H20's arrival.
and it was in giving this explanation that
he became confused The official inves-
tigators' ignorance Of the details Of rail
reading made their questions more or less
complex and difficult for the Young oper-
ator to answer. and several times Mr.. Cal
loway. the general superintendent Of
transportation, who was examined Wed
nesday. was called in TO clear the tan
giles
Dutrow named J. G. TrundeH and Frank
Hewitt, both Of Silver Spring. as his
witnesses TO corrob0rate his statement re-
garding the display Of the white signal to
2I20
The hearing was adjourned until this
morning, al 1890. before Dutrow had been
dismissed from the stand. Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Turner announced that he
would ask the witness several questions
through the coroner when the inquest
opens this morning.
Other Witnesses Examined.
Other witnesses examined during the
day were Assistant Trainmaster J. T
Carr. stationed al the Washington depot.
and J. W Kelly, trainmaster of the Bal
timore division. Mr.. Cars examination
was directed almost entirely toward the
supposed delay shown in getting the
mOTgue train out TO the scene Of the
wreck, and the reasons for allowing the
Western express, No. 9, to pass through
ahead of the morgue train. Train Dis
patCher Dent had 20 be called 10 assist
Mr. Carr I'm making this testimony. and
it was finally shown TO the satisfaction
of the coroner and Commissioner West
that there had been delay.
No solution was given Of the question
why No g should have gone ahead of
/ the morgue train
Mr., Kelly was questioned regarding the
trains 2l20 and So, and during his ex-
animation declared that he did not think
the crew of 66 should have taken special
precautions at Terra Gotta 10 protect
the rear of the train against collision.
Announcement was made yesterday that
/ Commissioners Clements, PTOUty. and
Harlan will be in charge Of the inquiry
as 10 the causes for recent wrecks on the
Southern and Baltimore and Ohio rail-
roads, beginning to-day.
CONGRESS ASKED TO PROBE.