The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-01-01

Determined that responsibility for the
frightful railroad disaster at Terra Gotta
Sunday night shall be fixed and the guilty
brought TO account. the District authori-
ties yesterday began a rigid Investigation
into the cause Of the catastrophe.
! The Commissioners, police officials,
coroner. and District attorneys Office
busted themselves from morning until late
at night gathering evidence to be pro-
duced at the coroner's inquest tomorrow
morning at 10 O'Clock
| Coroner hewitt VIII impaneI a Jury this
morning and conduct them to the scene
OF the wreck at Terra Gotta. The jury
men Will go over the ground carefully and
/ impress themselves with the topography
Of the locality and investigate the cause
Of the wreck from every possible angle.
The coroner viii also have an expert on
the scene to examine the signaling sys-
TEN at the TakOma block station.
The coroner was at the m0rgue all the
forenoon directing the work and making
preparations for the official inquiry which
viii be conducted before a coroner's jury
Wednesday. About Il.30 o'clock yesterday
he accompanied the jury TO the dead room
and they were sworn over the body Of one
Of the victims Of last nights wreck.
The jurors are Messrs. &. ". Weaver,
Oscar Ricketts,. John Beall. ST., George
Mueller, 4. J. Sanford. and Mr.. Brady.
Two Men Face Blame.
From the mass Of testimony already
gathered. IL appears that the burden Of
blame viii faH upon the shoulders Of one
Of two men-Harry B. Hiidebrand. engi-
+ neer Of the empty that created the
havoc, or Milton ". Phillips, operator at
b the Takoma block signal station. Every
effort is being made by the local authori-
= ties to prove either that Phillips had the
danger signals set in accordance with his
duty and Hildebrand passed by the block,
ignoring or not seeing the lights. OF that
Phillips neglected to show the proper
signals, which would eXonarate Hide
brand. Phillips was released yesterday on
$1,000 bond. but HiIdebrand is stH in
cell al the Tenth precinct station
That some one made "a terrible blunder
is thought certain by the officials Of the
District The weather conditions, while
regarded as possibly responsible for Hill
debrand not seeing the rear lights Of
the passenger train ia time to avoid the
collision, cannot excuse. in the eyes of
% the authorities. the blunder regarding the
signal lights at the Takoma station.
West Censures Railroad.
Commissioner West is particularly out
= spoken IN his opinion. The Commission
D er severely censures the Baltimore and
= Ohio Railroad authorities for the man
> ncr in which they conducted the removal
OF the dead from the scene of the wreck.
!, He said yesterday that there was an IN
accountable delay in sending a train to
n convey the dead TO Washington Accord
ing 10 the Commissioner. the railroad
officials sent out Wrecking trains to clear
the debris from the track and dispatched
a through western-bound passenger train
over the repaired roadbeG ahead OF the
morgUe train
The terrible wreck at Terra Gotta,
said Commissioner West, is ali the more
y terrible because it ought never to have
T occurred. The value OF the block system
}. is completely neutralized when the rail
f road authorities viii allow another train
in upon a block already occupied From
what 1 learned at the scene of the wreck.
!, | the train of empty cars was given at the
: Silver Spring block station what is known
lamOng railroad men as the double green,
r. which meant that the engineer was to
= proceed with caution. I cannot under
stand why. with the knowledge that there
was local train ahead, the second train
was not brought TO stop at Takoma.
q and held there until the passenger train
# was safely out Of the way.
No Necessity for speed.
. 1T was all the more necessary to exer-
else this precaution ia view OF the fact
y that the night was extremely foggy, a
condition which always adds TO the dan
:; ger of railroadiug. The second section
It consisted merely of empty coaches, so
~. that there was no immediate necessity
of hurrying into Washington.
Another thing which impressed me
was the delay in sending a train to con-
= vey the dead TO the city, where the bodies
ID could be placed in the m0rgue and ideu-
titled by their relatives and friends The
. injured were taken into the city as
quickly as possible. but after that The
railroad sent out two or three wrecking
- trains, one of which came all the way
from Baltimore, and it seemed far more
important to care for few damaged
r coaches than for the dead lying on the
hillside in the rain.
Il "A through express TO the West was
then given the right OF way, and it was
y finally near midnight before the dead
were carried into the city, nearly five
D; hours after the accident occurred.
hope that the Investigation viii be rigid
" and thorough, because II is evident that
a system which allows two trains on a
IS block at the same time is liable to re-
suit in another tragedy
n Both Commissioners mcfarland and
. West were early on the scene OF the
20 catastrophe. Commissioner West spent
- four hours at the wreck, arriving shortly
after the accident and not leaving until
the bodies of the dead had been placed
aboard the train for conveyance into the
u city. Mr. West was accompanied By il.
Chadwick Hunter one of the Commission
- er's neighbors. who placed his automobile
IN at the disposal of Mr.. West. Commits
sioner mcfarland. as soon as he heard
o. of the wreck, communicated with the po-
lice and fire departments and the hospital
D
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