Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-06
Thursday morning White had charge o

thursday morning " mite nao chdIsS u
| the doors when the accident to MIS- Hdi
riSon occurred
The witness was questioned closely reia-
| tive to whether he had ever seen doors
of the cars open while the train was IN
motion without a man guarding them and
whether it was not a custom to open THESE
doors for the station car-couplers OF
"drillers" before the train came to a
full stop preparatory to cutting out OF the
train particular car. The witness re-
piled in the negative to all questions.
when was the first you saw of White
after the accident happened?" WINNER
berg asked.
Just as the train was coming to stop
in the station The witness answered
Il ran to the door in question to see
if ii were open and found White near
by The door was open and I asked him
what it meant. He looked at me a second.
then closing his eyes and throwing up
his hands cried: oh, my God. my God.
Il didn't pay any more attention to him
after that and hustled to get down the
track with other trainmen to the stricken
woman.
when was the last time you saw this
pa rticular doOr?' He was asked.
Just after we passed Alexandria,
Was it closed?'
Yes"
do you think it was opened as you
crossed the bridge over the Potomac?'
More than likely it was. But / don't
know as | was in another section of the
train
Porter Was Responsible.
Wunnerberg was questioned again rela-
tive to the duties of the porter on a
Pullman car, and his replies showed that
the porter was responsible particularly
for the closing of the doors, as the train
started. and opening them when it came
corroborated in detail the important
points developed in the testimony of other
trainmen at Fridays session.
AS Wunnerberg left the witness stand
White. who had been incustody since
Fridays hearing, was recalled to explain,
if he cared to, the developments brought
out in the testimony. He denied abso-
lutely that he had seen Wunnerberg and
had replied to him as that witness de-
scribed when questioned relative to the
open door. He contradicted himself sew
eral times and became confused when
again questioned to the last time he
opened the door. Since the inquest began
and previous to it White has stated that
he opened the door at two different places
along the road before reaching Washing
ton, the last place being Charlottesville.
Yesterday he stated he opened one of
the doors while passing through Alexan-
dria to sweep out quantity of refuse. He
denied that he left the door open or that
he had been in the habit of opening the
door previous to the train stopping to
let the 'drillers' go to work on the car
the moment the tram stopped
The mans testimony was even more con-
fused than on Friday, and he seemed ut
terly unable to satisfactorily explain any
of the important questions put to him.
After the inquest and while White was
waiting to be conveyed to prison he talk
ed freely to Star reporter, though he
refused to admit that he had opened the
door through which Mrs. Harrison fell
rs it the custom for you to open these
doors?" he was asked.
Yes SIR White replied eve al
ways have to open them
Then you haven't much time to go to
your passengers and assist them in
alighting.',
Not, Not very much, but we usually have
White" he was asked, chow much
does the Pullman company pay you a
month";"
twenty-five dollars"
Was in a Hurry to Make Tips.
And what do you make out of your
tips?'
They run to about $50 month; some
times more"
Then the tip is about the most impor-
tant thing in your employment. isn't it?
You'd do most anything without actually
violating the rules of the company to get
everything in sight. wouldn't your
That's pretty nearly right, mister
What do the railroads pay their por-
ters?"
About $50 or 500 a month";
You're sure you didn't let that door
open before you reached Washington, in
order to rake in the tips
mo, SIR White answered. and he an
parently ignored additional questions
asked him after that. Others among the
railroad men. however. discussed freely
the small salaries paid to the Pullman
car porters, and stated that many of
them practically relied upon their tips
to make expenses meet