The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-01-21
Invest,eatinp Rai1road Accident

e investigating RAILROAD ACC1ueuCs
The State Railroad Commission of New
:. Jersey met on Saturday in the CamdeI
Court House to investigate the rear-ent
f. collision on the Pennsylvania Railroad
elevated structure on Friday morning
December 81, at which three persons were
. killed and score were injured.
The task was not concluded, and the
Investigation will be resumed at Trenton
: on Tuesday, January %. This was the
{ first investigation of its kind that the new
commission has been called upon to make.
4 The testimony of several witnesses, in
Guiding that of Victor Wierman. superin-
. tendent of the Amboy Division, showed
: that if the same signal system had beenIin
, operation as that which is installed be-
tween Tenth street and Haddon avenue
the accident would have been averted.
The commission is composed of General
j. W. Congdon. of Paterson, as president;
Edmund Wilson, of Red Bank, Monmouth
County, and Borden D. Whiting, of Jersey
City. Accompanying the members of the
commission were Attorney General Robert
Fl. McCarter and Alfred Barber, the secre-
tary of the commission.
Attorney General McCarter examined
the Witnesses. The first called was J. G.
Shreve, engineer of the Atlantic City train.
He said he was due at the Terminal at 8 81.
and that his schedule time from Atlantic
City was 81 minutes He said that as he
brought his train near the Terminal he
got signal to stop at Second street, that
the signal was against him, and was
operated from "a" tower. When the
train stopped he saw Brakeman Thomas
get down from the rear platform of the
last car and start along the track. The
fog, however, was so dense that he could
not see how far Thomas got. He said that
his train consisted of six coaches, and each |
coach was about so feet long. The witness
said he got clear signal after the crash.
Louis s. Thomas, rear brakeman of the |
Atlantic City train, was called and de |
clared that he knew that another train was |
due at the same time the express was to |
arrive. He said that as the train slowed |
up near Second street he saw that the
signal was set against them at the ga"
tower. As he went back to flag the Penn
berton train his vision was obscured by
steam and smoke from engines below on
the surface tracks. AS he ran back, wit
ness continued, he heard shrill blast of
a whistle and saw an engine looming up
in front. He said he had no time to place
a torpedo on the track and that, as he
jumped to one side, he waved his flag and
shouted to the engineer. He declared that
when he first saw the train the engine was
about fifteen feet away from him and he
knew collision was inevitable. Witness
was of the opinion that the engineer of
the Pemberton train saw him with the
flag.
John T. Pierce, engineer of the Penn
berton train, followed on the stand. and
he declared that he had not been informed
that another train was due at the same
time, and 1t was not until after the coils
ion that he was apprised of that fact. At
Haddon avenue he got clear signal. The
green cautionary signal was flashed on
him at Fifth street. He at once applied
the brakes and approached the signal at
about eight miles an hour. Had it been
red he would have stopped. Engineer
Pierce said that on one day during that
week he got into the terminal ahead of
the Atlantic City express.
Alfred Sweetin, operator in tower A,
which controls the Second street signal,
said on the morning of the accident he
halted the Atlantic City train because
milk train was being ''shunted out" He
knew from the signals he received from
Haddon avenue that both trains had pass
ed there, but he had no means of letting
any one know that both trains were Ia the
same block.
Attorney Albert Wall, for the railroad
company, desired to known what the com
mission had learned.
Gas this is an investigation" he said,
II think that we should be told what the
commission has discovered. We are not
working In opposition to the board"
Mr.. McCarter, replying. said: 1--WE came
here to get what light we can from wit
nesses of the railroad company. We have
our information and are now in a recep-
tive mood"
Walter Antrim, the train master, was
summoned, and he admitted the wreck
could have been averted had telegraphic
communication been established between
Haddon avenue and GA" tower.
General Congdon asked Mr.. Antrim
what was his explanation of the accident.
Mr.. Antrim replied that there were dis
crepancies between the stories told by the
engineer of the Pemberton train and flag
man Thomas, and they were still being
Investigated.
Victor Weirman, the superintendent of
the Amboy division, was the last witness
called, and during his testimony he said it
was the purpose of the company to install
the block system from Tenth street to the
terminal This, he said, could not be done
now, because of the work of construction
still going on. He declared that if the
same conditions had existed at ga" tower
to Haddon avenue as exist between Had
don avenue and Tenth street, the accident
would not have oc urred. He said that as
an extra precaution he would consider the
suggestion of telegraphic communication
between ga" tower and Haddon avenue.