The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-09-28
RAILROAD CO. EX-
ONORATED FOR
ACCIDENT
Commissions Report on Hear
ing Held Here August 27.
CONDUCTOR WAS BLAMELESS
"Arclng" Of Controller and Consequent
Injuries to the Misses collamer Not
chargeable to Negligence

The state board of railroad commits.
sioners has issued it's report OF the
hearing held here August 81 in the
matter of the accident to Helen and
Anna Collamer at Bennington May 16,
1908, OH the Bennington & Hoosac
Valley Street Railway.
Present: Commissioners Redmond
and Porter, and the clerk.
Appearances w. j. Meagher, states
attorney for Bennington county, for
the state of Vermont; George L.
Greene, superintendent, for the Ben
nington & Hoosac Valley Street Rail-
way Co; f.. j. Hall, attorney for Hell
en- and Anna Colamer.
The report follows:
On May l6. 1905 about 10:45 p. m,
Helen and Anna Collamer, two young
women who lived in the village Of
North Bennington, were in -Benning
ton and desired to take a west bound
electric car 10 their home About
this time the Bennington & Hoosac
Valley street railway company's clos
ed car No s. east bound, stopped in
front of the opera house in Benning
ton. This car was then so crowded
with passengers that there were no
vacant seats; and it was going east to
the end of the line, a distance of
about a mile, and thereupon would
proceed west to North Bennington.
These two young women then mount
ed this car in front of the opera house
and rode to the end of the line, stand
ing on the front platform just BACK of
the motorman.
When the car reached the east end
Of the line, all the passengers, except
nine, left the car; the trolley and
headlight were shifted; the Misses
Coliamer alighted from the east end
of the car, walked to the west end
where they again mounted the car,
and, although there was ample seat.
ing room within the car, stood or the
platform just behind the motorman
and the car started west, and after ii
| had gone only % rods, the controller
"arced" resulting in an electric flash
| that so frightened the Misses Cola
mer that each either jumped or fell
| from the car, one on each side there
of. The car was at once stopped and
| the young women cared for Each
was found TO be unconscious and sew
ercly shocked and injured by the fall
! Miss Helen Collamer remaining uncon
scious for eight days, and seems to
have suffered a slight impairment OF
her hearing. The other does not ap
pear 10 have been so severely injured
! They both testified at the hearing and
| each said she could not remember
anything that occurred after the
flash till she regained consciousness
and could not tell whether she fell OIL
! jumped from the car.
The "arcing' OF the controller seems
to have been due to the fact that one
of it's fingers" became carbonized, 9
thing that sometimes happens. The
car was carefully inspected the day
previous to the accident and found al
right.
From the evidence we cannot say
that this accident was due to any fault
on the part OF the railway company
unless II be the failure of the conduc
tor to insist that the young women b'
seated within the car. But we can
not say that, for the conductor haC
only Just begun at the rear to TAXI
fares, and had not reached the iron
of the car when the accident occur
red. and had not seen the young WON
en- on the platform; and we find tina
il was not the duty Of the motormal
to have requested them to be seate'
within the car-hls attention beini
absorbed in running the car.
Some of the witnesses testified tina
it has been a common practice TO
passengers to ride on the platform o
these cars. If that is so, the railwa.