Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1909-02-19
RAILWAY ExONERATED.


Myers, Yesterday made report exo1ea-
ting the Washington, Arlington and Falls
Church Railway OF the charges of dis
order and other reprehensihle conduct on
Its cars. The following ia the report.
To Hon. J. B. I. Thornton, judge OF
the Circuit Court, Alexandria county,
Virginia.
We, the special grand jury now at
tending the Alex sndris County Circuit
Court at it's February term, 1909, aft,r
having made most careful, pains skirg
and exhaustive investigation OF the COM
plant to said court, dated February
18th, 1909, aud signed by VIM. H.
Lynch, Talbot Lynch, Edward Ballir-
ger, w. T. Sinclair, Hough
F. II. Poslou, acd Phil. ID. PostOD,
charging that disorder, vicious conduct,
drunkenness and other repreheusible
conditions are wilinlly permitted to ex-
let on the cars of the Washington, Ar
| liDgton and Falls Church Railroad Com
psny, and after the most patient exsmi.
nation of great number of witnesses
concerning the matters complained OF,
hereby report to your honorable court
thai the said complaint Is so grossly
oyerdrawD, so misleading In character
and Is such an exaggers,ion and mis-
statement of facts as testified to before
this gIa1d jury, as to suggest, il not all
solute uniruthtulness, at least malicious
intent, rot only to unjustly implcste
the said railroad company, which sp-
pears to be blameless ia this matter, bat
also to spread abroad a reputation tr
disorder in this community AND on the
cars Of said railroad company, as stall
be positive, dsiriment not only 10 The
community at large, but 10 greater de-
gree to the individual members thereof,
and to all property interest as well, and
to prejudice the minds of the public aud
create the impression that lswlessness is
rampant in Alexandra county.
Whereas, the testimony presented be-
fore this jury shows concluslvely thst the
said railroad company Is using It's ut
most end ayors to maintain order over
its lines, and as matter of proven fact
lie keeping much better order on It's cara
than Is usual on either city or suburban
lines, and that at the very worst, such
sporadic cases OF disorder as sometimes
occur are usually mild In character and
quickly controlled, beiog confined to the
late cars, especially on Saturday night.
Aud this grand jury wishes especially
to call attention to the statements COR
tanned 10 the newspaper articles pub
lished iu the Washington Herald, Fob
ruary 9Th, 1909, aud 10 the Rvenipg
S a., February 9th, 1909, which tbs tes-
timony OF no less than four responsible
witnesses. whose high standing for honor
integrity and trulhfulness cannot be
questioned, and who we're passengers on
the Car ct the time referred to Ia said
newspaper srticles, shows to have been
misleading in every particular, besid,s
which The sworn testimony of the party
lodging tald complaint with your hon
orsOle court, as well as thai of many
other witnesses, shows that said news
paper articles were cooked up at the
house OF said complainant out of several
incidents which occurred at periods of
lime far remote from each other, a1d
which the reporters of the said ness
papers served to the public IS the sue.
cessive experiences of one continuous
midoight ride.
And this grand jury hereby wishes to
protest 10 the most esrcest and emphatic
| manner against such nBtruthful aod
hur,ful publications aud to condemn ia
uamessured terms the meddIesome and
misguided spirit which would inspire
such misleading statements, since the re-
suit cannot be otherwise than detrimen-
tai TO the best interests of our county,
aud direct msterial loss to every men,
Der OF this community.
And further, this jury wishes to ex-
press its indignation at The hsrmful and
unjust course Of the said Newspapers in
publishing unedited and unverified ar
ticles OF the scsndslous and ljbelous
character OF those under consideration.
aud We most sincerely depricate tae
meddlesOme interference of the principle
complainant In this matter, who torns
out to be man who il not even a resi-
dent Of this county, bat who seems 10 10
possessed with spirit Of enmily and un-
fairness toward the said railroad COM
pauy, which has been folly termed
cFankiness, bat by reason of peculiar
aItruistic twist, Is likely 10 gain hear.
ing from those who do not look beneath
the surface; man, too, whose testimony
before this jury has not only crumbled
10 nothing when subjected to even q
mild cross examination, but has been
unsupported by single witness Of the
dozeus which he himself has produced,
besides being fatty contrsdicted by
msny of the same witnesses; a man also
whom testimony before this jury hiss
shown to be guilty of destroying the
property of said railroad company, to the
extent OF smashing car window for the
oslensible purpose of ventilation.
And nov, alter a careful survey Of all
the testimony submitted relating TO the
matters complained Of 1t is the sense Of
this jury that 10 order to meet any pos
sible cases of boisteEousness or disorder
on the LITE cars out OF Washington or
from ROsslyD, that extra men should he
detAiled to ride on said late cars to give
assistance to the conductor, should such
become necessary. But, since the tesi-
moDy shows tba! this has been the prac-
tice Of the said railroad company for
some time pact, there IL no further rec
ommendstion that seems to be necessary
and 1t only remains for this jury to COM
mend the present management OF ssid
railroad company for lis efforts to give
our people safe, commodious and ef.