The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-09-10
BLAME fORCOLL|SION
To Be FIXED
cORoNER'S JURY MEETS IN RAIL.
WAY HOSPITAL AND HEARS
THE TESTIMONY.

The inquest held yesterday afternoon
to place the responsibility for the
/ cause of the collision between the sec
I ond section Of No. ami switch en-
CINE No. 1884. which occurred near
I the Rat,lesnake crossing. and In which
I Charles Anderson, a switchman on the
i latter. and "a tramp. George Cummings.
/ lost their lives, was adjourned after
6 o'clock, when but three witnesses
/ had been examined. and viii be re-
/ convened at . o'clock today ut the
i Northern Pacific hospital.
Yesterdays hearing was held in the
/ hospital, TO- the reason that some Of
that witnesses To be examined are at
that place. having been taken there
/ Immediately after the accident The
inquest was conducted by County Cor
oner w u. kendrick. and when ad-
i journmsnt time had arrived but three
/ witnesses had been heard
Reynolds Story.
/ William Reynolds, the switch tender.
who is supposed To see that all the
switches in the vicinity are lined up
i and in proper form. was the first wit
4 ness called to the stand. his testimony
/ being practically the same as was re-
] ported by The Muscular yesterday
morning. He stated that the second
section Of No was known To he due
In Missuula. and two minutes before
/ its scheduled arrival he had examined
! the switches. as was his duty. and had
i then gone to the toilet. his absence
/ being for about seven minutes. While
I he was away the collision occurred
4 and he did not know what was the
cause. II was very evident that the
] switch had been left open on the main
right before he left.
ED Hanifen, the next witness called,
testified that he was conductor on No.
3, and when the train entered the
yards 1t was going nj what he should
Judge to be about Is miles an hour
He was in the second car, and the
first he knew of the collision was when
he felt the force of the impact. He
had been conductor on railroads for
10 years and felt confident that tho
train was not exceeding II speed of Is
miles an hour when the yards we're
entered.
f. w. Wardell engineer on the sec
.ond section of No. 3. was brought into
the presence of the jury on table on
wheels. He was unable To walk. ow-
ing to "A sprained ankle received In
the collision, but I'm other ways was
in good condition. He testified that
his train had left Helena over an hour
behind time and not much had been
made up. He had had occasion TO use
the airbrakes and knew that they were
in good condition. The train had en-
tered the yards at Il speed. according
to his best judgment, of s or 10 miles
and hour. He supposed that the
switching crews in the yards We're al
ways notified when "A passenger was
due. but did not know. When the train
struck the switch which threw IL ,ai,u
the sidetrack, he did not know that
they had left the main line until three
or four car lengths had been passed
over. but by that time IL was too late
and the accident had occurred. Ii was
ulaii tii1 itdfHNfitu it1it
he knew what caused his train To leave
the main line: his fireman then told
him that the switch had been thrown
He was not able to see the target
and thus see how the switch was set.
because it was on the left side OF
the engine, the side the fireman occu-
pied. lie had been Il locomotive en-
gineer for seven years and was posi-
tive that his train was not exceeding
10 miles TN hour. Ii he had had half
ear length To 60, he could have stopped
his engine and avoided the collision
Engineer Wardell WAS the last To
testify. the inquest adjourning at the
conclusion of his evidence. When the
session is convened this afternoon,
there will be five more witnesses
heard. three of whom are confined In
the hospital.
The eoroner's jury il composed of
+. II. Thornton. w ii. Smith. Er.i
Won Restenbostel. Phil Gagnon. Charles
Hart and Peter Feddersohn.