The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-08
WILLIAM MAJORS IS ON TRIAL FOR
 TRAIN WRECKING
The Famous Train Wreck Case Draws Many Spectators
 to the Courthouse
THREE WITNESSES
 CALLED FOR STATE
David Watts, Engineer of the Wrecked Passenger Train, Who Lost Arns in Wreck, Says He Could
 Not See for the Fog

| With the largest number of witnesses | ever summoned to trial in the county
 criminal courts and the strongest array of legal talent, in point of number. ever participating in such trial, the famous
 trial of William Majors, the Louisville
 and Nashville fireman charged with mur- der and train-wrecking, was begun yes
 terday in the first division of the crim-
 inal court, Judge w. E. Fort presiding.
 The morning was consumed in the em-
 paneling of juries for the week and for | the Majors trial, the names of 75 yenire-
 men being called for duty during the week. of which AS were qualified Be-
 cause of views as to capital punishment and due to other objections offered by the
 attorneys, 12 men whose names were
 called for duty in the Nabors trial were
 disqualified
 Many Spectators Attracted
 Both the state and defense announced
 ready just before noon, and the actual taking of testimony in the case began at ? o'clock The room of the first di- vision was packed with spectators all
 
 witnesses until adjournment was taken at o'clock.
 A striking scene was provided when the trial began in earnest. Seated at two long tables, extending entirely across the room within the enclosed space were
 the numerous attorneys for state and
 defense Solicitor H. P Hefiin, G. R.
 Harsh, P G. Bowman, B. M. Allen and Hugh Morrow occupied the table pro vided for the prosecuting attorneys, and Jere C. King, Gardner Goodwin and | George Ross of Bessemer. attorneys for | the defense were at the second table. Majors sat immediately back of his at torneys, with his aged father on one side and his wife and infant child on the | other.
 State Witnesses Called | The first witness to take the stand
 when court reconvened at o'clock was | F. H. Medaugh of New Decatur who
 gave the first testimony for the state.
 Medaugh is the Louisville and Nashville conductor who was in charge of the crew of the northbound passenger, No.
 4, which was wrecked when 1t ran into
 an open switch at Cunningham and col
 lided head-on with the southbound
 freight on which Majors was fireman.
 On direct examination by Attorney Hugh Morrow, Medaugh testified to | having been serving as conductor on No. on the night of the wreck. He stated that he was in the rear sleep | CT of his train when the impact of the collision apprised him that something was wrong. He testified that No. 4, in his Judgment, was going about 4O miles an hour at the time of the col lision and stated that the train was a | few minutes behind time at Newcastle, | the station just below Cunningham. He told of having seen William Young, the
 mail clerk of the train who was fatally | injured in the wreck, after the collision and of having aided in attending to his injuries. He also told of seeing William Majors on the scene immediately after | the wreck.
 | Photographer Testifies
 | o. M. Van Cleave, photographer, tes- tified to having taken views of the switch and other details of the scene
 where the collision occurred. The pho tographs were in the possession of the state to be used for the benefit of the
 iurv and Van Cleave identified the par ticular pictures exhibited as being his own handiwork.
 | The states third witness to go on
 the stand yesterday afternoon was Da- yid Watts of New Decatur, who was engineer of the wrecked passenger | oot h fC 1nff In to injuries received in the wreck. Watts testimony was the most i'm portant of that introduced by the state during the day. In telling of the wreck he stated that the switch at Cunning ham was on the left side of the track and that the force of a northbound en- zine would tend to close the switch had if been partly open through negligence.
 The introduction of the photographs In the possession of the prosecution for the examination of Watts was the sig nal for a rather lengthy debate The defense objected to the photographs and at Watts identifying them as pho tographic representations of the scenes of the wreck on the ground that he had no means of identifying them as pic lures that were really taken at that place. Judge Fort finally overruled this objection.
 Other statements made by Watts in his testimony were to the effect that he was running about 70 miles an hour at the time of the wreck; that because of a heavy fog and curve in the track he could not see more than 50 feet in front of
 him and could not apply his emergency brakes until the open switch had been en- tered He stated that he saw no light on the switch stand at Cunningham, and also made the statement that he had run across torpedoes warning him of danger
 between Newcastle and Cunningham. On re direct examination 1t was brought out
 that these torpedoes were on the left side of the track and signhed caution, though not danger. For this reason, Watts stated, he disregarded them
 Watts testified that he had been run
 ming between Birmingham and Decatur