Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-24
TOO HIGH FOR TRAIN
Iowa Railroad Commissioners Look
into Recent Wreck.
TOPHEAvY TENDER LEAVES RAILS
Catastrophe VIII Cause Request for
Special Ofnccr 20 Investigate
Condition Of ROadbed over
state. .
Iron a SOD correspondent.l

gram.)-A full investigation OF the wreck
at Green Mountain will be made by the
Iowa Railroad commission and II will be
used as the lever to give more power to
the commissioners and to enlarge the scope
Of their duties.
Members of the Iowa Railroad commis-
sion, who returned today from the Green
Mountain wreck, while no official report
has been made. indicate that the train was
going at a rate greater than locomotives
should go when backing. Trsinmen told
the commissioners that locomotives when
going backward are likely to quit the rails
it the speed is greater than fifteen miles
an hour. Nine passengers who were riding
backward were killed. each with a broken
back and the back OF the skull crushed.
This condition, the commissioners say, is
due to the alleged excessive speed and the
fact that the engines stopped within three
feet from the point that the foremost
engine left the track.
civil Engineer Wanted.
The commission will use this incident to
bring before the next legislature the need
Of provision for a civil engineer, at a large
enough salary to secure the best, to be
used In studying conditions like the one
at the wreck and also In looking over all
cases where complaint is made concerning
track conditions. There have been a num-
Der Of complained before the commission
Of late regarding the condition OF the
tracks in the state, due to the peculiar
winter. The heavy snow came at a time
when the ground was wet with rain and
not frozen. The ground froze under the
rails, but not under the ties, and the con-
tinued pounding of the rails pulled the
spikes out Of the rails and destroyed all
| sau,bIanca ~ a laval raa..,a1 .u throy,yb
the central and south central part of the
state.
Big Fire at Perry.
The Des Moines fire department was
asked this afternoon to get ready to go TO
Perry to aid in subduing a fire which had
started In the residence district, but which
threatened business houses. Before any aid
could be given twelve residences were
burned, but tho Perry fire department was
equal to the situation. About the same
hour two fires broke out in Des Moines and,
with the high wind, threatened much lam
age. One was in a tract Of timber near
Greenwood park in the western part Of the
CITY, and the other was among a long line
Of freight cars standing on a siding on
the Northwestern near Union Park. Four
teen cars were burned,
COwnie Delivers Farewell.
Before the quarterly conference of heads
of state Institutions today, Chairman John
Cownie delivered a farewell address, in
which he reviewed the work of the Board
Of Control in the twelve years Of It's ex-
%istence. and the accomplishments Of the
board in the matter Of undermining the an
situations. He made no direct reference to
the controversy with the governor over the
management Of the School for Girls at
| MtfChalivigla hnf awnraaead raOraf AZ the
unfortunate situation there end hoped It
would soon end. He also referred to the
eltuatlon at the boys school, and showed
how the policy of maintaining 1t strictly as
an Industrial school is progressing. He
plainly animated that the same policy
should have been conducted at the girls
school.
VIII Fiji Place Soon.
Governor Carroll has announced that he
will fill the vacant place on the Board Of
Control within the week. No names have
been announced, but It Is certain that the
recipient Of the office will be one Of the
close personal followers of the governor.
The name OF ex-Secretary Of State w. B.
Martin has been mentioned In connection
with the office, but he is a progressive,
and also has large business interests which
will keep him from taking a position Of
trust in the state. Bernard Murphy, owner
of a paper at Vlnton and one Of the men
who has been clamoring for the removal OF
John Cownie, Is being mentioned as one Of
the possibilities for the office. He was
state printer for two terms and has been
a member Of the state legislature.
Trouble Not Ended.
The resignation Of Mr.. Cownie has not
ended the trouble Of the Board of Control
and the administration Hundreds of PEG.
pie who believe that the day OF penal
servitude and criminal punishment are not
the ways to reform young women have
taken up the standard which Mr.. Cownie
laid down, and the proposition threatens
to become a state political issue. Unde
the Cownie regime practically every head
Of an institution in the state was changed
to get men who believed In the new order
OF things, the most notable example being
at Fort Madison, where Warden Sanders
has worked wonders in changing the atti-
tude OF the men. The fight at Fort Madi-
son was a bitter one. for the friends Of the
old system and their apparent determine
ton to make the Mitchelville reformatory
a prison is their first triumph in a dozen
years.
Barney seeks Delay.
II was announced in the office OF the
governor today that w. p. Barney, the
newly appointed state dairy commissioner,
would not take his offiSe until the be-
ginning Of May, II. r, Wright. the present
incumbent, holding his place until that
time. Mr.. Barney wishes time TO finish
a contract for work which he held at the
time OF his appointment
Vote on Ownership EnJOined.
Judge James A. Howe Of the Polk county
district bench handed down a decision this
morning which will prevent Des Moines
from voting upon the question Of municipal
ownership Of the street car franchise at
the coming city election. The socialists
filed a petition with 1900 names a week
ago, and the case was Immediately appealed
to the courts by the company. The courts
decision Is that the ownership Of street car
systems is not legal under the presen;
laws. II was the hope OF the socialists
that the question might be submitted to
the people. and that II carried, that the
coming session OF the legislature would
amend the laws to allow the city to own
the plant.
Mystery In Double Death.
Bureau Carr OF Hamilton, Ia, was found
dead In a rooming house at s21 High street
this morning and william shenak. his
companion. was found in the last stages Of