New-York tribune., 1912-03-15
THREE WRECK PROBES ON
personal Responsibility EIimi-
mated by Central Officials.
oefECT DEFIES DETECTION
voad's Experts Assist Inquiries
:, started by Interstate Commerce
commission and P. s. G.

commission and P. s. G.
ooo, responsibility in the wreckins
wsanesdsy morning of the Twentieth
..nrv Limited has been entirely elimi-
So the officials of the New York
,..l Railroad in their investigations
causes of the accident, 1t was
.s,erday at the general offices of
ompany. leaving the only point at
highly technical question of steel
rail manufacture
oya hlame can be placed on those re
,io for the inspection Of the track,
+ Willer Of the general traffic
,,r.r,ment, yesterday "our experts have
made final report on the condition
,ractured rail yet. but this much
!. oortain: Its defect was of such a nature
40, It's presence could not possibly have
as,scted; only an unfortunate affair
.ncb as the wreck of yesterday Tiil bring
.ecb faults to light where they exist MD
,.r IN the steel Of the rail
-. wuler also pointed out how uncer-
tbing steel raj, Is. as was illus
,rs,ed BY the fact that only ten minutes
80 ,be accident the "Detroiter" thun-
ssred over the self-same strip of steel that
a,cbed the Twentieth Century Limited
IN. former train, he said, was practically
,.srtcal with the wrecked train in weight
and equipment. Yet it passed over ana
,.,. tbe rail apparently undamaged. for
,hs engine and two cars of the wrecked
.ron also passed over il before the oreaK
,,,.as itself manifest. That break Is now
,ochnieary described as transverse MS
sure
M fault could possibly be found with
che wav the engineer was running MS
,,.,p Mr. Wirer said. and as TO the COM
,,l.,pts. of passengers at the treatment
,bey had received. he said such criticisms
came from only two men, while practically
al the other passengers had expressed
themselves as highly satisfied with the at
,sn,ion the company had given them They
|b,s even called the company on the tele-
ph5ne. he said, to register their Favorable
fentiments.
The accident of Wednesday became the
ohiect Yesterday of three separate specldI
Investigations Three experts of the inter-
state Commerce Commission hastened on
from WASHINGTON the right of the accl-
dent 10 get at the evidence while 1t was
fresh. The Public Service Commission OF
The ID District is also on the job. and IL
was said by the company that its own eH'
per;s were hard at work. both on tneir
own Inquiry and in assisting the other
two bodies.
Dr. P II. Dudley, consulting engineer
of the railroad. has the fragments OF the
rail under expert analysis. Vt was saio
AZ his Office that the examination might
take some days TO complete. depending
iron the problem found to be involved
There was the possibility, it was SAID that
new factor in rail construction mignl
10 discovered. It was intimated that
weather conditions and carbon content OF
the rail were essential points
Another investigation OF a more general
nature. which, however. has an important
h.srine on the present accident and seems
70 have acquired added significance from
II is the meeting 10 be held about March
- hy' a committee of railroad men ana
s,ssl rail manufacturers for the purpose
Of bringing the two interests together 10
cooperate on the very problem of improv-
iss the auslity of steel rails. Practically
al Of the makers and users Of steel rshs
10 the country are represented on tnis
committee steel men yesterday were oIs-
Inclined to discuss the subject. in view
OF this impending meeting. The meeting
was called by ex-Judge +. II. Gary cpsir-
man Of the United States Steel Corpora
ton. as an outgrowth Of the several years
OF controversy between the two interests
sy 10 the responsibilities for breaking rsiis.
Special stress was laid yesterday at the
New York Central cfices on the success
Of steel rsrs in reducing tatsiities sho
srieus injuries 10 minimum IN cases
where accidents do happen. The cars IN
Wednesdays smash-up, II was said, not
only saved the passengers. but themselves
With one exception, and needed nothing
but touching up to put them I'm running
shape again
The broken rail was made by the Lscks-
wanna Steel Company. At the otnces oi
this concern. No ? Rector street. the presl-
dent Edmund A. r Clarke. refused 10
discuss the matter specifically or the ques-
lion Of rails and tests in general rep
ressntstye ef his company said however
that Wednesdays accident could not DeI
charged 10 any inherent fault IN the qual-
ity q the rail The product of the com
psnsss he said, was manufsc ctured under
the most stringent conditions. and the
Nsw FORK Central took its highest grade
cutput.
Washington. March "A preliminary re-
rert 70 the Interstate Commerce Commis'
flen from ts three inspectors lnvesugat-
ins the wreck 81 HYDE Park. n. Y. Of the
New York Cenrals Twentieth Century
Limited, thst defective rail was the cause
oi The accident has spurred officials Of the
eemnission to renewed activity in its in
curry into rails used by the railroads This
inquiry was begun Immediately after the
aehish Valley wreck at Manchester. N. \"
aho has been in progress ever since.
Inc commission has held conferences with
isl manufacturers ard railroad officials on
the subject Al one Of these conferences IT
was indicated that although rails used were
o@'ns made heavier than ever before they
we're not keeping pace with the placing OF
maV'er equipment and traffic. Steel onl-
e'sls are understood TO have agreed that
essrything possible should he done to man
uiaetufe rails that would be perfectly safe