The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-10-21

l looked over the roadbed and pro- nounced the tracks in a safe condf-
 ton.
 Witness replied very precisely that
 MT. Elwe1Fs opinion or the opinion of | MT. Belnap wouldn't shake his opin- i Coroner he said that he would be willing at any time to go over the roadbed with anyone and point out 1 the defects. He said that he would
 be glad to have an expert railroad man who was unpreJudiced give a statement as to the condition of the was certain that if such an expert could be found his opinion would be substantiated.
 i Everett made a very steady wit ness and wasn't bit abashed at the very significant glances that were thrown at him by the railroad of witness was testifying and pointing 1 out on charts and maps the railr oad l officials got together and held whis- 1 pered consultations. It was very no- ticeable when railroad official was 1 testifying and was being questioned 1 by Vice President Buckland the ques- 1 Signal Engineer c. H. Morrison was tsstifyfng he was asked many ques 1 true---- Isn't it fact Don't you know it to be- This left the witness in the position of simply re-
 
 Signal Engineer Morrison was uues- toned as to the possibilities of the signal service. He was asked as to the relative operations of the home signal, the distant signal and other signals. Witness said that the dis tant signal could not be put at proceed until the home signal had been put at proceed, thus eliminating the possibil- ity of having the home signal at dang CT and the distant signal at proceed.
 Witness had much to say about auto natic train stops and declared that from observations made of devices that have come to his attention through literature and correspondence he had not learned of single device or system which met all requirements. Witness was asked if the road he rep resented had given any serious con- sideration to safety and train stop de- vices. Witness replied that he had not found a, device adequate and that the only initiative the road has taken is to experiment with devices of it's own He told of being at work a system or device to be used on rail- roads that are electrically equipped. He said that he expected the device he was experimenting with would be perfected in not a far distant time and would be used on the road where the liness have been electrified. He said main Boston and New York line would be equipped with electrical lo- comotives and that when that is done the road will have a device that will adequately serve as train control.
 The coroner asked if there was any system or device for train control that ent operated with steam locomotives. He replied that he knew of no device or system which was adequate. He said positively that there is no device on the market today that can be us- ed effectively. Questioned with regard to train speeds, witness said the gen. Witness was asked Do you think it 8 good policy for your road or any road to maintain speedy trains at the expense of public safety ?'' Witness re- piled that if the signal system in use is so perfect to warrant speedy trains it would be all right to run an hour eff the speed exceeds the strength of the railroad I don't ap- prove of speedy trains said the wit ness.
 MT Morrison was asked if it was competition that made speedy trains necessary. He replied that general de- mand of the public was the ore thing that made speedy trains necessary. Witness was asked if the New Ha- ven road has equipment which will al- low high speed. He replied that so gineering department is concerned, it has but he couldn't answer for other departments.
 Witness wouldn't advise the use of any speed control that now exists He said if he could find any device that would control the speed of a train
  would quickly advise its adoption. He testified that he has been at work trying to perfect device for use on the electrified line, about a year and half. He didn't know if that work was started prior to the Laeroix fn- vention or after.
 if the New Haven road is now doing anything for the correction or in eliminate the repetition of wrecks. Witness evasively answered that there are no automatic stops which will prevent a wreck. Coroner Phelan repeated his question and asked for a more direct answer. Witness hesi- antly replied that he didn't know how any road was going to prevent such wreckS, under present conditions, so far as the signal system is concerned. He said the signal system is standard. was in good working order on the day of the wreck and served effici- ently. The wreck he declared was not due to the signal service. There is no signal system in use today, said the witness. that would more effec- lively prevent a wreck.
 C.. N. Woodward, superintendent of the Shore Line division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford was the first witness of the afternoon. He was questioned to his duties and about general impressions as to the causes of the wreck and what might have contributed. to it. He did not hesitate to say that he was satisfied from the evidence that has been given that excessive speed over the cross over and a disregard of the signals by the engineer were responsible for the wreck. In fact his testimony was such as to place all blame upon the dead engineer
 MT. Woodward said that man could never have any hope of going over a crossover at the rate of 60 miles an hour and coming out without very serious injury to himself and his train. He said that@ Clark, the engi- 1 neer, was one of the most reliable engineers the road and that he had been in the employment as an engi- l neer for sometime. He said that while 1 Clark's record as engineer was not l absolutely clear, yet it was a good | second Witness said he hadn't tfle ra- 1