The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1912-04-25
JURY BLAMFS
TRECO WATER

This verdict was brought in by the
coroner's jury this afternoon:
We find, to the best of our belief,
from the evidence obtained, that said
explosion was caused by using wa
ter taken from Trigo water tank, said
water being unsafe to use in locomo-
tive boilers.
The coroner's jury yesterday con-
tinued its inquest into Mondays
wreck on the Western Pacific at Ante
lope. The witnesses examined yester-
day were Roundhouse Foreman B. G.
Kreis and Trainmaster G.. w. Hamil-
ton. No new facts were brought out.
Bearing on the question as to whether
the engine had been in good condition
Kreis testified that it had only recent
ly been given a thorough overhauling
and that when it left the yard Mon
day it was in excellent condition.
Adam Darling, the claim agent of
the railroad company, was an inter
ested spectator at the inquest.
This morning at 10 O'Clock the jury
held a brief session and decided to
call A. X. Quick, the machinist, who
was until a short time ago employed
adjourned until 1:30 in the afternoon
to permit of Quick being subpoenaed.
The wrecked locomotive was
brought into the roundhouse last
night, after the representatives of the
completed their inspection on behalf
of the government and this morning
it was examined by G. M. Biggs, the
~ he Al n
fc,who came to Winnemucca Yesterday
for that purpose. The coroner's jury
also took this opportunity of viewing
what was left of the wrecked engine
as did a great number of Winnemuc-
ca 3 citizens.
The most interesting testimony since
the commencement of the inquest was
given this afternoon before the coron-
er's jury by w. w. Richarson,
steamftter and stationary boiler en-
gineer. He testified that he had this
morning examined the wreck of the
engine at the roundhouse and in his
opinion the explosion of the boiler
was caused by the water being too
low in the boiler when the cold water
was turned in, causing superheated
steam. He said that the crown sheets
were blue, showing that they had re-
Gently been red hot, so much so that
he thought at first the wreck must have
been on fire. That there was every ap-
pearance Of the boiler having been dry
when blown up, the explosion having
been practically confined to the fire.
box, the rest of the boiler being still
intact. He also stated that If there
had been used a soft plug in the crown
sheet, the unfortunate mems lives
would probably have been saved, as
the plug would have been melted be-
fore the explosion could have taken
place and that the men would have
had warning.
A. Haggenboom, a locomotive engi-
neer, and Andred A. Turk, a fireman,
10th in employ of the Western Pa
cifc, followed Mr.. Richardson on the
stand. They testified that in order to
make the Antelope hill every engine
was compelled to take water at Trigo;
that this water was very bad in quail
ity and invariably caused the water
in the boiler to foam, there being
great percentage of borax in the
water. That on almost every trip they
had trouble at this point, even as late
as yesterday, when by reason of the
ad water the engoine on their trip in
died on the downward slope of the hill
on this side from the side sheets of the
boiler leaking. The leaking they said
was caused by the foaming of the wa
ter. They had to send for an engine
to bring them in.
The engineer also testified that on
the Western Pacific it was customary
to use compound to settle the wa
ter. The bad feature fthe water at
Trigo was that il made it practically
impossible for the engineer to tell how
low his water was in the boiler. He
considered the use of this water dan
gerous.
A. X. Quick was questioned as to
technical points in the construction of
locomotive boilers. When asked to ex
pregs an opinion as to the cause of the
exnloson he said that he didn't think
that simple steam could have caused
the explosion.