The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-24

There will be no criminal prosecu- tion of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, growing out of the wreck of the Federal Ex- press, July Is, 1911, at Fairfield ave- nue crossing, when fl persons were killed and many injured.
 Following his investigation of the wreck incidental to his inquest into the death of Engineer Curtis, Cor oner c. B. Wilson, now Mayor Wilson. made a finding of criminal negligence against the railroad corporation, with out however placing the responsibility for the alleged negligence.
 His finding was turned over to Prosecutor A. L. Delaney, who decid- ed that an investigation of the cir cumstances would be necessary before his office would feel justified in act
 But MT DeLaney's office was with out funds for such an investigation and he referred the matter to States Attorney Stiles Judson.
 MT. Judson emp oyed as experts A. E. Mitchell, of New York, a well known civil engineer and F. P. Pate nell, a civil engineer and superintend- ent of the signal system of the B. &
 The report of these experts has been filed in MT. Judson'S office. The New Haven road is exonerated from blame.
 As a result of this investigation and the finding of the experts that there was no culpability on the part of the railroad, MT. JudsOn has concluded that a prosecution for criminal neg ngence, as charged by Coroner VII son, will not lie and that it would be impossible to secure conviction upon such a. charge.
 The report of the expert begins governing the point of accident at Burr Road and FairHeld avenue, in 1901, considers the order that were issued to govern the operation of the tower and it's appliances, and pre- sents the changes in mechanism, ap- pIiances and rules until the time of
 The report is embraced in some 15 typewritten pages, three of which are devoted to the conclusions of the ex-
 list. Train was running east on
 "2nd Slip switch cross-over was set for train to pass from track 2 to track 4 at Burr Road tower.
 ''3rd. Distant signal governing eastbound movement on track was at caution, and in signal language told at danger and must not be passed ex- cept by permission of a dwarf signal and then only at a speed of Is miles per hour as per timetable rule, with which he was familiar.
 "4th. Home signal government movement of eastbound train on track was at danger ana positively locked in this position through the locking mechanism on the tower ma chine on account of opening the cross-over and in signal language ex- presS'y told the engineer to stop and not pass such signal unless he had the authority of a dwarf signal which specifically required a reduction in speed to not exceed fifteen miles per hour, the prescribed speed for passing through the slip switch.
 18th. The enginemen had a notice by signal when three thousand feet away from danger point Che could distinctly see the home signals three thousand feet away), that his train must come to a full stop at the home signal unless he received authority by the dwarf signal to pass over the cross-over at prescribed slow speed of fifteen miles per hour.
 18th. The train was equipped with | the Westinghouse high-Speed train 1 brake and the engineman had full | knowledge and experience with this 1 system of brakes and positively knew | that he could safely stop his train in at least fifteen hundred feet and could l have reduced the speed of his train to fifteen miles per hour in much less | distance.
 '7th. Had the speed of the train ] been fifteen miles per hour. if derail- | ment had occurred on the slip switch | the wrecked train would have stopped west of the Fairfield avenue overhead