New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-05
[By Telegraph to The Tribune. ]

tBy Telegraph to The Tribunel
Westport, Conn, oct. Awhile the
officials of the New York. New Haven
& Hartford cast full blame for the
wreck of the Boston express on the
dead engineer, many experienced rail-
road men on the scene here to-day in
Guiding a number of employees of the
road itself assert that the primary
cause Of the mishap lay in the running
conditions Of trains. and that the
burning to death Of the four women in
the second parlor car was due entirely
10 the nature Of the equipment.
Three separate Investigations are
under way, one by the Interstate Com
merce Commission, in charge of Chief
Inspector Belknap and .wo inspectors
nf the commission; the second by the
state Public Utilities Comnission and
The third by the New Haven road.
Luck ran strong for the company
and for the occupants. Of that train"
one experienced traffic man said. "and
il is astonishing that scores We're not
killed. Had that been "a modern steel
train instead Of wood there need have
been no deaths except those OF the. en-
CINE crew. The fact that the cars
were wooden is directly responsible for
the burning to death Of those four
women, while Mark Wheeler, the mail
clerk, was sacrificed because wooden
cars could not stand the impact as
steel cars would have done"
Often Take Switch at Fifty Miles.
AS TO running conditions, it was
brought out in testimony at the inquest
started by Coroner Phelan that II was
common practice TO run trains right up
TO the point where the engine left the
rails at rate of fifty to sixty miles
an hour. while Henry Gardner, Of No.
112 High street. New Haven, a fire.
man In the employ of the company, de-
clared that he had often been on en-
gines that took the cross-Over switch
where the train left the track at the
rate Of even sixty miles an hour.
Il knew George Clark WELL" said
Gardner yesterday. Il ran with him
over this line for eight months not long
ago as his fireman. He was one Of the
most careful and trustworthy engineers
in the service, an old hand at the bust
ness, and l can't believe that he is to
blame. II there is any blame. it must
belong to some one else"
Coroner Phelan convened his hearing
in the freight house near the scene Of
the wreck to-day, and examined Bart
ley Gordon, section foreman, who was
at work on the tracks at the point OF
the wreck at the time, and John Allen,
bridge tender also an eyewitness.
Gordon testified that Clarks train
ran at reckless speed. but said also 1t
was a common practice. as did Allen.
The signals indicated that the train
should slow down." said Gordon before
the Coroner. land noticed that 1t was
coming toward me at a speed of be-
tween fifty and sixty miles an hour. l
ran toward 1t. waving my hat and
shouting. The engineer must have seen
me as he was leaning out of the cab.
but he paid no heed. The thought
flashed across my mind that he must
be dead 1t is not unusual for trains
TO approach the cross-oyer at that
speed but they usually shut off to take
the switch. The proper speed Is fifteen
miles an hour"
Says Full Speed Is Common.
John Allen, the bridge tender. told
the Coroner that he was in the tender S
shack at the time, and saw the train
dash by. He said that 1t was common
practice for trains to go by at full
speed.
Coroner Phelan is being assisted in
his Investigations by Deputy Sheriff
Donnelly, who is gathering witnesses,
and will continue the hearing to-mor-
raw j. was said that ne had been
asked to conduct the hearing in pri-
yate, but declared that II should be
open and that he would probe 1t to the
bottom.
Engineers of the company, leaning
from the cabs Of engines that came to
stop during the day at the scene of
the wreck, shook their heads and said
that such an accident had been ex-
pected by them for some time. When
asked why, two or three of them said
il was due to an order posted for engi-
neers a week. ago by the company
1T is an outrage, this laying all the