Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-01
CORONER STARTS PROBE
INTO RIVER DROWN|NGS
Inquest to Place Responsible
ity for Deaths of Women
Begun.

An inquest to determine the response
bility for the deaths of Mrs. Bessie Halter
and Mrs. Sarah Nelson last Sunday night,
who were drowned following a collision be-
tween the excursion steamer Angler and
the launch Lofts. is being conducted this
afternoon at the District morgue by
Coroner hewitt.
The inquest opened yesterday afternoon,
but all Of the witnesses could not be
heard at one session. and the hearing
was adjourned until this afternoon. When
the first witness. Arthur W. Simpson
owner OF the Lofts, was called to the
stand yesterday afternoon the little room
in which the inquests are conducted was
packed almost to suffocation, while sew
eral hundred would-be spectators con-
gregated on the street In front Of the
building.
The fact that five men were saved and
two women lost from the launch
was brought forth in the testimony OF
Of the Angler. He described the saving
of one Of the men and the attempt to
save one of the women.
He testified that after the men had been
saved he was talking to one Of them, whom
he later identified as Charles Toepfer.
451 H street northwest. and asked about
the women on the launch. He declared
Toepter said there were no women on
the launch but when told him heard
them scream and saw one of them said
Jefferson, 'he said there were two of
them and told me not to say anything
about IT.
Denies Jefferson's Testimony.
Toepfer. who had testified previously,
to-
asked about the points brought out in
Jeffersons testimony he denied that he
had talked to the latter.
Other startling information brought out
was the fact that, although Toepfer. who
said he was steering the launch, de-
clared he had seen the excursion steamer
about a mile away coming down the river,
he did not again look toward 1t until it
was within a hundred yards or more,
when he heard a whistle.
Arthur w. Simpson. the owner Of the
launch. was the first witness. He told
about taking the two women on board the
launch at Marshall Hall. and also gave
including himself. He stated that when
the launch was near Fort Foote he was
preparing to put up the lights on the
launch. when the engine stopped. He
and did not stop to fix the lights.
L. E. Cameron. 62S North Carolina ave-
nue. southeast who boarded the launch al
Marshall Hall, testified that he had been
in the fore part of the cabin all the way
up the river and that just before the
crash came he had gotten up to change
his clothes. He said as soon as the crash
came he started from the cabin and that
Mrs. Halter grabbed hold of him. Dam
eron declared he told the woman to be
Inn ma would Ia
told of swimming toward the bow of the
steamer and declared that when a colored
man on the steamer grabbed his wrist
and pulled him up. Mrs. Halter lost her
hold and fell back into the water
Bottles Of Beer on Launch.
Simpson. Toepfer and Cameron each
testified as to having bottles Of beer on
the launch. but declared that there were
only two apiece.
A. J. venable. pilot OF the Angler, who
stated he had been on the river all his
life, declared the launch carried no lights.
He said when he first saw the boat it was
only short distance away and he blew
his whistle. Getting no response, he de-
clared he thought the object ahead was
not a boat. Nevertheless, he steered his
boat to the left, he said, but as he did so
the launch changed its course and ran
directly across the bow of the steamer.
II rang the bell as a signal to reverse
the steamer and we were travelling only
at a slow speed when the launch was
struck. If we had been going fast none
of them would have been saved. The
steamer would have cut the launch in two
and they would all have gone down with
her," he concluded
Cameron was arrested the day after the
accident happened and charged with va
grancy He was arrested by Detectives
Simpson and Howes of the first precinct
and committed to jail for a hearing next
week Yesterday it was necessary to pro-
cure his release from jail in order that he
might attend the inquest. This morning