The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-10-09
DEATH GAR OF DOOMED TRAIN
 OLD AND WORN
Track Experts Called to Testify in Hearing on Westport
 Catastrophe
Vice President Horn Admits Commissions Advice Wasn't t Followed = Stone May Have Hit Engineer

FOllOWeQ - SfOne May Have
 Hit Engineer
 | New York, Oct 9.-Three track ex- perts testified before the joint wreck investigation of the interstate com merce commission and the public util-
 ities commission of Connecticut here,
 today. L. J. Ornalt, George D. Moore l and c. H. Morrison were called to l tell whether the New York, New Ha- ven & Hartford Railroad company was negligent in failing to provide auto
 matic block apparatus that might have prevented the catastrophe at Westport, i last Thursday. Investigation was all so made of a report that the wrecked parlor car that con tained most of the 1 dead was a wooden car 20 years old. Vice President H. J. Horn, of the road, will probably be called to explain what efforts to rectify mistakes re- sponsible for the accident are being made.
 w. H. Belknap, chief inspector in the interstate commerce service, will prob ably make his final report at a meet ing of the commission to be held In Washington in November or DeSen- Der.
 When the Commission at the Wal hearing Vice President Horn was questioned as to what measures his road had taken since the similar wreck at Bridgeport a year before to suited the other day in the killing of seven people. MT. Horn said that no safety appliances had been added, but spoke of the ''stiffening up of dis cipline. He expressed his lack of confidence in mechanical devices to prevent accidents, but pinned his faith to a "profounder respect for orders.
 He dweft on the necessity of making the engineers obey the .'slow-down' signals and all the orders against ex- cessive speed.
 Yet before the hearing was over the regular engineer of the train that was wrecked, who was off duty on the day of the disaster, produced a copy of the bulletin which he swore had been posted in the roundhouse only ten days before the wreck It was an order to the crews on the question of keeping trains time. Spectators at the hearing noticed with interest that the bulletin did not make any mandatory. expression against ex- ceeding the speed rules. The order read thus mildly:
 Engineers are requested to do ev- erything they can to make time, ex- cept that it is not desired in any way to run trains beyond a safe speed. Neither do we wish to have ed.''
 '.Just what have you done in the way of providing safety appliances, Interstate Commerce Commission, asked of Vice President Horn.
 Tn the way of safety appliances" nothing. We have had consultations with different persons who said they had safety appliances. we have had our own people and with those of other roads who were interested in the question, but we have no rnechani cal devices that satisfy us as to their efficiency"
 The chief precautfon taken by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad since the Bridgeport disas- ter, MT. Horn said, had been a t.stif- fening up of discipline among both officers and men.
 After the danger Of slaughter had l been demonstrated at Bridgeport was any effort made to replace the short l with the long crOsS-overs ?''
 We have looked into the question l Of long crOSS-Overs, but we have not found it altogether practicable to re- place the short cross-overs with them 1 If a man goes over a route at sixty | miles when he should go fifteen. he l would do 1t anywhere, and it would l be of no avail to lengthen the cross | overs.''
 the same as heretofore, MT. Horn, | what do you see in the future that | your company can do to prevent such l
 'sI have talked with many men in | positions similar to mine,' replied Mir Horn, and we have come to the con- |
 
 device that will prevent accidents; only a profounder respect for orders
 MT. Horn declared that Engineer Clark of the Boston Express WentI past his signals in violation of orders
 According to MT. Horn. his road at present to keep up with violations of the speed rules. Asked what his com peny was doing toward the equip rnene of its road with steel cars, Mir Horn said:
 we have either in service or on order about i25 cars, all steel or steel
 How many cars have you on the express train service?''
 Well, of these that run into New I ork, 500 in dull times and TOO :n
 How many cars have you in the system ?'' l whole service" i.
 Of the 125 steel cars either in ser zee or on order, MT. Horn said that ] danger of fire, MT. Horn personally ( believed that the wooden car. if well 1 built. would stand the test equally as nitted that those who still have fafIh I n the wooden car were in a minority Cnarles 70. Moore, the regular engine iriver of Train 5, who was off duty :, m the day of the wreck, swore that ' le had read the following Bulletin : S1. posted in the roundhouses of the 7 1ew York; New Haven & Hartford 7 Railroad with the date of Sept. 23: Our passenger service has not been r unn1ng very satisfactorily since the < leavy business set in on the 1st of T 'eptember, although travel has very | V much decreased, and there is .;onsid- Y rable fault on account of so many 1 z rains being late. = Every effort should be made to keep rains on time, and conductors are re- uested to avoid loss of time at sta ions loading and unloading passen- CTS, and engineers are requested to o everything they can to make tune. 1 s xcept that it is not desired to in any O yay run trains beyond a safe speed e Ieither do we wish to have the or a CTS on slow-downs dfsregarded.
 Be very careful when you have de- o ays to make correct repffrts 4-on6uc- a