The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-20
DoHERrY VERSUS MEL1EN.
tspringhela Republican-o

(SpringheId Repub1ican.)
 There have been enough tests al- ready of engine 1888 to demonstrate that MT. MeIlen was reckless1y pre- mature in placing the whole blame wreck upon the engineer, Doherty. There were half a. dozen trfals-of the, big locomotive at Stamford Tuesday, and the railroad officials beamed with satisfaction over the results. No. 1883 and the train back of it came to stop every time and with a good mar gin of safety, before reaching the spot where the deemed Skylarlz had been rammed and crushed. It looked bad for the little eng1neman, Doherty.
 Coroner Phe1an then remembered that at the inquest the ,railroa,d off oials had testified that the brakes could not fail to hold if the train were run precisely as Doherty said he ran it In the six preceding tests the To- comotive had been worked as the ex- pert operator had wished to. There were different ways of applying the emergency brakes. Doherty had first applied. he testified, a 1o-pound air pressure; and then he put on five pounds more pressure; and finally he ''gave her the whole thing" An ex- pert of the interstate commerce com mission is quoted as saying, in answer to, the question whether Dohertys was bad braking:
 It was not bad braking, that is not braking without the pale of railroad ! ne 4,-%es the principles of braRing, and few of them agree. eDoherty applied a. 1O- pound air pressure. There are stand ard railroads in this country where 1t is held that from to 10 pounds of air is the right pressure to be applied on first application of the service brake. And there are other standard railroads whose experts insist that the first application should be from 12 to 15 pounds at first. You can't make any general rule. The right thing to do varies with every individual case l to go after your brakes harder than on a dry track. The grade makes a diff ference, the weight of the engine does 1 also, and so does the weight of the train that is being pulled.
 If Doherty's first application of the brakes under a 10-pound pressure was not t.bad brakdng,'' then it became necessary, of course, to test the loco motive under the same braking con ditio11s that had existed on the day of | the wreck. One is surprised that the railroad officials hadn't thought of it before the coroner did. Tn view of President Mellen's charge, this test meant a good deal to Doherty. So 1 they had the test.
 I The chief engineer carried that
 memorandum of Doherty's run into the engine cab and supervised McCon- ] ville's work in reproducing it.. As the train backed away to get into play for the application of the brakes at full speed, hundreds of Bridgeport residents gathered on the railroad tracks. Police Chief Brennan took a position at the spot where the engine had responded to the brakes when McConville was using his own judg- ment- After a lapse of 20 minutes the big locomotive again bore down toward the Stamford station, but this time there was no indication of the response to the brakes shown former ly. Chief Brennan was passed at 4C miles on hour or more. As he de- scribed it, the train was making good speed for an open track. He could see that the brakes were set, he said
 but were not holding. Through the nan stood to the spot where the Sky ed, and there was no sign of a sIackfng a. full stop until the Skylarkss .positior