Norwich bulletin., 1913-06-24
One Year Rule
 for Engineers
PROVING DISSATISFACTION AND
 MAY BE CHANGED.
TESTIMONY OF BARDo
General Manager of New Haven Road at coroner's Inquest Considered Doherty Good Engineer.

Bridgeport. Conn, June 23.-Attor- ney J. F. Berry of the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad today put the air brakes on' Coroner Phe- lan's inquest into the recent Stamford wreck, as the latter expressed it, when an effort was made by the coroner to ascertain the exact duties, powers and responsibilities of various high off, clals of the road. c. N. Woodward, general superintendent of the road, was on the stand at the time, and he declined, upon constitutional grounds, to answer questions as to his duties, pleading that he was already under lndlctment on a manslaughter charge as the result of the Westport wreck.
 Railroad Attorney Objects.
 Attorney Berry also temporarily objected to other officials from giving similar testimony. The coroner said he had hoped to make the inquiry as mine just who was responsible for the accident but as the road had put the air brakes on." he would have to adjourn until next Friday afternoon.
 Railroad Officials Questioned.
 The coroner examined General Man ager c. L. Bardo, General Superin- tendent c. N. Woodward, J. A. Droege, superintendent of the Shore Line di- vision, and Charles H. Joy, general air
 
 out their exact duties. and to whom they were responsible. It was devel- oped from the testimony that for some Of the high officials of the road, there are no specific rules laid down, but of : f1cials perform their duties "according to general practice" MT. Bardo, for instance, said he did not know of anything he could not do under the term of general manager" The cor oner asked him how he knew whether or not he was intruding in someone else's territory and MT. Bardo said Well, if l did, I would very soon hear of it" The coroner indicated that he might call some of the vice presidents in an endeavor to find out how duties for executive heads are determined
 One Year Rule for Engineers.
 MT. Bardo while declining upon the advice of counsel to answer questions as to duties and responsibilities, gave interesting testimony as to the agree Tnent between the road and engineers, ffe declared that the road was not sat isfted with the long standing rule, plac- ing no limitation upon an engineer S experience. before he was assigned to fast trains. A two year rule was put into effect but the engineers union objected, with the result that com promise was effected, requiring one years experience.
 Not Satisfied with Rule.
 Coroner Phelan asked, Did you think that this was for the protection of the public? Who made the compromise ?'' MT. Bardo said, in reply, that at the time the rule was put into effect, he did not care to disturb the peace of mind of the engineers, and he was satisfied to gain the concession that he had. It was a step in the right direction. The company is not sat- isf1ed with the one year rule now, and when the coroner asked him if the road was going to change it. Mir Bardo said, T think so."
 Doherty Considered Good Engineer.
 The two year rule would be of the greatest benefit to young engineers MT Bardo said. for it would give them more experience. Engineer Doherty of the colliding engine in the wreck, was considered a good engineer, said MT. Bardo, but he displayed bad judgment at a crucial point. More experience would have prevented the collision. When asked whether or not an au- tomatic train stop would have pre- vented the wreck. MT Bardo said No" The alleged automatic stops' are supposed to be placed at the dis tant signal he declared, while all the evidence shows that Doherty ran by two signals with his brakes on. The automatic stop would have failed to do just what it was claimed to do he added. He said he would rather take chances with the human element rath- CT than any mechanical device that has so far been perfected.
 The Report of Experts.
 It was announced that the report of the railroad experts on the runs made by the test train last week would prob ably be issued Wednesday,