The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-03-19
SISTER OF DEAD
 GIRL DESCRIBES FATAL AUTO RIDE
Miss May Best Tells of Motor
 Trip Which Ended in AIma's Death.
ACCUSED IN TEARS
 TELLS HIS STORY
Defense Is That Accident Was Due to Sprocket Chain
 Slipping.

Isaac w. Hawes, driver of ths car
 which left the, road in Upper Stepney i last October and hurled Miss Alma. Best to her death. testified this after noon in the criminal superior coufe where he is on trial for manslau2lafsr on Saturday, October and took l Charles Merwin there.
 On the following day they took Alma and May Best for ride to Dan bury and New Milford They return l ed early in the evening and had sup per at the Inn. Havves retired aE { about o'clock, going to a room ou the third or fourth floor He left 1ler- win talking with the two girls. The accused said he and EEervln
 arose about 5:30 on Monday rnoruins and went to get the car. The clock on the machine showed it was a.bone 6:1O when they drove up to the hotel 1 porch although the clock might have
 been fast or slow, The speedometer
 was not working well, he declared. Hawes said the car weighed 4.a50 pounds and was fitted with dfNerentfal explaining blue prints of the cars me chanism at press hour.
 From the tone of his evidence it appeared probable that he would
 claim something happened to the chain or drive so that the brake would not work when applied at tho road bend where the car left the high way.
 Hawes was in tears as he told -of the accident He said the machine was going about 30 miles an hour aa he neared the bend in the road Flo slowed down, heard something snap and felt the car Iurch as 1t left the road. He testified that after the ac- cident when he had assisted the other
 passengers. he looked at the car and r~- -r-. sprocl<et He thought this caused tH9 acsfdent.
 as a witness yesterday afternoDu- 4aase sSest told of the ride Sn Eaweas
 car slichA ended in the death Of her sister.
 9Cn the morninz of the accident she wanted to catch the train for New
 York so she accepted an iuvft1tiou from Hawes to, ride to this city in f1e machine. Har sister and a, man named
 Merwin were the other passenger The witness thought they left the Ne-V~ town Inn, where they were guests, at about a. m-
 Before they reached Upper SteDney Hawes slowed down several times te go around bends in the road MisT Best turned around once to spea< tc Alma, who was in the rear seat AG they were nearing the scene of the tragedy the witness turned around again but before she had time to speak the car swerved and left the road Miss Best said she didn't remember what happened after that
 The witness said she is a nurse ar the Post Graduate hospital in New York Last October she was not feel- ing well and made arrangements to stay at the Newtown Inn a short time Her sister Alma went there to keep her company On the night ioeforo the accident the two girls had taken a ride with Hawes, also a guest at the Inn. but had left him early in tho evening.
 Deputy Sheriff Stephen Hayes said the distance from the Inn to the scene of the accident is forty rods less than seven miles. He thought 1t was short .lv after 6:30 when the Hawes' auto mobile arrived at the fatal spot There appears to be difficulty in finding the xsct time the auto was wrecked. Some nearby residents say 6s30 and soma say 1t was later The concensu8 Of opinion seems to be that it Waa be- tween 6:30 and e:45-
 H. Morton Greenman, who Uye8 In Newtown, said he examined the tracr8 in the road shortly after the accl- dent He thought the marks were madesby a deflated tire.
 Charles Gilbert of NewtoWn, Wn4 has owned a number of autos, said he found no evidence of shidding at the point where the car left the road mo marks looked like those of a deflated tire.
 He didn't see any evidence of a. tlre. blowout. There was a cut in a. rear tire, which the witness thought might have been made when the car croas- ed the stone wall.
 Miss May Best, sister of Alma Best.