New Britain herald., 1915-01-05
RAILROAD CROSSING
 NOT WELL PROTECTED Judge MeskIII Discharge ?. J. Cag- per and fiadS Company Negligent. NO LIGHTS ON NORTH GAZE
After Lengthy Trial Philias Gagner Is Absolved of All Blame for Crash Crossing.

ing Through Gates at Main Street
 Crossing. @
 Because, through the negligence of one of the employees of the New York, New Haven and Hartford rail- road company, the north gate on the Main street crossing was not equipped With a signal lantern at 11:3O o'clock on the night of December 28, Philias J. Gagner could not see the lowered gate and thinking that because no light was visible the crossing was clear, he drove his machine onto 1t, snapping the north gates. Once on the track, with the incoming Bristol train bearing down upon him there was nothing left for him to do bur continue on his way. After a long trial in police court this morning Judge James T. Meskill found Gag ner. not guilty of reckless driving, dis charged him. and placed the blame for the entire trouble upon the cor poration.
 Police Officers Testify.
 As Prosecutor Klett was disquali- fled from conducting the case it was handled in the state by his assistant
  Axel Carlson saw Gagner and his auto at the corner of Main and East Main streets going at the rate of about twenty miles per hour. The street was devoid of other vehicles at the time. Officer Thomas Dolan testi- fled to seeing Gagner drive into Church street and turn around after hearing the crash. The light and windshield of the auto were broken and Gag ner and one of the women in the car were cut about the face and head. Officer William Hayes was another witness. He was with Officer Dolan and gave the same evidence, except that he saw the car going about twenty miles an hour before turning into Church street. He also said there were no cars or autos in the road. Attorney F. F. McDonough, counsel for Gagner, questioned the officers judgment in estimating the speed of the machine. Testimony given by Gatetender H. w. Kilbourne was that the 11:3O dinky was ap- preaching when Gagner's auto crash ed through the gates. He thought the car was going at fully fifty miles an hour.
 Little Evidence of Speeding.
 Lawyer McDonough said that Gag ner has a four-cylinder Buick and he then ridiculed Kilbourne's state ment that the auto had attained a speed of fifty miles an hour when it hit the gates Not a bit,'' Kilbourne replied when the lawyer asked him if he was willing to reduce the speed of the auto any. Jimmie Desmond also saw the crash and shouted warning before Gagner's car hit the gates. While he would not judge the speed of the car Desmond said he has often ridden faster himself. He thought Gagner had the car under control after hitting the first gate for he steered into the frail part of the second gate. His statements all favored Gagner and he declared that there were no lights on the gates.
 No Lights on Gate.
 Councilman Thomas Coyle was with Desmond on the night of the accident and he also declared that the rail- road gates were equipped with but one light, that one on the southeast gate, There were no lanterns on the other gates he testified. He sees cars going just as fast as Gagner's was every day. He then gave neat little speech in favor of MT. Gagner. Councilman Coyle said he was inf1u- enced to look for lights on the gates by his serving in the council and being identified with the arguments for the better protection of grade crossings. Daniel Lindberg saw the Gagner machine go through the gates So, did Carl Roberg, but neither of them furnished any additional evidence Gatetender Kilbourne was re- called to the stand and said that city electric light is only a short dis tance from the gates, located in front of the United Cigar store. "Why don't you ask him about the lights on the gates," queried Lawyer McDon- ough of the prosecutor.
 Well, MT. McDonough, will you let me conduct my own case?'' flared up Judge Andrew.
 Tend er Sure of Lanters. The gateA Aender then asserted that he was pretty sure Oater he was posi- tive) that there were lanterns on both sides of the crossing. After the accident he took off the lanterns to clear the street of the broken gates. He said that the "hot dog man" saw him take off the lanterns, after the car broke through. He also denied that anyone investigated to see if the lights were there; they all chased the auto" he said Under Lawyer McDonough's questioning he said the in-train was a little over a minute late that night He said he lowered the gates at 11:30 and kept them down for five minutes, with both lanterns on, so everybody could see them. The tender was positive that the lanterns were there, because (Continued on Eleventh Page.)