The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1917-11-22

the nagman On section two was to
blame" was the substance Of the md.
inss IN the investigation OF the Den
yer q Rio Grande Railroad company
into the troop train wreck near Coto-
paxi, twenty-five miles west OF this
city. at $3.50 O'Clock last Monday
morning when the engine or the third
section Of east bound No. Is crashed
into \ sleeping car on the section
ahead OF Il. killing three soldiers and
Sounding seventeen others. The Of
'fictai inquiry into the accident was
held at the Office OF Division Super.
intendent W. <. Miller In Pueblo on
Tuesday; beginning at $3.50 o'clock in
the afternoon and being continued till
II o'clock at night.
The members. Of both train crews
vere present at the Investigation and
were interrogated In relation to the
anair. c. d. Vail Of Denver. repre-
senting the state utilities commission.
was siro In attendance ut the hear
ing. Mr.. Vail declined to make q
statement after the Investigation. say
ing that the railroad company Of
sciais would make their report and
thas his report ~nuld be submitted to
the utilities commission. After the
hearing was concluded Superintend-
cot Miller made public the verdict Of
the investigating commission The
uz~tAo.s Sttz - trx,r o.
lection for which the fiagman on sec
ton number two was to blame" he
stated. He refused to give the flag
mans name. or say what action would
bc taken by the company concerning
him. II fs regarded as certain that
IN following the well defined policies
OF all railroad companies the man
held TO be blameworthy viii be pun
ishcd By disrnissai from the service
Tho aagman charged with negligence
has not been arrested by either the
state or federal authorities.
The improper signalling referred to
in the findings is what is termed in
railroad pariance rs "short signal
ling In mountain raiiroading when a
train Is running In sections II is Gus
tomsry 20 nag over the steep and
crooked track By means OF -fuses" or
torches which can be hurled from the
rcar Of the section to be tagged. or
stuck In the ground bcside the track
They burn five. ten or fifteen min
utee. They will burn In SNOW or vher-
ever thrown and can not be extin-
ruished and fare a rcd light that can
be seen for a great distance No ensi-
neer viii pass n furee.
On section two OF tho Inflated troop
train the Hagman who was protecting
the train against section three was
using ten-minute fuscs all along the
mountain division wherever II became
necessary FOR his train to slow down
In this way he supposedly kept section
thrrc ten minuies behind section two.
Al L. was approaching Cotopsxi sec
tion two stopped TO, repair q draw
head. Tho f,isee thrown nj the rear
by the iagman burned low. hIckcred
and died out Just as the repairs were
completed and section two started TO
pull out. Before Il had Travelled more
than q few feet. section three dashed
into the rear end Of two.
The railroad officials at the inves.
tiEation found that tho fiagman on
section two should have set another
signal far enough behind the stalled
section 30 keep section three st safe
distance. The engineer on section
shrce. running by the signals thought
section two was sti,i far ahead OF him
and had no way OF knowing that he
was approaching the train load OF sol
diers he had followed thru the night
In the pitch darkness that comes
just before dawn he could not discern
thc train ahead In time TO avoid the
collision and the rumble OF his own
engine In the narrow mountain right
of way absolutely prevented any POS
ability OF his hearing the train ahead.
The removal OF the dead soldiers
from the scene Of the wreck 10 Saiida
prevented the holding Of an inquest
over the bodies by the coroner OF Fre-
mont county. Coroner Atkinson OF
Florence stated that he left the mat
ter was one for the military authori-
Ties TO handle and that ne had no jur-
isdiction In the case. especially as the
bodies had been removed from the
county by order OF Col. w. G. Dcntiar.
rommanding officer in charge OF the
troop train carrying the 42nd regi-
mcnt from Fort Douglass, Utah. to an
army post In the east.