The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-02-24

In view of the fact that there are*; a large number of witnesses to be ex- annined, it is probable that the inves-
 tigation will last several days. A mass
 of evidence must be studied before
 any conclusions can be reached, and
 today'S developments only reached an
 early stage.
 On the bench with Coroner Phelan
 when the hearing opened this morning
 were C.. c. Elwen engineer member of the Public Utilities commission
 and E. I. Rudd, chief engineer of the neer Joseph P. Wadhams, formerly an employe of the Connecticut company was also in the court room.
 Representatives of the Connecticut company were J. B. Potter, general
 manager of the local division; Frank
 L. Kib1ing, superintendent of the Bridgeport lines; J. M Maloney, claims agent; and Conductor George Mills, of 401 Jackson avenue, Strat- ford, one of the crew of the north bound car. Motornan Charles E. Sherman, of 2S1 Barnum avenue, also
 of the north bound car and Conduc- tor George Denny Robinson, of An sonia, of the il1-fated south bound l car are both confined to their homes with injuries received in the acci- dent.
 of Shelton, was the first witness to take the stand this morning. He l said hhat the sounding of the fire | fire alarm was the first notice he had l
 the scene he saw stephen J. Palmer, 1 of Shelton, who is said to have owned l the gasoline which exploded, standing
 near a pole on which there was a fire alarm box. Palmer had turned in the alarm from this place.
 l The Shelton chief told the coroner | that he talked with several of the pas l sengers in the south-bound car, after | their seemed to be some irregularity l at the switch in South Shelton. The passengers, according to Donovan, felt uneasy after leaving the light, and one | man said to his wife. "I'm not riding Eeasy. I don't like things"
 Donovan said that the cars did not appear to be te1escoped, but when l they were pulled apart to prevent the seemed to be higher than the other. ] Passengers told him that the south bound car was practically at a stand still when the collision occurred. l Two passengers with whom Dono- van talked, told him that the motor man of the south-bound car stopped ! the car and went back to talk to the l crew of snow plough which was standing at the South Shelton light,
 after passing the light
 l In concluding his testimony, Chiel l Donovan stated that he paid no atten- l tion to the signal lights at the time, l and none of the passengers with 1 whom he talked said anything to him l about them.
 1 George Kirk. of 1945 Chapel street,
 New Haven, who has been employed | by the Connecticut Company for IS
 years. 14 of which he has spent as master mechanic on the Derby di- vision, was the next witness.
 | Kirk, according to his testimony,
 was ordered 10 take the wreckirg car
 to the scene of the wreck q few min | utes after it's occurrence. He said
 that the light at he South Shelton Jswitch was against him when he ar I 1+ rTT1tf H7J& hn Ia thelper orders to go ahead regardless | of the signal
 The master mechanic proceeded to give a description of the condition of the two cars when he arrived on the
 scene, and told of finding the remains | of a f1ve-ga1lon can under the apron platform of the south bound car. He said that the can appeared to have the inside Kirk started to hunt for | the can after he had been informed 1 by passengers, that it had been placed on the car. He said that in his opin- | ion, there would have been no loss
 of life if it had not been for the ex- plosion.
 l One man who had both legs broken
 by the collision, told Coroner Phelan
 yesterday, that something from the l forward part of the car flew hack and struck him. Kirk said that as l far he could see there was no de- l bris in the car which might have in
 JuFSu the passenger Tn thlS manner. l Dr. Edward Fitzgerald of 480 East | Washington avenue, who acted as 1 medical examiner in place of Dr. | Shelton, of Shelton. said that the eight persons who were killed lost their 1 lives through aSphyx1ation, caused by | gas which was formed by the fire.
 In telling of the delay at the South l Shelton switch, Charles F. Baxter. Of
 no Riverda1e avenue, Shelton, said:
 Shortly after leaving the switch, the notorman stopped the car and said to