Norwich bulletin., 1922-06-16
DANIELSON AND PUTNAM NEWS

bury. Mass. said that he started to ring the locomotive bell several hundred feet east of the crossing at the same time that his engineer started to blow the crossing signal Having yelled to Philips the warning previously quoted, and seeing the car hit and turn over several times, he called to Ford we got them all :" the engineer applied the emergency brakes and the train was brought to a stop. He stepped down from the engine immedi- ately after taking the necessary precau- tions with the fire and steam and went to the front of the locomotive. He said l he heard Mrs. Phillips say that she had warned her hsuband to slow down on ac- count of the dangerous crossing. Both Ford and Ross declared they did | not know whether the electric signal gong protecting the crossing was working when | the accident occurred. but both testified | it was ringing when they returned, obund for Providence. Sunday evening, because they took special note of the fact.
 Neither the engineer nor fireman saw any other automobile cross the track ahead of the train or in the vicinity just ] prior to the crash. Ross said that a man and a woman with a baby in her arms was sitting in the front seat of the car as it approached the crossing.
 |
 Conductor George H. B. Johnson of Washington, R. T.. also testified. He cor roborated the engineers and freman's | testimony as to warnings of the train s | approach having been sounded several hundred feet east of the crossing and in other material ways.
 That there was something more than a suicide connected with the attempt to wreck an extra freight train of the New Haven road two and one-half miles south of here week ago last Wednesday night is again receiving credence in official cir cles. Charles Jencks, victim of the af- fair, may have committed suicide, but there is reason for believing that he was murdered. He may haTeS attempted to wreck the train, and then again he may not
 A brother-in-law of Jencks William Williams. of Webster, aroused new inter- est n the case Thursday by finding, al the locaton of the attempted wreck and Jencks' death, two more large loops of wire exactly like the wire used in flashing the old railroad ties to the tracks.
 These loops of wire, now in the posses sion of Coroner Bill were picked up mid. way between the railroad and the spot g little way distant in the wood where Jenclzs' coat. vest and raincoat and two hats were picked up the morning after the affair The loops had not been used it is evident, though ready for use 1T flashing ties Q the tracks The loops o1 wire are between three and four feet 1T diameter, the ends twisted securely to- gether to make a circular form. The ends of the strands appear to have beer freshly cut with some sharp instrument adapted to such purpose.
 | Finding the loops of wire has aroused the special interest of Coroner Bill, whC is inclined to believe that Jenclzs was no alone, at where hie body was found, som, time before the train smashed into tht barrier of ties lashed across the track. l There are various theories as to wfa' might have taken place. Jencks' where abouts from the time he left his home + Providence two days before he was found dead beside the track up to the time Q. his death Is not known. Not an fnkline of his wanderings is known in offlcia circles. One possibility is that he hap pened along as train wreckers were en gagged in flashing ties to the track ant was killed by them and left there. It i. pointed out that he was really an invali( land seemingly physically Incapable o handling heavy ties and flashing them t the rails.
 Finding of the additional loops of wir { likely will lead to searching investiga ' ton in an effort to clear up definitely al f the circumstances attending the attempt ed train wreclting.
 Sheriff Charles E. Aver and member = of the state police force stationed I1ec | have been giving their attention thi ' week to activities of solicitors who hay been coming into Moosup regularly seek