The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-11-13

layed reaching the scene. In the
meantime, word had been sent to
the Beacon Falls barracks Of the
State Police department and q
detail Of men was sent to the
scene to assist the constables Of
the Town Of Cheshire.
Highway Cleared
The highway In tie immediate
vicinity Of the overturned bus
was kept clear, as was the side Of
the road between the highway ana
the fence against which the bus
lay, for q considerable distance
either side Of the front and rear
Of the bus. A large gathering Of
people, curious TO see what had
occurred, Allied the road and
shoulders and the ground on both
sides Of the fence adjoining the
highway for a considerable dis
lance east and west Of the acct.
dent. The crowd had gathered
before the police officials had any
opportunity to get to the scene
SO that traffic could be regulated
and diverted around the scene of
the accident and In the light Of
subsequent evidence brought In,
II the roadway could have been
kept clear information might
have been gained which definitely
now Is lost. But OF course no one
knew what the facts were so that
no precautions could be taken In
view Of the circumstances to safe
guard this evidence.
Besides the five persons who
died as /. result Of the accident,
four OF whom died that day, al
most every passenger In the bus
was injured to some extent SC
that there was considerable de-
lay, owing to their nervous and
upset conditions, In interviewing
all Of the occupants. AS soon as I
could ! started interviewing wit
nesses and I extended the cour-
tesy Of my hearing to the repre-
sentatives of the Public Utilities
Commission, who also had to hold
an investigation into the accident.
Conflicting Statements
/ don't believe that I have, In
any hearing I have held, received
such conflicting statements as to
what conditions were and what
actually occurred than ! have in
this case. ! am not criticizing the
statements In any way except to
draw attention 10 the fact that
they were very contradictory. I
am fully satisfied In every In
stance that they were conscien-
tiously and truthfully made and
were the best recollection Of the
observations made by the various
witnesses at the time insofar as
they could remember them ct the
time the evidence was given. On
two points In particular the EVIL
dence varies very widely and Is
very contradictory. One Is with
regard to the speed Of the bus,
the other Is with regard to the
weather conditions. It just hap
pens that there were present In
the immediate vicinity at the
time the accident occurred two
persons differently located, one
being at the side Of the bus as
II was going down the hill and
the other behind the bus, who
had no interest whatever ir the
matter at hand and, In one in
stance, the witness was particu.
larry fitted by training and en-
perience TO obeerve and crltlcisze
the operation Of the bus ana also
to determine speed. witnesses tre-
quently do not volunteer their
services and there Is some delay
In finding and locating them. This
occurred In this instance nut we
are fortunate, am satisfied now,
In securing everybody who was IN
the immediate vicinity ut the time
the accident occurred. The Wit
nesses In the first Car coming up
the bill toward the pus, the wit
nesses In the car which the bus
was passing at the time II started
to skid and the witness IN the ca
following the bus have al! been
interviewed and have made state
ments In my record. Furthermore.
after the bus had beer br jugbt
into the Connecticut Company's
terminal 1t was held untouched
until such time as the Public
Utilities representative, with his
engineer, together with an exper-
fenced service manager whose
services I secured, could be pres
ent at the dismantling Of the
working parts Of the vehicle. At
the time this was done had
permanent Photographic record
made Of most Of the important
items on the bus and I had tests
made Of SO much as could be test
ed, owing to the wrecked condi-
ton OF the bus. under the d:Tec-
ton Of my service man and the
Public Utilities engineer. and In
each instance the tests showed
mechanical and air operated parts
to be In proper condition. That
there could have been no change
made In the vehicle between the
time 1t was brought In after the
accident and when the tests were
made. ! had the same checked by
the outside service-man under
whose direction the bus was
brought In after the accident and
they were in the same condition
at the time Of the disinantiing
that they were at the time the
bus was delivered at the Con-
necticut Company's terminal. The
rear wheels OF this bus are what
are called dual wheels. that q.