Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1887 — THE CHATSWORTH WRECK. [ARTICLE]

THE CHATSWORTH WRECK.

The Coroner'* Jury Gay the Blame on the Seetion Fareman A««l is Jailed—H* Pretests that the Verdiet is Unfair to Him—Berio o* Charges Against the Company—Other Railroad Wreak*. The coroner’s jury in the case of the Chatsworth wreck agreed on a verdict Thursday morning, which boldfl Timothy Coughlin, foreman of section 7, to the grand jury, and negatively exonerates the Toledo, Peoria A Warsaw company. The management is not censured for running a double-header, for a lax system of track inspection, or for anything else. The verdict simply says the failure to patrol the track for six hours before the train came.and the habit of burning grass to the track, is the subject for criticism. The three or four friends of the Toad on the jury had better staying qualities than the two or three of those who wanted to fix a portion of the blame on the management. The verdict in full was as follows: We think, from the evidence, that the bridge was fired from the fires left burning, which had been set as late as 5 o’clock that afternoon by the section men, as close as sixteen feet on both the east and west sides of the bridge. We further find that the foreman of section 7, Timothy Coughlin, disobeyed positive orders from his superior to examine the track and bridges on his section the last thing on Wednesday, and we find that he did not go over the west two and one-half miles at all on Wednesday, and that the said foreman (Coughlin) was guilty of gross and criminal carelessness in leaving fires burning along the track in such a dry section and with such a strong wind blowing. We recommend that he be held for ex amination by the grand jury, and further, it is the opinion of the jury that the leaving of the track without being passed for six hours before the passage of the excursion, and setting of fires by the section men on such a dry and windy day as the 10th of August, 1887, were acts which deserve severe cirticism, Timothy Coughlin, the section foreman, was promptly arrested and taken to Pontiac, the county seat of Livingstone county. He says he cannot give bail and will have to go to jail. He insists that the verdict is unjust; that he went over his entire section as ordered, and that no fires were built as near the bridge as Heald and Taggert testified. The jury made out separate verdicts for each of the victims. Rev. Dr. Adams, of Bloomington, HL, president of the Illinois Wesleyan University, who is familiar with the scene of the Chatsworth disaster, said in an interview, Friday: The dispatches from Chatsworth are strikingly untrue. In the first place the bridge never burned. The only fire there was a slight blaze which had its origin in the fire box of the locomotive. The theories of incendiarism and of the burning grass are all false. Illinois is parched all over, and every blade of grass in the State is as dry as a powder horn and would burn like tinder. Therefore a fire originating in the grass two hours before the train met its doom would have consumed a large portion of the country before the train was due. The double-header was the cause of the accident. Two huge engines drawing sixteen heavily loaded coaches could not be upheld by a bridge of the nature of the one which gave way. The bridge, as stated, is of wood, not quite forty feet in length. It runs over a mere ravine, in the center of which a brook, now quite dry, winds its way. The fact of the matter is, the press dispatches are the laughing stock of all Bloomington, especially as regards the fire. The railroad company has carefully seen that no dispatches were sent out which should throw discredit upon their management, and yet to this very cause was the accident due. No one denies that thieves profited by the accident, but the theory that they fired the bridge is easily refuted. Dr. Adams says that the officials of the company have held back the truth, and thah the railroad company is responsible for the non-discovery of the missing bodies, because they wished to avoid paying damages. The Doctor said that the impression prevailed that the witnesses before the coroner’s jury were bribed.

A Singular Accident. A train on the B. A O. road, wnne entering Washington City, Wednesday morning, met with a peculiar accident. A mile before the “Y” was reached the engineer discovered ibat the air brakes would not work and whistled “down brakes” repeatedly, but for some cause they were not “put down.” The train approached the “Y” with terrific speed, and on reaching the sharp curve at that point the cars left the track and crashed through the two story brick signal tower. The engine was dragged from the track and over-turned, killing the engineer and braking both legs of the fireman. The signal tower was completely demolished and piled promiseususly over and through the wrecked cars, giving the wreck a most confusing appearance. Of the passengers twentythree were badly bruised or had broken lirhbs. The injures to one or two may prove fatal. Attempts were made Wednesday evening to wreck the Ohio A Mississippi east bound passenger train at Bast Bt. Louis. On Thursday an attempt was made to wreck a passenger train on the Galena division of the Northeastern railway. Fortunately coth attempts were frustrated by discovery. The through express on_ihu Ft. Wayne & Chicago railway was wrecked at Bayard, ()., at 3 'o’clock, Wednesday. The rails spread and one car was demolished. There Were few passengers, fortunately. The porter was killed and four passengers were injured.