Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 March 1877 — The Ashtabula Horror—Verdict of the Coroner's Jury. [ARTICLE]

The Ashtabula Horror—Verdict of the Coroner's Jury.

Jh« LijaAtft Ashtabula special any* the uw,a^, * f^ low -- Tbat Ae fall of Ae bridge was the result of defects and errors made A designing, 'constructing and erecflngfif; toafa great defect, and one which appear* In maqy parts of the rtruetbre, was the 'dependence. of every member for Ha efficient action upon the probability Aat all. or nearly nil, the erthera would retain their position end do the duty for which Aey were designed, Instead of giving to each me#>f>er n positive connoo. tiou with the rest, which noAlng but n direct rupture could sever. The mem* ben ot each truss were, Instead of being fastened together, rested one upon Ae oAer, Us Illustrated by Ae following particulars : The deficient cross-sections of portions of tbe “T” chords sod some of Ae main braces, and.the iueufflclcnt strength and bad arrangement of boA Ae horizontal and vertical transverse bracing in Ae construction of the angle blocks, as nnully modified, with, out sufficient Idgs or flanges to keep Ae ends of Ae main and from slipping. Out of place; in the construction of Ae pocking ana yokes used in binding together Ae main snd counter-brace* at tbe points where Aey crossed each other; in Ae Shimming of tbe top chord* to com* pensate the deficient ltng'h of spine of Aeir members; in tbe placing during tbe process of erection of Aick beam* where Ae plan required Ain ones, aqd thin one* where It required thick, ones. That the Railway Company used and continued to use this bridge for about .eleven years, during all of whkn time a careful inspection by a competent bridge engineer could not have failed to discover, all Ae defect*. For the neglect of such careful inspection the Railway Company is alone responsible; Jhat the respousibility of this fearful disaster and. Its consequent losb of life' rtSW upon tbe Railway Company,-' which, by its chief executive officer, planned and erected Ais bridge; that tbe cars Rrfrhich the deceased passengers were carried into the chasm were not. heated by heating apparatus so constructed Aat the lire in them would be immediately extinguished whenever Ae cars were thrown from the track and overturned; that their failure to comply wiA Ae plain requirements of the law places Ae responsibility of Ae origin of Ae fire upon Ae railway company (see act of Mayl4, 1809); Aat the. responsibility for not putting put the tiro at the time it first made -Ha appearance in Ae wreck rests upon those who were Ae first U» arrive at Ae scene of the disaster, and who aeeined to have been so overwhelmed by Ae fearful calamity Aat they lost all presence of mind, and failed to use the means at hand, consisting of the steam pump in the pumping-house and the fire-engine “ Lake fehore" and its hose, which might have been .attached to Ae steam-pump in time to Bave -life. The steamer belonging to Ae Fire Department, and also the “Protection” fire engine, were hauled more than a mile through is blinding snowstorm and over roads rendered almost impassable by drifted snow, and arrived on the ground too late to save human life; but nothing should have prevented Ae chief engineer from making all possible efforts to extinguish what fire there remained. F6r his failure to do this be is responsible. That the persons deceased whose bodies were indentitied, and Aose whose bodies snd part* of bodies were unidentified, came to their deaths by Ae precipitation of Ae aforesaid cars in which they were riding into the chasm in Ae t#lley of Ashtabula' Creek, left by the falling of the bridge as aforesaid, and Ae crushing and burning of Ae cars aforesaid, for all of which Ae Railway. Company is responsible.