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OAK PARK "L" OFFICIALS ARE
BLAMED FOR MAN'S DEATH
Sam Insull and the other million
aires into whose hands the Oak Park
"L" Company has fallen, may be in
dicted by the Cook county grand jury
in connection with the death of Wil
liam B. Warner, the aged gateman,
who was killed by an Oak Park "L"
train at an unprotected grade cross
ing. A coroner's jury in Oak Park made
a recommendation to that effect last
night.
"We, the jury, find that the de
ceased, William H. Warner, came to
his death from shock and injury
when he was hit by a west-bound
train on the Chicago & Oak Park
Elevated Railroad, while at his post
of duty on East avenue on the morn
ing of December 4.
"We find the cause of- his death
was due to the lack of proper pro
tection and safety devices for the
protection of his duties."
"We exonerate from blame the
train crew, who were running con
trary to train rules, but under orders,
and recommend that the owners and
officials of the Chicago & Oak Park
Elevated Railway, who are responsi
ble for the unsafe condition of cross
ings where tracks are not elevated,
be held to the grand jury for the
death of William H. Warner until re
leased by due process of law.''
Last June another jury in Oak
Park took similar action, but nothing
resulted. Sam Insull has for a long
time been receiver for the Oak Park
road, but it is believed that 53 per
cent of the stock in the road is held
by the owners of the Northwestern
"L." As 53 per cent means control,
it is thought that whatever action re
sults from the jury's recommenda
tion will be aimed at the officers of
the Northwestern: Sam Insull, chair
man of board; B. I. Budd, president;
W. V. Griffin, treasurer; P. D. Sexton,
secretary; E. C. Noe, general man
ager; Henry Blair, I. M. Cobe, W. A.
Fox, J. H. Gulick, M. B. Starring,
Samuel McRoberts, directors.
Warner was killed December 4 by
a west-bound train that was running
on an east-bound track.
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MRS. BRITTON BLAMES R. R.
FOR ACTIONS OF PORTER
"When a defenseless girl is expos
ed to attack by a negro porter, the
railroad company is culpable to a
degree of criminality," declared Mrs.
Gertrude Howe Britton of the Juve
nile Protective Ass'n today, in com
menting upon the mistreatment of
Miss Cecilina Marcoullier, a pretty
young farmer's daughter of Toma
hawk, Wis., by a negro porter.
Robert Williams, a powerfully-built
negro porter employed by the Chi
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, was ar
rested here and taken back to Lin
coln county, Wis., charged with at
tacking the girL
"Young girls should be careful not
to address strangers or members of
train crews while they are traveling
alone," said Mrs. Britton, "and they
should be especially careful not to
talk to negro porters. Too often their
courtesies are mistaken for encour
agement. But it is inconceivable that
the Pullman company, or a railroad
company, should allow a young white
girl to travel alone in a sleeper, with
only a negro porter aboard."
Unused to travel, Miss Marcouillier
left her father's farm -to visit rela
tives in Dalton, 111. The negro por
ter, she told the police, offered to pro
vide her with a berth free of charge.
She was the sole occupant of the
Pullman and after she had retired the
negro entered her 'berth and assault
ed her.
The girl is at the home of relatives
in Dalton under the care of a physi
cian. o o
Mme. Alice Deschamps, a well
known French sportswoman, cele
brated her eighty-fourth birthday by
taking part in a lawn' tennis, a golf
and a croquet match.
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