The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume], December 07, 1912, Image 1

About The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917

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VOL. 48 NO. 290
BRIDGEPORT, CONN., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1912
DISASTROUS FIRES RUIN
CONTENTS OF MANY MAIN
NEWflAVEN
CONDEMNED FOR
STREET BUSINESS
Nine Firemen Overcome by Smoke and Gas
Rally Quickly in Hospitals-Losses Will
Run Into Many Thousands
Eerger Elcck rmculders Fitttly For Hours-Sleeping Inmates
Rescued in TenEmsnts Cver Rogers Cfothlni Co.
Improvised Hospital Kept
Treatins FIreni3n
BERGER BUILDING FIRLOSSES
Katz Furniture Company. , . - $10,000 A
Model Fur Company 12,000
Sabine Tailoring Company 8,000
Piquette Piano Company. 4,000
Famous Hat and Shoe Company .......... 4,000
Keller Piano Company. ' 1,000
Silver Trunk Company. -. . 300
Union Dry Goodsi Company 200
Damage to building ,v. . -. . - - .'" 7,500
CITY BAKERY BUILDING LOSSES
Rogers Clothing Company ....... ... . . $20,000
Family Shoe Store '.. . 3,000
Coley Hat Company ........ - , 8,000
M. Miehelson - 250
Christina Bieri ... ... ..V. . "100
Damage to buildings . 6000
1 i
Two fires in the heart of Bridgeport's shopping cen
ter last night did damage that will total close to $100,00,
rained Christmas business for a dozen firms and sent ten
firemen overcome by smoke and gas, to the hospital. The
.lires followed within a few hours of, each other anct their
origin is unknown. The firemen who were treated at the
hospital were discharged today, little the worse for their
experience. : , ' '
The first fire was early in the evening in the Berger
building, 1202-1212 Main street, and did damage close to
50,000. At this fire, a dozen firemen were overcome by
smoke and ten of them were taken to the hospital -for
treatment. . N
The fire apparatus had hardly returned to their sta
tions when fire was discovered in the Rogers Clothing
Company, 951 Main street. A delay in sotmding the
alarm gave the fire good headway arid the stores of four
firms were damaged to the extent of $45,000. Heroic
rescues of two women and a man occupying rooms above
the store marked the second fire.
Chief Mooney, as fire marshal, is investigating both
fires today. .Tenants in each building believe defective
electric wiring caused the flames.
For five hours, a big part of Bridge
port's fire department fought a most
stubborn fire that originated, about
7:15 o'clock in the cellar of the Model
Fur company, 1210 Main etreet, and
rutted the Berger building. The blaze
was the worst the department has had
to handle in a number of years. The
dense smoke that accompanied the
blind cellar fire overcame a dozen flre
men. many of whom were treated at
Che hospitals. AH the firemen were
discharged from the institution today.
They are:
Uent Arthur Chambers, No. 5.
Driver Thomas Monahan, No. 1.
Capt Thomas Burns, .No. t
Martin Hayden, No. 5.
T. P. Quigley. No. 5.
Charles Burke. Truck No. J.
Inspector F. T. Noonan.
Thomas Reilly, No. 5.
Joe DeForest. No. 5.
The Are was discovered by Simon
Bawer. manager of the Model Fur
Co. He ran to the station of Chemi
cal company No. 1 and gave the alarm
in person, many valuable minutes be
ing lost in calling the department in
this way. An alarm was sounded a
sfew minutes later from Box 323, call
ing three engine companies and two
trucVs to the fire.
When the engines arrived, the smoke
was rolling in clouds from the store
f the Model Fur company. The fire
men were forced to fight the flames at
great disadvantage, being compelled
to plav streams through street grat
ings amid the overpowering errvoka
The fire spread from the cellar of
the Model Fur company to that of the
Katz furniture company and that of
the Famous Hat company. It was
only after hours of continued work
that the flames in the cellars were lit
erally drowned out.
Through the partitions in the build
ing, the flames mide headway to the
roof and broke through in several
f luces. This necessitated a quick shift
ing in the manner of fighting the fire
nd the firemen did good work in halt
i
ing the progress of the flames.
Escaping illuminating gas added to
the dangers encountered by the fire
men and also did much to make the
nre more stubborn to fight.
After working for an hour ; outside
of the building, several firemen enter
ed the stairway leading to the second
floor. Half a dozen of them were car
ried to the street a few minutes later,
unconscious from the smoke and es
caping gas. Police Sergeant Arthur
Prout and Patrolman Dooley discover
ed Driver Thomas Monohan lying on
the stairway in an unconscious condi
tion about 8:45 o'clock. He was car
ried to the jewelry store of J. Lustig,
across the street, and the ambulance
corps was summoned'. Before ,it ar
rived, Lieut. Chambers of No. ' 5 en
gine, was carried to the street. As he
lapsed into unconsciousness, he called
feebly, "Get Hayden; he's inside"
Hayden was found stumbling about,
almost overcome, in the narrow stair
way. The three were rushed to St. Vin
cent's hospital Immediately after
wards, Capt. Burns of No. 4, and
Firemen DeForest, Flanagan, Noonan
and ReiKey, were carried from the
building to the temporary hospital in
Lustig's store. There thev were treat
ed by Lrs. C. L. Banks and E. B. Ivea
and later were taken to the hospital.
Fireman Charles Burke, of Engine
No. 2, was taken to the hospital after
his engine company had returned to
the station. He was suffering very
much from smoke and gas and waa
given treatment at St. Vincent's early
th's morning . He was discharged to
day. A number of other firemen were
temporarily overcome by the powerful
fumes and smoke, but continued at
work after a brief respite.
It was after midnight when the last
engine company -was given orders to
"pick up." Four feet of water in the
cellars told how the fire had finally
been conquered. Chemical No. 1 was
called to the scene of the fire after 1
o'clock this morning, when a slight
blaze broke out anew. A half hour's
MOONEY CALLS
STATE POLICE
TO PROBE FIRES
Fire Chief Edward Money today
is randnotins a risid Investigation of
the two fires that worked disaster in j
the shopping center of the city last-;
night. Chief Mooney isn't satisfied
with the defective wiring theory, aa
yet, and is going to make a thorough
investigation.
When seen by reporters, the chief
would offer no theory as to the origin
of the fires.
That he intends to malie a most
complete prohe, is evidenced hy- the
fact today he called State Policeman
Robert T. Hurley, from Hartford, to
aid in the investigation. Tenants rf
the damaged buildings were examin d
by the chief, who was continuing bJ.s
investigation at press time today.
State policemen, ' residing in this
city, who were at the Hres are assist
ing the chief in h-"s probe. - -
work drowned the fire.
The Katz etore and stock' suffered
damage mostly from water and emoke,
although the showroom on the second
floor was damaged by fire. The fur
company store and the Famous Hat
company etore were gutted. Sabjne
suffered mostly from water and emoke,
but the Ladies' tailoring department
on the second floor was burned.
On the second floor, the Piquette
Piano Company had 20. new pianos that
yere ruined by water and smoke. The
Keller Piano Company had four in
struments that were damaged almost
beyond repair.
Chief Mooney today said the fire
was one of the worst the department
has encountered in some years. The
difficulty of access to the blind cellars
was Increased by the overpowering
smoke and the danger from escaping
gas. The chief was most appreciative
of the courtesies extended 'by Mr. Lue
tic, who opened his sotre as a tempor
ary hospital for injured firemen, and
by the Waldorf Lunch, which served
hot coffee to the, weir nigh exhausted
firemen. ; u v -- r -
The police lines at the. fire were well
maintained by a special detail from
the center of the city under Sergeants
Frdut and Sanger.- --
POLICE RESCUE THREE
AT ROGERS CO. BLAZE
Two women and one man were res
cued from sleeping rooms In the third
floor of 943 Main street, when fire 'gut
ted the -store of ' the Rogers Clothing
Company and threatened to wipe out a
section of the business center shortly
after 3 o'clock this morning. The
rescues were made toy Patrolmen Bar
ney Glennon and James Dooley.
The fire damaged four stores and put
three of them out of business for
Christmas trade. The loss is esti
mated at $45,000, the Rogers Clothing
Company being the chief sufferer with
a loss of $20,000 on stock.
The sounding of the burglar alarm
from the Rogers store in the office of
the Western Union Telegraph office
called Roundsman. Michael Bayar to
the store. On his way to the store,
he picked up Patrolman Halpin. They
found one side of the store in flames.
The" fire "had melted one of the burglar
alarm wires, sounding the alarm in
the telegraph office.
More time was lost at this fire, too,
in sounding an alarm. Box 13, at
Main and Bank ' streets, .wouldn't
work when Bayar pulled it in, and
Patrolman Halpin ran to State and
Broad streets and called the depart
ment from box 14. The firemen, most
of whom had been on duty at the
Berger block blaze, responded with
dispatch and soon had several streams
on the blaze. -
The fire was'centered in the south
side of the Rogers store under a stair
way that leads to furnished rooms
conducted by Mrs. Christina Bierni
and Mrs. Nettie Stower- Patrolmen
Glennon and Dooley rushed upstairs
and roused Mrs. Stowe and Mrs.
Bierni. They were carried to the
street, clad only in their night robes
and blankets they had snatched from
their beds.
Mrs. Beimi told her rescuers i that
-John Hille, a roomer, was asleep on
the third floor. They went back into
the bunding and Drought him through
the flames and smoke to safety. Oth
er roomers in the building, Julius Mil
ler, Mrs. C. Hemingway, Charles John
son, Andrew Stevens and Charles Hoyt,
got to the street without assistance
after being routed out by the police
men. The fire originated under the stair
case to the apartments above the
stores, and may have been caused by
aetecuve wiring.
The Rogers store was gritted by ' the
names ana what stock was untouched
by the fire was ruined by water and
smoke. Small damage was done by
nre to tne store of the. Coley Hat
Company, but the s,tock is a total loss
because or the water and smoke. The
Family Shoe Company suffered from
water damage, and the apartments
above were damaged by smoke and
water. The office of the Van Roster
Bitters Company, owned by M. Michel-
son, was ruined with a loss of $250,
Charles J. Collins, manager of the
Rogers store, said today that his stock
is a total lossr He was unable to
surmise the cause of the fire. All tht
stores are protected by ample insur
ance.
The firemen h?rd a. hard fight for
an hour, several streams of water be
ing played on the blaze before it was
subdued. Fire officials scout the
theory that the blaze was of incen
diary origin.
WOMAN LEAVES $79 000
AFTER LTVIXG FOR.
YEARS IN POVERTY
Greenwich, Dec. 7 Much surprise
was expressed here, today, when the
will of Bachel Ann Knapp, filed in the
probate court, disclosed the fact that
she left an estate of $79,000. The wom
an had lived in seeming poverty for
several years and her neighbors sup
posed she had only a meagre income.
By the terms of the will, the estate
is left to 15 nieces and nephews.
N. Y. POLICE
BEST IN WORLD
SAYSGAYNOR
Chief Executive, of Metropolis,
in Ipschri Interview Ana
lyzes and Comments
on Becker Case
Declares Indicted Lieutenant is
Not Type of Officer, But is
the "Most Remarkable Crimi
nal of Generation" Delendi
Commissioner Waldo
O - , - O
I :
t GAYNOR ON GRAFT.
I Of the twelve that dipped the
j sop with Jesus one betrayed him. j
j It is not at all astonishing then j
j that Becker betrayed Waldo. j
j It wouluviiot only be weak but
contemptible in a Mayor to sacrj-
j fice his heads of departments when j
j some clamor arises. . I
j I will never set a crook to catch j
a crook. My police head must j
I be an honest man. I
j The great sources of graft are j
j enforcement of the excise' law, the
j law against gambling and the law j
against prostitution. ' '
j There are grafters still left in j
j the police of the old regime and j
j I would not be surprised if an old'
j time inspector should yet be j
j caught. ,
. Becker is not a type. If all the ;
j evidence against him is true he is I
the most remarkable criminal of a
generation. .
j In enforcement of the excise law j
I we have cut off graft of $3,900,- j
j 000 a year alone. "- - j
To eliminate graft we must re- j
j duce the contact of the force with
I the sources of . craft; name an j
honest and incorruptible Commis-
sioner, and let him enforce the
laws. ; . ' -'
I 1 The social evil ean never be cur- j
j ed. All that can be done, is to j
j insist on outward, order and de- j
I cency. I
A sensational clergyman scatter-
I ed the social evil all , over New
York with resultant scandal to our
wives and chlldrert. - j
j" ', If Jesus were here do you j
I think - he would print his pictures j
j at the head of a newspaper col j
j umn and then print uncharitable
j things about others. t j
j. Some people think the 'Mayor j
I should, stop every vice and crime
j at once. ' Why all the preachers j
j in the world have not yet brought j
j about the observance - of the ten j
j commandments. ' j
I I
O : -O
New York. Dec. 7. The great
Becker-Rosenthal gambling " graft
case was analyzed, to-day by Mayor
William J. Gaynor In a special inter
view with the United Press, in which
he pointed out lessons that may be
drawn from it by the executives and
people of other . American pities. Sit
ting at his desk in the City Hall, in
the. country's largest city, the white
haired, gray bearded executive frank
ly admitted, there had been plenty of
graft here and that some, still re
mains. He insisted, however, that it
was being gradually stamped out and
defended the rank and file of the
New York police as the best in the
world. . ,
Gaynor insisted that he knew cer
tain old-time police inspectors were
grafters. He would not have been
surprised, he said, if one or more
had been caught in the recent up
heaval, and hopes and rather expects
some will yet be landed in the net.
Instead of considering Becker a
type of .grafter the Mayor declared
the lieutenant was the most remark
able criminal of his day if all that is
charged against him is true but with
characteristic forbearance refused to
deal with this subject at' length be
cause Becker's appeal from his. con
viction is still undecided by the high
est court.
- The Mayor insisted that three
things contributed to graft, the en
forcement of the liquor regulation,
antirgambling and anti-prostitution
laws. But taking the enforcement
of these out of the hands of the gen
eral run of police and making a squad
under the immediate direction of the
Commissioner responsible, the graft
question is solved, he said. The
Mayor minced nothing, evaded noth
ing, and made it -very plain that, so
far as he is concerned, he believes
that he has solved the problem of how
a city should be run.
"You ask me how I regard the New
York police force to-day, as a whole,
for efficiency and effectiveness?" be
gan the Mayor, "The best in the world.
I say that advisedly. It is not . gen
erally known that compared with oth
er cities our police force here is very
small. We have a population of 5,
000,000, and only 10,000 policemen.
What do you think of that? Our full
complement compared with the othor
large cities would be 15,000. But
deficient in numbers as the force, is,
it does excellent work. It is capa
ble of any work put up to it. Every
one who comes here to the city sees
what excellent outward order and
decency is preserved. It is also a
fact that our secret service force does
the very best kind of work. It is
very seldom baffled. It is, in a
large sense, the secret service force
of the whole country. We in fact do
work for the whole country.
"We recently had two cases here
which illustrate what I mean. Ono
was the robbery of tne bank messen
ger by the so-called taxicab thieves
The police had very little to go by,
and yet they arrested them all. One
I think they found tin Memphis, one
In some other western city and one I
think in Cuba, or on the way to or
from Cuba. By the way, when a
"criminal here sets outside of the city
KENT WEST
they are able to catch him easier than
if he ! went into some hole here in
the city and kept still. - ,N
" "The more recent case is the mur
der of Rosenthal, the gambler. Those
who did that deed also came in an
automobile to the place of the mur
der, and" got away in the same 'way.
It was all done in a moment, and off
they wbnt. . Conflicting numbers of
taxicabs were given by citizen onlook
ers. , With very little to go by the
detective force of the-city within a
few liburs had the cab brought to the.
station house and in a short time sev-
j eral arrests of those concerned were
made. It took some weeks to make
the final arrests. These two young
murderers went into a house in a re
mote part of thos city, and stayed
there. But they were found. And
yet, owing to the sensational state
ments of newspapers and some public--
officials, the notion was sent
abroad that the police tried to shield
these criminals. Nothing more un
just was ever said of the force here.
The criminals" were - 'all promptly
fqmd. The. District Attorney was fur
nished with "a complete . case. Then
the ones who hired the murderers
turned state's evidence .against Beck
er, and showed that ", he instigated
them to do the murder, and thus he
was indicted and convicted of the
murder.
" "In place of standing in the . way
to shield their fellow of icer, the po
lice did their-whole duty in. tl- mat
ter. I could go on multiplying instan
ces to show the efficiency of our de
tective force. They do fine things
every day. Of course I am a novice
in such matters and I suppose would
make a very poor detector of crime,
but I .cannot help sometimes being
greatly interested in the work of the
police in this line. Of course they
come to tell me about .it, and I like
to listen to it, to make them feel
good, and to encourage them, if for
no other reason.
. "I should not leave the - subject
without saying that we have a splen
did police commissioner, Mr. Rhine
lander Waldo. Up to tUe time of
the Rosenthal murder the entire press
(Continued on Page 4.)
ACCUSED NEGRESS
CLAIMS PATRONAGE
OF MANY NOTABLES
- V .
Alleged Pickoc'tet is Held For
Trial in $300 Bail ,
' A . peculiar case was presented for
consideration before Judge. Patrick J.
MoMahon, of Waterbury, presiding in
the city court today, when . Christian
League Woodyear, an eighteen-year-old
colored girl of. 274 Noble, avenue,
was arraigned for theft from the per
son, her accuser being James Cisero, a
barber of .1026 East Main street. Cis
ero alleged . she with another colored
girl had ' held him up at the corner of
Crescent " and Noble avenues on the
night of November - 27,.r -abstracting
money from his pockets. Probable
cause "was found and the girl bound
over under $300 bonds for hearings in
the Superior court.
To Court Officer Finnegan, appoint
ed guardian, the young woman stated
that no less a personage than Mrs.
EnzatJeth P. Grannis, a noted charity
worker,- was not only her duly ap
pointed guardian but had reared, her
since she was nine days old. .Her
mother, who had afterwards married
and was at present residing in Bridge
port, said the girl was an old retainer
in the Grannis family and through the
efforts of the National Christian
League for the Promotion of Social
Purity, of which Mrs. Grannis is pres
ident, she had been sent through the
New York public schools and later to
the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama,
where she became a protege of Booker
T. Washington. ' . '
According to letters in the possession
of the prisoner she is a member of the
George, Jr., Republic, and is said to
bear an excellent reputation in the
eyes of Calvin Derrick, superintendent
of that organizatiori. So insistent in
her statements and demands that Mrs.
Grannis be informed of her predica
ment was the Woodyear girl that the
police will permit her to communicate
with her supposed, guardian today.
William Hall, of New York, charged
with. the theft of a. bicycle sjMd to be
long to Howard Wheale, a local tailor,
fined $7 and costs. -
Fritz Butta, arrested for drunken
ness, becoming so violent Sn a cell be
fore court this morning it was found
necessary to transfer him to St, Vin
cent's for treatment. -
Who Wants
To Rent a
House
If yon have a house or flat to
rent, tell the readers of The
Farmer about It" through the
classified columns, you will find
a tenant in short order.
Wateli the classified page, no
tice what others are doing;
they use want ads in The Far
mer because it PAYS THEM.
Word your ad. carefully, tell
just what you lave got to offer
people want the facts without
too mxieh trouble in making in
vestigations. Try it for a day,15 words 15c;
classified three times, 35c
Report of Interstate Commerce Commission
Scores Company For Neglect to Comply
With Specific Instructions to Install
Safety Devices and Exercise
Greater Caution in Train
. Running
Commission, After Censuring ngineer Clark, Ssys in .II Es
sent ais This ccldent Was Cupl:ca:e of Disaster to
; Federal Express in Ihis City on July' 11, 1911
Washington, Dec. 7. Bitter condemnation of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad company
for neglecting to comply with specific instructions to in
stall safety devices and exercise greater caution in train x
running, was contained in the Interstate Commerce Com
mission's report, today, on the Westport, Conn., wreck,
which occurred on October 3. To non-observance of the
commission's rules and "pessimistic hopelessness" of at
titude on the part of the railroad officials, the commis
sion ascribes the Westport catastrophe and its attending
loss of life and limb.
The commission's report, which was a lengthy docu
ment prepared by Commissioner McChord, was an ex
haustive summary of the causes of railway wrecks and a
solemn warning to all those who are "trustees of the peo
ple's safety" that they must co-operate m working to cut
down the appalling death list from accidents.
The commission, by inference, censured Engineer
Clark of the wrecked train, for clisr-esraivline: retm'ations
regarding curtailment of
mostly to blame tor the rigid requirements ot high speed
trains.
"In all essential particulars," the report says, "this
accident was a duplicate of the accident to the Federal
Express at Bridgeport, on the New. York, New Haven &
Hartford railroad, on July. 11, 1911, which resulted in the
I death of 14 persons and the
ply with the recommendations in its report on the Bridge
port wreck was largely a contributing cause of the West
port accident and. its accompanying loss of life.
-"To - meet the requirements of a
s ituation disclosed by the Bridgeport
wreck, similar in all aspects to the
accident under consideration, no new
devices have been installed or serious
ly investigated, nor have any at
tempts been made by this railroad to
even experiment with devices intend
ed for the purpose of these emer.
gencies. . Devices to automaticallv
stop trains are in - constant use in
tunnels and elevated rai'roads in and
about New York. In the adaptation
of some similar device- to ise on such
a railroad' as the New York, New
Haven &' Hartford, the pract'eal
operating difficulties are by no means
inseparable.
"The whole result of such consid
eration as , officials of this railroad
have given the subject is a pessimis
tic hopelessness indicated by the testi
mony, that 'we are at our wits end",
etc.
I "The public interests Involved and
a decent regard for the safety of the
! lives of those who travel do not jus
tify a great railroad in passively
awaiting until some private inventir
at his own cost develops to full per-
! fection appliances which will 'abso
lutely prevent tne occurrence or sucn
accidents."
All big railroads. " the report de
clared, should themselves devotr
money and time to development of
such devices.
Commissioner McChord wrote the
report. Usually, such documents are
merely' prepared by. subordinate in
spectors. McChord dwelt on the fact
that the commission's recommenda
tions are not all mandatory but said:
"If railroad directors and managing
officials remain passive and give to
such occurrences no such serious con-
! si deration as the situation demands.
then it i becomes the duty of public
officials to bluntly and plainly point
out to them their duties as trustees
of the safety of the travelling pub
lic." "No action." the report stated, "was
taken by any of the operating of
ficials following the -Bridsreport wreck
such as the serious situation de
manded. Railroad officials declared
that there had been a 'stiffenine- un'
of discipline but there had been no j
attempt to reach cases of sneed in
each case of that allowed by the rules
at bridges where speed is limited- by
the rules. For there was evidence
that at the bridge at Westport, rules
were habitually v'olated even after
the accident near this point.
"The appalling railroad catastro
phies of the past few years impera
tively call upon a'l connected with
railnoad management for more vigor
ous efforts to secure safety for those
who travel.
"The mental attitude toward these
occurrences is well shown by the
vice-president of this railroad in
charge of the engineering and main
tenance of way when he said 'then
why should not a train be wrecked
that" runs by signals?
"Wreck prevention is the highest
duty of railroads. This obligation is
not satisfied by merely making rules
which prove insufficient in operation.
If the 'human element' reneatedly
fails, then safety requires that the
highest degree of mechanical skill be
applied to properly supplement the
human element at the particular point
of danger. ,
. "Railroads nueht t n unitedlv psti pr.
PORT WRECK
speed, but held the railroad
injury of 54.
until a device ' of practicability for
general -use shall be available.
"Railroad managers and their em
ployes, as .well as state and federal
committees must unite In a deter
mined effort to reduce these harrow
ing railroad disasters to the limits of
unavoidable."
And the commissioner quoted the.
tragic and lengthy death and injury
list for 1909 and .19X0.
Complete technical instructions re
quiring heavier cross-overs and great
er observances of safety signals near
them were prescribed. That alarsrer
cross-over would presumably have
averted the - Westport wreck, was al
so asserted. Proper measures for
safety, the report continued had not.
been provided where cfof-over
which may be used safely only at low
speed are protected mere y by signals
securing "reduced speed" as in the
case of Westport.
"Excessive speed as a factor In
train accidents deserves serious con
sideration," McChord continued. "The
remarkable increase in speed and
weight of trains within recent years
and the crowding of tracks and ter-
minals caused by movement of enor
mously enlarged volume of railroad
traffic, have greatly Increased the
duties of employes and multiplied the
chances of, error on their part.
"In a "recent accident investigation,
it appeared that the general inspector
of transportation of one of our largest
raiiroad systems said:
" 'Excessive speed is the cause of
75 to 80 per cent, of the cataxtrophies
in the last few years.'
"When asked who was to blann.
the official said: 'The public, in my
opinion, because they ride on the rail,
road that has the fastest train."
"But did the pub'ic have knowl
edge that any railroad waa operating
its trains at such high speed as to
make' travel upon that road unafe.
Its patronage would quickly be withdrawn."-
Discussing specifically the Wci
port wreck, McChord dismissed as "a
mere technicality" the defense of th
New Haven that no finding was msde
by the commission cn the Bridgeport
wreck, citing that copies of the re
port were sent officials and "it wis
therefore apparent that the .--fficlals
did not take adequate measures to
prevent a recurrence of the Bridge
port accident."
STRIKE OF 3,000 RAILWAY
WORKERS IX EXGTOAXD
London, Dec. 7. More than 8.000
railway workers employed on lines in
the north of England, today, went out
on strike. They demand more pay.
shorter hours and other improved
conditions. It is believed that the
movement will spread.
$8,O0O TEXEMEVT
BLAZE AND NARROW
. ESCAPE OF FAMTI,IK.S
Greenwich, Dec. 7 Fire, vcsjtfiday
partly destroyed a three etorv frani.j
tenement houee owned by Micharl Ca
tallgonl with a loss of $8,000. The fir
started on the second floor and is sup
posed to have been caused by the ex
plosion of a lamp; The occupar.ta or
the tenement lost nearly all their poe
sestiions, the fire spreading o rapidly
ma l iney oaa only just time to
.