Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent

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Wadnngtsn, Jtdy 10-—Eastern Pennsyivania.: Showers Simday or Sunday ni^xt; Monday fair.
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The   only   Sunday   Newspaper Published   In  Luseme  County.
WILKES-BARRE, PA., SUNDAY, JULY 11,1920
Entered  at   WUkee-Barre.   Pm., as  Second  Clasa  Mail  Matter.
PRICE EIGHT CENTS
DAMAGING CHARGES IN LAUREL LINE PROBE; ONE MAN DEAD AND $250,000 LOST IN BLAZE
MINE ISSUE AT CHICAGO CROPS OUT
Socialists Make Plans to Steal Convention of the American Labor Party
SPLIT ON POLICY
Chicago, July 10.—The Socailists plan to "steal" the American Labor Party convention, it was said by one of the "conspirators' tonight.
While presidential nominating speeches are being made, probably Monday or Tuesdav* one of tho dele¬ gates, among whom are many Social¬ ists, will present tho name of ".a m.an who has always been a friend of labor, who is now in pri-son for his defen.se of labor—Eugene V. t)ebs."
In an impassioned speech, the Social¬ ist spokesman hope.s to stampede the labor convention, which opens tomor¬ row, into endorsement of Debs, thus setting at naught the efforts of the committee of 4S to draw the labor or¬ ganization into the proposed "third party."
Gilbert Roe, personal representative of Senator Robert M. LaFoUetle, will confer with members of the commit¬ tee of '48 and the American Labor Party tomorrow, regarding the pro¬ posal to offer the "third p.Tity" pre.-ii- ' dentia! nomination to LaFollette. A wire was received from Roe in Madi¬ son tonight, asking that a time for the meeting lie set.
Meantime various f.Tctions began openly expressing oppo.^ition to cither LaFollette or Henrj' Ford. The can¬ didate apparently receiving the most approbation from all groups waa Amos Pinchot, with Georgo Record. of New ,Tersey. and Charles H. Inger- soll, watch manufacturer, next in order.
Formation of a new "third parly"' through coalition of the jirincipal liii- eral and radical groups in the country hinges entirely upon the ability of tho committee nf 48 to adopt a platform favorable to all factions, it was learn¬ ed  from'authoritHtive sources tonight.
Efforts to effect a working .Tgroo- menl iireliminary to drawing up ihe declarHtion of principles have failetl, It was said, and all negotiations were at an imiia.s.se until the variou.s or- ganlz.it'otis ".«e<> which way the cat • is going to jump."
Mines  a  Problem
.\ccording   to     reliable     information rH?prehent:itives  of  the  4Rter.s  and  the labor   jiarty   forming  a   "llai-'^on  com¬ mittee."   fitially  .split   up  on   the  ques¬ tion  of  nationalization  of mines.   The j former  were   it ported   to   have  agreed j to  government  owneiT«hip  of  railw.ays | and telephone and telegr«ii>h lines, but insisted   th it   while    the     governincnl j should own the land upon which mine.s j were loc;ite«l. the I^a.scs should be held I by    individuals.    The    laborites    were understood   to   have   replied   that   this was  u   "so]«"   to   the  single  tax   party. Members    of    the  bitter organization, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the   proposed   plank,   declaring   it   did not coincide with single tax principles \ either.
.As m.Tttors htood lonicht when the committe" of -. S coi,vention rectnven • ed. the single ttxers will continue the convention they opened this mornin;:;, while the 1; bor vnviy will sf.irt its own ccnvonlion tomorrow.
Both £,Torps after effecting orgaii!/.- atlons will mark time until the 48tei .-¦ oompUlo their platfomi Then Ih" laborites and single taxers as well a.s th-! non-r:<i'ti;ar. league, world war veterans and <^ther orpanizations wil! seek to amend th" 4Sters nlntform sc as to incorj>orate their own ideas. This failing such groups as cannot be re¬ conciled to the 4S i>i-<>prr.im will go their own  way.  politically.
Scmie laborites openly dec'lared th.it the action of the convi ntion in votinz to elect tin members from the floor to serve with the ten men already repre¬ senting the commJtee of 4S on the "Unison commutee" was tho "only thing tha* .saved lb? situation."
"We  never  could  get  the  easterners to agree to nationali:;ation of the mines and we have a million dollars to deal with." said one laborile.    He referred | to the fact that the ten original com- j mittee members were mostly from Now , Jersey. .New York or the national capi- Ul. I
So far as could be learned the "liaison committee" will ullcinpl no 1 urtlu.-i ' conferences until after the tentative draft of the committee of 48 platform is completed. The committee held no meetings today.
George Record of New Jorsr R-as elected chairman cf the rt soluciops i committee of the committee of 48 to- | night. The committee decideu to hold i open hearings from 9 a. m. tomorrow | tintil 4 p. m., after whicSi hearings i would be made by appointment. After j concluding the tentativ> draft of the | platform, joint conferences will be held '< with the resolutions committee of the j American Labor I»arty, it was an-1 nounced. i
Luxury Taxes Take a Sadden Drop; American Economy Has Wide Effect
Washington, July 10.—Indications that thr. American public is gradually tapering off its luxury buying appeared in re¬ ports gathered from various government departments today. At the Internal Revenue Bureau it Wcis shown that many classes of luxury taxes have shown a sharp failing off in the last few months. At the Treasury it was said that Liberty Bond sales are on the increase, many banks reporting difficulty in getting enough bonds of the smaller denominations to supply the de¬ mands of customers. The Commerce Department reports show that importations of cut and uncut diamonds, which totalled 84,104 karats in May, 1919, droped to 17,196 karats in May. 1920.
At the same department it Weis stated that 5,000 diamond cutters are idle in Antwerp because of the dropping off of pur¬ chases by this country. Luxury taxes for May this year com¬ pared wth collections in May, 1919, show a drop. Teixes on sales of per^lmes and cosmetics dropped about 30 ppr cent.; collections on automobiles for hire showed a drop of about 80 per cent.; those on candy sales dropped about 100 per cent.; soft drink sales taxes dropped a like amount and taxes on yachts and motor boats fell off 25 per cent. Sale of these articles are indicative of the surplus in the American pocket book after necessities are purchased. They are bought only aifter neces¬ sities are obtained in ample proportion.
Many luxury expenditures, however, are running at the same rate as usual since the armistice, when the wave of national extravagance began. TVicatre admissions have not yet begun to show a decline, according to tax receipts.
Speculation is beginning to slack off, according to tax re¬ ceipts on brokerage business. In May this tcix netted the gov¬ ernment only $52,113, as compared with $144,700 for the corresponding month a year ago.
Economic experts studying the relations to the various de¬ partments, said they may indicate that Americans are beginning to save money or they may mean that the present high prices of food, shelter and clothing are taking so large a share of the earnings of the American family that there is nothing left for luxuries.
ELECTRIC PLANT IS
DESTROYED
One Life is Lost in Fire That Throws Five Down-County Towns in Darkness
INDUSTRIES CRIPPLED
Five towns were thro'wn into partial darlcness and Industrial and mining op¬ erations were seriously crippled as the result of a fire which yesterday after¬ noon* destroyed the Harwood power house, situated three miles from Hazle¬ ton, causing the death of one man and serious injury to another. Destruction of the plant resulted in all electric lights in thoroughfares, stores and homes being extinguished last night. Announcement from Hazleton was to the effect that coal company collieries and some of the big industrial plants in Hazleton will not resume work to¬ morrow because of lack of power. Loss from the fire amounted to nearly $2.50,000.
Darkness     covered     the     following towns last night:     Hazleton,  McAdoo, ] Berwick, Mahanoy City and Freeland. The gas supply was not affected and ! that "kind   of  service   was   in   normal | condition.    It was necessary to resur- \ rect  oil   lamps   and   purchase   candles for many of the homes.    Streets were in complete darkness, while stores not equipped with gas found it necessary to   close   their   doors   upon   Saturday night shoppers.
About .5,000 workmen will be Idle for two or thre^ days commencing to¬ morrow morning. All of the Lehigh A'alley Coal Company's mines !n the Hazleton district will be closed. The Wyoming Valley Water Company will be unable to have any power for its Other   industries    will    be
Auto Kills Boy; Driver Escapes
The death of Stanley Kamiskey, aged 15, of West Nanticoke, yester¬ day in Nanticoke State Hospital, after being run down by an auto¬ mobile, found the hospital aulhirl- ties and the coroner's office lack¬ ing the name of the driver of tbe machine responsible for tbe boy's fatal injuries. An investigation was put under way last night to deter¬ mine the identity of the driver or owner of the car. A charge of manslaughter will be preferred against him in the event of detcc- Uon.
Kamiskey's death occurred in the hospital from a fractured skulL He waa run down Friday night on tho main road in West Xanticoke. a short distance from his home. He had been pulling a small express wagon at the side of the road when an automobile ran him down from the rear. His head was crushed by the fender.
Tho victim was taken to the hos¬ pital by a man whose name was not secured by the authorities there. Following the boy's death it was said last night that the man who brought him to the hospital left there before his n.-vme could be placed on the books. Coroner F. D. Thomas said that the name was lacking from his office. Inquiry made at the N.anticoke and I'ly¬ mouth police stations showed that there was no official report of the accident made at either place. Resi¬ dents of West Nanticoke were un¬ able to supply the driver's name.
E
lOREGAI
CREWS KNEW LESS THAN PASSENGERS OR TOOK CHANCES
Witnesses To Frightful Tragedy Declare Local Train Trespassed On Limited Schedule In Order To Permit Collection Of Fares In Badly Crowded Cars. Some Predicted Danger.
CORONER'S PROBE IS BEGUN.
Lloyd George Loses Diplomatic Tilt With Herr Simons Over Coal Indemnity
HIS UNLUCKY NUMBER
"Come seven, come eleven," shouted John Orefsli, a yoirr:: jr.p.n of Rer.o Lane, this city, last nigh*, when kneel¬ ing down with several ..ther young men at :he corner of Market and Grant 8tr«ets. "Come with me." said Paul Gates, a city blue coat, as h? gently but firmly plac»d the hand ol the law on the shoulder of Orefski. Orefski came, but the other members of the party had fled. Orefski was taken to police headquarters and later released on |1 |i»curity for a hearing in poUce court titU mnrmng.
."^pa, Belgium, July IC.—Three of tl-e four iirincipi! questions facing the conference of Allied .and German delc- (;at"s meeting here have been disjiosed of since beginning of the meetings lost Mond.iy, le ivln.g only the matter of German reparations to bo feettled at the next .sitting.
It was believed the conference would rest over Siiii(iu\ and r-.'.sume negotia¬ tions early Monday.
.\ii c-.N'haiiL-e bttween tbe German forei;in mini.ster, Herr Simons, and Prtniitr Lloyu George during today's dis-::is5ion of ihe coal question result¬ ed in a Oiplom.nttc vi?toi-v for the former. Simons told the British prem¬ ier 'defiantly that Germany could not pcssilily meet the Allied conditions re- garlin,' (leli\cries of coal. Hn de- n..arded that a committee of investi¬ gation   be  :ipi>oinlcd.
After consulting with other allied leader.s, Lloya George announced that it had been ilecided to place the coal question in the hands of a mixed com- iiiissioii of allied and German experts for fiiKll settlement.
Although the meetings here had a rather inauspicious beginning when the German delegation came to Mon¬ day's conference without Dr. Gessler and Dr. von Seeckl for discussion of armament, this question was settled by the Germans' acceptance of the allied ultimatum granting a six months extension of tho lime in which Ger¬ many must meet the terms of the peace tre.ity.
The question of prosecution of Ger¬ man officers and men guilty of crimes against international law during the war was disponed of when it was ugreed that the allies should submit ad¬ ditional evidence against the accused men and that their trials would be con¬ ducted as soon as possible at Leipzic.
It was understood that the question of indemnities which is the last ques¬ tion on the Conference program, had been agreed up between Kngland, FiUnce and Italy. The basis for this agreement w;is reported to be that France would receive 52 per cent of the total, EnglaiTl 22, and Italy ten per cent. The remainder would be divided among Belgium, Poland, Roumania and thi other allies.
Belgium has protested that unless she obtains priority in pajTnent of the inaemnity, she will repudiate her sig¬ nature to the peace treaty, thus mak¬ ing the Versailles pact void. No dan¬ ger of such an eventuality was seen to¬ night, as neither Premier Lloyd George nor Millerand have intimated a desire to deprive Belgium of this priority.
Count Sfoi-za, Italian foreign min¬ ister, was understood to be willing to accept ten v^r cent of the total indem¬ nity from Gernmny on condition that Italy receive 25 per cent of the money received trom Hungarv- and Bulgaria as r.'paration.
Hours Too Long and Wages Too Low — Meet Today to Frame Proposals
SARAH CANNON FUNERAL The funeral of Sarah Cannon will be held tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock from the home of Mrs. Sarah McDep- mott on Hazle street. A high mass of requiem will be^celebrated in St. Marjr's Church. Interment will be la St. Mar}''s cemetery at Hanover.
For the purpose of attracting the attention of the federal anthracite coal commission to their particular de¬ mands, union pumpmen representing 48 local unions of the United Mine j Workers will meet this afternoon at 2 o'clock in Union Hall, this city. The meeting will be under the direction of Peter O'Donnell, a board member of the miners' organization. He will cjirry the sentiment of tho pumpmen to the federal commission when that body resumes its he.arings in Scranton tomon-ow morning.
The pumpmen have placed certain demands before the commission which they claim the operators refuse to al¬ low them. They particularly want an eight hour day based on present rates of pay. The claim that they are now wor.iing 12 hours each day. A demand made on the operators some time ago for shorter hours was answered by the owners with the promise to rcnluce the number of working hours, but the re- tluction would be accompaniel by a les.-en.ng of pay. It is against this plan that  tlie piimjimen are  protesting.
Other matters dealing with working condilicms will be considered at this aft'^rnoon's meeting. All discussion will be made a matter of record .so that it can be pl.'iced before the members of the commission named by President Wilson.
When the commis.sicn resumes its work tomorrow, it is expected tha*. Chairnuin W. O. Thompson will an¬ nounce tho board's decision on the ob¬ jections filed by the operators against certain evidence prepared by the min¬ ers' representatives. This evidence was arrangad by the miners for the pur¬ pose of Ehowing that the operators are profit'iers. tbat they are closely con¬ nected with the i-illroads and that the entire combine is controlled by the fi¬ nancial house of J. P. Morgan & Com¬ pany, of New York. The objection pre¬ sented by tho operators was to tho efi'ect that the commission is not au¬ thorized to inquire into the inside na¬ ture of the coal mining industrj', but merely to fix a li\-ing wage for the miners. The point has been bitterly contested on loth sides.
ENDORSE CANDIDATES
FAVORABLE TO LABOR
The Central Labor Union officials will call on labor to take a hand in the political contest this fall. Last night at a conference it was agreed to hold a convention of all labor dele¬ gates of every Ehaft in the couity ir Union Hall in this city on .\ugust 29th, when candidates for Federal and State officers will be endorsed.
Just what candidates will be en¬ dorsed by this labor convention at this time is only conjecture. The Central Labor Union officials say the labor records of all candidates will be lea-li¬ ed and these records will l»e pUaced be¬ fore the convention before any en¬ dorsements are made. Circular letters will be sent to every local union in the county asking that delegates be chosen. The order of the local Central Labor Union is the follow-up lc>cally of the action ot the American Federation of Labor. ,
pumps.
crippled. j
The   fire   that   destroyed   the   Hiir-1 wood plant started at I o'clock in the | .•iftemoon.     Its   e.xact   origin   had   not i bee/i determined last n^ght, due to  >? ' fact that the cWrh' ma.-t bei^,3Ve<f to ir.^: e i witnessed the start of it was burned to j death.     He  was   Martin   Shetrome  of | West  Hazleton,  an  attendant    at    an! electric switchboard.     His   body   was found burned to a crisp near the board. It was not located until after the fire had  burned  itself out.    Henry Hilde- brand of   Hazleton,   another   employe, was badly burned as he tried to fight the flames.
Two cau.ses were advanced. One was that the switchboard operated by She- tromc had shortcircuited. The other was that a. spark of fire had dropped into a can of oil. oau.sing an explosion. The fire spread quickly to all depart¬ ments. Firemen found it impossible to save any of the interior, although they kept their hose playing on the mach¬ inery. It was estimated that some of the  machinery  may   be   salvaged.
The plant was owned by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. It supp¬ lied five counties, as follows: I>uzeme, Columbia, Schuylkill, Carbon and Mon¬ tour. These districts were affected in the same manner as Hazleton, Ber¬ wick and vicinity.
Cold Blooded Crime is Con¬ fessed by Former Lieuten¬ ant When Plot Fails
WILL HURRY TRIAL
WIFE  ASKS  DAMAGES
A claim for compensation pressed by Mrs. Samuel Brooks of 159 South State street because of the death of her hus¬ band ,will be heard tomorrow in city hall at a .session held by the work¬ men's compensation referee. Mrs. Brooks is suing the Bravman Bed Manufacturing Company of this city. Her husband, she alleges, was injured last January while at work for the Bravman firm. He was struck on the head by a falling bed. His death oc¬ curred recently. His widow charges that the company was directly respon¬ sible, while the company defends itself on the ground that he died from other causes.
SIX YOUNG PRIESTS
WILL BE ORDAINED
Six young men will be ordained as Catholic priests on Sunday. July 18, in St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton by Rt. Rev. M. J. Hoban, bishop of the Scranton diocese. The ordination ceremonies will hegrin at 9:15 o'clock. Bishop Hoban will administer holy orders. The priests to be ordained are: Vincent Nanortanis. of Nanti¬ coke; Joseph I.*o McHugh, Vincent Joseph Mahon and John Joseph Gaff- ney, all of Scranton; Edward A. Bellas, of Hazleton, and Michael C. Bemat, of Olyphant
EXAMINE HUSBAND
IDEGt
Chicago, July 10,—Love of army life triumphed over love of family, Lieu¬ tenant Karl Wanderer told police here tonight. He was locked in his cell, held to the grand jury on confession ot wife murder. He also confessed to the sliootlng of an unknown man, his dupe in an intricately arranged plot to do away with tho wife and prospective mother who barred his entry to the life he loved—a commissioned officer in the army.
Wanderer was held without ball. State and county officials say he will be rushed through a trial and,—as the coroner's verdict portended with its "May God have mercy on your soul",— to the gallows.
The former lieutenant did not blink when ordered held for grand jury action. His face was calm, his eyes inscrutable as police surrounded him for the journey to .a cell.
Wanderer told the coroner's jurj' the confession to the police was the case he would stand on. that he did not care to amplify it. This story was that he loved his wife and when the thought of army comfort.s tugged at him, he thought it wuold be better to put her away than to-see her suffer by his desertion.
He hunted up a ragged man, bribed him to stage a fake holdup, he s;ud, and in the melee planned to shoot his wife. escaping suspicion through claims of having bravely defended her.
When the affair was staged In the entrance to their apartment, ho said, he suddenly thought his accomplice might "ftiueai." Therefore, the ragged man, "a poor bum," was sacrificed with the wife. Suspicion fell on Wan¬ derer when the "ragged man's" re¬ volver was traced to the lieutenant's possession.
Late today Mrs. Katherine Vanos, having seen newspaper pictures of the "poor bum," identified him as .an ex- Canadian soldier. She called him Al¬ bert Watson, reputed son of a wealthy turfman of New York. Police were inciined to accept her story and wired New York police for verification.
The establishing of the "poor bum" as a person of standing, might add an¬ other angle to the case. Many who observed Wanderer, stud>-ing his calm blue eyes and controlled features, were ready to believe that other mo¬ tives may have figured in the double killing.
Police of Scranton called for exam¬ ination yesterday John Jones, a street car conductor of Capouse avenue, Scranton whose wife ended her life as the result of being accused by her hus¬ band of unfaithfulness. The author¬ ities made no announcement whether they intend to hold Jones under sur- vellance until after the coroner's jury makes its report.
Mrs. Jones' body was founel in her home Friday night when her husband returned from work. She had turned on the gas, permitting asphj-xiation. Her final message was a letter ad¬ dressed to her husband claiming that she was a good woman and that she ttaxl always dOen true to her marriage vows.
TWO CARS COLLIDE;
ONE GOES OVER BANK
In a collision yesterd,ay afternoon on the main road between Kunkle and Alderson. an automobile containing two men was forced over a 12-foot em¬ bankment, causing slight Injuries to them. The machine turned turtle In the plunge, one of the men being pin¬ ned under It for fifteen minutes, al¬ though he received only bruises and cuts.
The machine that -went over the em¬ bankment was a Bulck chassis fitted up with a box as a seat. It was driven by a man named Richards, who had one passenger with him. Tho accident occurred when the maohlne side- swiped another car driven by Evn.n Challis. of this ci»y, ossistflnt superin¬ tendent of streets. In the Challis ear were Mrs. Challis, her son. L,ewi.s Chal¬ lis, and John Gallagher of Hanover street, this city, chief clerk In the de¬ partment of streets.
After the accident It required the combined efforts of Challis and Gal¬ lagher and a third man to lift up the overturned machine so that one of the victims could be released.
Responsibility for the wrecking of the three Laurel Line trains on the evening of Saturday, July 3, with the killing of seventeen persons and the injuring of two ¦ score more, will be Uiifinitely determined by a coroner's jury which went into session for three hours yesterday afternoon in court room number three of the county court house and which will resume hearings' tomorrow morning at 9:30 o'clock. That negligence featured the accident appeared to be the plain belief of Coroner Frank D. Thomas, Deputy Coroner Roscoe B. Smith and the six jurors who were sworn intr service The same belief was not contested by At¬ torney Evan C. Jones, who represent¬ ed tho Liickawa.nna & Wyoming Valley Railroad (the Laur/?1 Line) and it was featured tliroughout all the testimony of the witnesses called to the stand.
The important seeking of the jurors was to decide whether practically ad¬ mitted negligence on the part of per¬ sons entrusted with the care of Laurel Line passengers must be fixed on the actual operators of the cars that were wrecked or whether the stigma of guilt can bo stretched back to the offi¬ cials and to the system they represent in the transfer of millions of pass¬ engers each year on the electric short line between this city and Scranton. Every question asked of every witness examined took the same trend: Did employes who manned the trains and who failed to carry out precautionary methods, sufflcieafr to avoidance of collision, work in conformance with instructions from their superiors or did they neglect the training inculcated by the Laurel Line management and al¬ low a fatal blunder to .stand respon¬ sible for the wreck? In brief, the ques¬ tion at issue is: Was the wreck a fail¬ ure of proper management or was it man-failure'.'
One dangerous declaration, from the standpoint of company interest, was made by Michael Queeney. He said that if it is admitted the first collision between the 6:10 and 6:25 cars was caused by slowing up of the 6:10 schedule in order to permit the collec¬ tion of fares, then there has been no correction of this lack of protection. He charged that during tho rush hours of last Monday, when holiday crowds were being carried over the Laurel Line, he observed a three-car train being sent along the rails near the point of collision with such slow speed as to give a later and faster train plenty of opportunity to catcJi up. A Faulty Practice
Practically all witnesses agreed on one accusation against Laurel Line practices. It is that when cars are crowded they are run slowly in order that all fares may be taken up between stations. That the collection of fares on tho night of July 3 wa-s the indirect cause of the accident appeared to bo brought out by each witness. Ono and all remarked upon the overcrowding of the cars of the 6:10 train at Valley View; told of Conductor Leo Cawley telling the motorman to run slow so fares could be collected; explained that the cars ran from Valley \1ew to the point of collision at so slow a speed as to permit n. man or woman to out distance Ihem at a moderate walking pace. Here is a neat point for the jurors 10 dwell upon and they made the most of it in questioning the witnesses.
Each was asked If he or she had pre¬ viously ridden over the Laurel Line and if it was noticeable practice that sched¬ ules were slowed down when passen¬ gers were so many as as to make it hard to colle<;t fares. Witnesses who admitt¬ ed familiarity with the railroad de¬ clared they .had often made note of the condition. It will be within the jurors powers to determine whether this was a dangerous practice condoned by the company officials and whether at any time there were orders given to the crews to never delay so long as to make possible a rear-end collision caused bv a faster or le,i3-crowded train catciiing up
One Warning Given
Another point to determine will be whether the company instructed crews to hang out warning lights or signals when cars had to be run slow. Thus far the company s agents have in¬ sisted that man-failure caused the July third wreck but it is the purjwse of the coroner and his jurors to dis¬ cover whether official negligence was responsible for the man-failure. Thers was no question against the fact that some warning had been given prev¬ ious to the fatal happening one week ago last night. The three trains in the collision were ihe 6:10, the 6:25 and the 6:.50 o'clock trains. Betw^ien the latter two was the 5:30 local which w.is turned off the tracks at Yate.s- viUe "crossover" and which paased safely to S<^ranTon over the rails of the parallel road-be<l.
District Attorney Arthur H. James pereorially attended yesterday's session of the coroner's inquest. He ¦will take up any recommendations for prosecu¬ tions that may be made by tne jurors. Attorney Evan C. Jones represented the Laurel Line officials while the .surviving members of the operating crews also had legal counsel present.
The jurors are: Gilbert Jacoboskey, civil engineer and railroad construc¬ tion man; George Snyder, of Dorrance¬ ton, an employe of the Armour Com¬ pany; Attorney H. H. Davenport, Atherton Bowen. of Forty Fort, an employe of Lehigh Valley Coal Com¬ pany; Deemer Beidleman and John V. Heffeman, representatives of the Wilkes-Barre newspapers.
All seats In the spacious court rooms were occupied during the three hours of testimony, it being Coroner Thomas' orders to have the proe^edlngs wholly public. Cross-examinations were di¬ rected by Coroner Thomas and Deputy Coroner Roscoe B. Smith for the Com¬ monwealth, by Attorney Evan C. Jones for the railroad company, .and by the six jurors for the purpose of bringing out an understanding of the several questions at fssue. Keen Interest was shown by the jurors and they evinced a partltmlar desire to discover whether there was any general warning given the passengers; whether signals were sent out; -whether the crews spoke of precautions to be taken, and whether in any moment there -was proof that the crews were following general ord¬ ers or were perplexed by a trying situ¬ ation.
Cars Overcrowded
Miss Elizabeth Walsh of the county sheriff's office, wearing a band.age about her right arm, was the first vic¬ tim of the accident to be called. She was on the 6:10 rain and she told of the stop at Valley Vksrw to take on passengers. Although the train was only fifte.en minutes ahead of tho schedule of the 6:25 limited with through orders to Pittston beyond, it was brought out that a delay of at least four minutes waa made at the park and that so many passengers were crcrwded on that many were forced to stand on the platforms lead¬ ing to the ground. In order to collect fares, she said, tho cars were oper¬ ated more slowly than a walking pace, thus cutting down the .space of timo between the local and the limited and giving the faster train on)ortunity to catch up.
Alfred Cummins of Duryea corro¬ borated Miss Walsh's testimony. He was forced by the eyowd to stand on the bae* platform of the 6:10 train. He was asked if there was a bolt of lightning al>out the time the first collision occurred and he said he no¬ ticed none. He said tliat th© train waa running behind schedule In order to get the fares of the pa-ssengers.
Patrick Hlnes, of Pittston said that the fare-collecting caused so great a delay tl>at the crash from the limited behind occurred within a half mile after the conductor had given orders for the car to resume normal speed. Run at SnaiPs Pace
iVLartln F. Kilcoyne, of Pittston, -was on the rear platform of the 6:10 train with his back to the door. He said that it required at least nine minutes to cover less than a mile of ground and that at least four minutes were con¬ sumed in packing the passengers aboard at Valley View. He remem- ijers that Leo Cawley was conductor of the first of the two cars in the 6:10 train and that Cawley e:ame to tho rear platform of the second car to announce that he had collected all his fares. Cawley questioned the condactor of the second car as to whether he waa through with the fares and the man responded "Almost" Kilcoyne then heard Cawley give the double signal for "Go ahead." Cawley was killed in the crash that followed. Kilcoyne, the wit¬ ness, told of hearing the previous order to run slow to get the fares and he re¬ members that the rain had stopped and tnat it was broad daylight when the accident happened.
When the limited came through and crashed into the roar of the 6:10 train tbe conductors, according to Kilcoyne, passed around sUps to get the names of witnesses but made no effort to get i>assenger3 off the cars. Very im¬ portant was Kilcoyne's declaration that he looked at his watch and won¬ dered If the 6:10 was trespassing on the schedule of the 6:25 limited train. He turned to a Mr. Gannon, a ball player, and told him the cars -were being driven too slow to keep out of danger.
John Vance of Wyoming, testified that although he is not a railroader he remarked after the first and lees serious crash: "I wonder If these fel¬ lows hav^ sense enough to go out and flag the next train." He was aware Of the fact that the schedules require cars to operate not more than twenty minutes aparc
Christie Dlaute and her husband of Fr».eland. testifie-d that the cars were going remarkably slow, that the rain had stoppud and that I<{,-htnlng did not interfere with the oi>erat!on3 of the.train. They said there was a noticeable speeding up Ju.st before the first crash between the 6:10 and (he 6:25 trains.
Saw Signal Flag
Mrs. Louise Asbpian of North Frank- (Contlnn«<| On Fag* 3.)