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Show DISGRACEFUL SCENE I AT RAILROAD WRECK Witnesses at New Haven Inquest Tell of Men Cutting Off Dead Passengers' Fingers to Get Rings and of Persons Searching the Clothing of the Injured and Dying to Secure Money or Valuables GOVERNMENT BEGINS PUBLIC INVESTIGATION Witnesses Declare That Engineers of the New Haven Road Frequently Pass Danger Signals of the "Banjo" Type in Foggy Weather Same Two Express Trains Narrowly Averted Collision Col-lision an Hour Before Six Fast Passenger Trains Pass Station Within 32 Minutes Road Rescinded Order For White Mountain Flyer to Stop at Wallingf ord New Haven, Sept 1 That there were wholesale and disgraceful rob beries from dead bodies at the rail road wreck at North Haven ou Tuesday Tues-day morning, Is declared by Corouer Mix In a report today to Chief of Police Po-lice Smith requesting hl.n to apprehend appre-hend the culprits Coroner Mix said today during hid inquest witnesses told of men cutting fingers off dead passengers to get rings, and of persons searching cloth ing of Injured passengers to secure, money or xaluablo As soon as this testimony was given, giv-en, the coroner had Chief Smith come to him and to that official were given giv-en 6onie of the statements brouch with descriptions given ot the alleged thieves Shortly alter, four detectiveo were sent out Engineer Miller of the White Moun tain testified that he had heard S woman groaning and looking around he saw a man deliberately cut off her finger, on which were several rings He also saw a man strip a dead woman s hand; and afterwards he saw a man lean over nn injured woman and snatch away a locket. Other railroad men gave corrohi-tlve corrohi-tlve testimony and one of them told of a man who with a pillow case went about picking up Jewelry purses pur-ses and other articles of alue When others saw what he was doing they chased him across the fields, but he escaped In todays Investigation before the interstate commerce commission, three witnesses testified that enni neers of the New Haven road frequently fre-quently pass dancer sienals of the 'banjo" type in foggy weather with out stopping It was further testified that the White Mountain express, the train which plunged into the Bar Harbor pxpress was barely saed from col tiding with the Bar Harbor an. hour before the North Haven disaster al a point between Springfield and Hart ford The two trains involved were the last of s procession of six which that morning passed Wallingford, three miles north of the wreck within a period of 32 minutes. The White Mountain was making 52 miles an hour at Wallingford An order to stop the White WOUD tain at Wallingford which would have prevented the wreck, was rescinded it -s as brought out Flagman Murray testified that he had cone hack to pl.co danzer sienaU io protect his train 'as far as I could until I was recalled by my en gineer's whistle 1 1 New Haven. Conn, Sept '.With Engineer A B Milier and Flagman I H Murray under arrest and accused b Coroner Mix of criminal respon slbilltv for the fatal wreck on the New 'Haven railroad last Tuesday morning. Commissioner McChord oi 1 th interstate commerce commission 'began a public investigation today io determine causes of the disaster Murray was still In Jail this morn ing. but it was announced that his $5000 ball would be furnished by the New Haven railroad today This was by order of President Howard Blliotl of the railroad Engineer Miller is at llbertj under a 16000 bond furnished fur-nished by the Brotherhood of Locomo live engineers. , The private" investigation of VOf. coroner was continued today, again j undr police proiection The examination of witnesses bri.v tied ulth startling passages Engineer Wands of the Bar Harbor express brought a gasp from the crowd when he testified that engineers on tho New Haven road frequently drifted by' danger signals In toggj weather. " lohn I Kelly. Ira'n dispatcher, had previously testified that weather conditions con-ditions on the morning of the wreck , rK "yen foggy ' but that he had not considered it necessarv to warn trains to reduce speed. Six trains passed over this stretch of track within with-in half an hour, he said. The White Mountain express made the fast) ' lime of anv of them its time sheet showing an average speed of 52 miles an hour Just before It crashed Inte the Bar Harbor train "Banjo" Signals Not Safe. "Hid an., of the trains have :my in formation from you as to bow close thej w-re together?" asked Chief Inspector In-spector Belnap ot the inters! mere? commission "No. I did not think they needed It," replied the dispatcher. Engineer Wands said that he did not consider th "banjo signals" a tafe method of train operation, and added that the engineer's committee had protested a year ago against tLis svstem. urging the adoption of system of "distant indication." He said that a train would have to reduce re-duce speed to ten or fifteen miles an hour in order to be safe in running into the banjo signals in foggy weather. weath-er. Ilrifl Charles Murray, the flagman, who was sent back from the Bar Harbor express, testified that he had never been examined for a flagman and had never qualified for that position, . nn I1' i I |