February 21, 1913, Bridgeport Evening Farmer, Front Page
Phelan May Order Better Safeguard – Coroner Looking into Conditions at Scene of Norwalk Railroad Fatality
That recommendations for the bridging or otherwise making safe of the Catherine Street crossing of the Danbury branch of the New Haven railroad in the city of Norwalk will result from Coroner J J Phelan’s investigation into the death of Albin Ernest Hedman, on Wednesday last seem probable from the preliminary statements made by that official to a reporter from The Farmer today.
“Somebody certainly is greatly to blame for leaving a crossing unguarded, as it is today, said Coroner Phelan, “and while I will not venture to state at the present time whether young Hedman met death through his own negligence, or whether the conditions were such as contributed towards it, there is no question but that it should be guarded at least by a flagman or bars. It is true that a warning signal in the form of a bell is situated at the point, but this often rings without it being certain that a train will pass, and citizens have consequently accustomed themselves to its false warning.
“ I am not prepared to state that such was the case in Hedman’s death, as my initial investigation tended to show that he might have had a full view of the tracks for a considerable distance, but there should be better protection afforded at that point by the Norwalk authorities or the railroad company.”
Hedman, while driving a heavy hardware motor-truck on Wednesday afternoon was coasting down the steep grade when his vehicle struck directly in the center, was carried upon the pilot of the Williamstown Express for a distance of 1,100 feet up the tracks and the driver instantly killed.
The coroner expressed himself as satisfied with the work done by the Stamford authorities in holding George Graulich and Harry Sennewald, two youths of that city, under $5,000 bonds upon charges of manslaughter. As reported in the Farmer, after having struck Frank Mays, a resident of Stamford on Main Street, February 12, while traveling at a rapid rate of speed, the pair drove hastily from the scene and afterwards, it is charged, attempted to further conceal their act by closely watching the work of the police and attempting to destroy evidence in the hands of the authorities.
Phelan May Order Better Safeguard – Coroner Looking into Conditions at Scene of Norwalk Railroad Fatality
That recommendations for the bridging or otherwise making safe of the Catherine Street crossing of the Danbury branch of the New Haven railroad in the city of Norwalk will result from Coroner J J Phelan’s investigation into the death of Albin Ernest Hedman, on Wednesday last seem probable from the preliminary statements made by that official to a reporter from The Farmer today.
“Somebody certainly is greatly to blame for leaving a crossing unguarded, as it is today, said Coroner Phelan, “and while I will not venture to state at the present time whether young Hedman met death through his own negligence, or whether the conditions were such as contributed towards it, there is no question but that it should be guarded at least by a flagman or bars. It is true that a warning signal in the form of a bell is situated at the point, but this often rings without it being certain that a train will pass, and citizens have consequently accustomed themselves to its false warning.
“ I am not prepared to state that such was the case in Hedman’s death, as my initial investigation tended to show that he might have had a full view of the tracks for a considerable distance, but there should be better protection afforded at that point by the Norwalk authorities or the railroad company.”
Hedman, while driving a heavy hardware motor-truck on Wednesday afternoon was coasting down the steep grade when his vehicle struck directly in the center, was carried upon the pilot of the Williamstown Express for a distance of 1,100 feet up the tracks and the driver instantly killed.
The coroner expressed himself as satisfied with the work done by the Stamford authorities in holding George Graulich and Harry Sennewald, two youths of that city, under $5,000 bonds upon charges of manslaughter. As reported in the Farmer, after having struck Frank Mays, a resident of Stamford on Main Street, February 12, while traveling at a rapid rate of speed, the pair drove hastily from the scene and afterwards, it is charged, attempted to further conceal their act by closely watching the work of the police and attempting to destroy evidence in the hands of the authorities.
February 21, 1913, Bridgeport Evening Farmer, Front Page
Phelan May Order Better Safeguard – Coroner Looking into Conditions at Scene of Norwalk Railroad Fatality
That recommendations for the bridging or otherwise making safe of the Catherine Street crossing of the Danbury branch of the New Haven railroad in the city of Norwalk will result from Coroner J J Phelan’s investigation into the death of Albin Ernest Hedman, on Wednesday last seem probable from the preliminary statements made by that official to a reporter from The Farmer today.
“Somebody certainly is greatly to blame for leaving a crossing unguarded, as it is today, said Coroner Phelan, “and while I will not venture to state at the present time whether young Hedman met death through his own negligence, or whether the conditions were such as contributed towards it, there is no question but that it should be guarded at least by a flagman or bars. It is true that a warning signal in the form of a bell is situated at the point, but this often rings without it being certain that a train will pass, and citizens have consequently accustomed themselves to its false warning.
“ I am not prepared to state that such was the case in Hedman’s death, as my initial investigation tended to show that he might have had a full view of the tracks for a considerable distance, but there should be better protection afforded at that point by the Norwalk authorities or the railroad company.”
Hedman, while driving a heavy hardware motor-truck on Wednesday afternoon was coasting down the steep grade when his vehicle struck directly in the center, was carried upon the pilot of the Williamstown Express for a distance of 1,100 feet up the tracks and the driver instantly killed.
The coroner expressed himself as satisfied with the work done by the Stamford authorities in holding George Graulich and Harry Sennewald, two youths of that city, under $5,000 bonds upon charges of manslaughter. As reported in the Farmer, after having struck Frank Mays, a resident of Stamford on Main Street, February 12, while traveling at a rapid rate of speed, the pair drove hastily from the scene and afterwards, it is charged, attempted to further conceal their act by closely watching the work of the police and attempting to destroy evidence in the hands of the authorities.
Phelan May Order Better Safeguard – Coroner Looking into Conditions at Scene of Norwalk Railroad Fatality
That recommendations for the bridging or otherwise making safe of the Catherine Street crossing of the Danbury branch of the New Haven railroad in the city of Norwalk will result from Coroner J J Phelan’s investigation into the death of Albin Ernest Hedman, on Wednesday last seem probable from the preliminary statements made by that official to a reporter from The Farmer today.
“Somebody certainly is greatly to blame for leaving a crossing unguarded, as it is today, said Coroner Phelan, “and while I will not venture to state at the present time whether young Hedman met death through his own negligence, or whether the conditions were such as contributed towards it, there is no question but that it should be guarded at least by a flagman or bars. It is true that a warning signal in the form of a bell is situated at the point, but this often rings without it being certain that a train will pass, and citizens have consequently accustomed themselves to its false warning.
“ I am not prepared to state that such was the case in Hedman’s death, as my initial investigation tended to show that he might have had a full view of the tracks for a considerable distance, but there should be better protection afforded at that point by the Norwalk authorities or the railroad company.”
Hedman, while driving a heavy hardware motor-truck on Wednesday afternoon was coasting down the steep grade when his vehicle struck directly in the center, was carried upon the pilot of the Williamstown Express for a distance of 1,100 feet up the tracks and the driver instantly killed.
The coroner expressed himself as satisfied with the work done by the Stamford authorities in holding George Graulich and Harry Sennewald, two youths of that city, under $5,000 bonds upon charges of manslaughter. As reported in the Farmer, after having struck Frank Mays, a resident of Stamford on Main Street, February 12, while traveling at a rapid rate of speed, the pair drove hastily from the scene and afterwards, it is charged, attempted to further conceal their act by closely watching the work of the police and attempting to destroy evidence in the hands of the authorities.
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