100 YEARS AGO

Thursday, September 19, 1907

• The coroner's jury into the death of Richard Bell of Shrigley, a victim of the Caledon railway disaster, has returned a verdict that the wreck "was caused by the criminal negligence" of engineer George Hodge and conductor Matthew Grimes "and further . . . the CPR are to blame for putting incompetent and inexperienced men in charge of a passenger train running on such a difficult road."

Seventeen witnesses examined last Thursday at the inquest in Toronto were questioned especially as to the rate at which the train was travelling, and while some held to the opinion that 20 miles an hour was the limit, others ranged from 35 to 60 miles and hour. An expert figured that the train was travelling was travelling over 55 m.p.h. at the time of the accident. W. H. McFadden, Crown Attorney for Peel County, conducted the examination of witnesses, while T. C. Robinette, K.C., appeared for engineer Hodge, and Angus MacMurchy for the CPR.

Coroner Johnson had received a letter from a woman in Shelburne advising him to ask the conductor whether he remembered a woman stating that the train was going too fast. The conductor was asked but could not remember. Questioned by Crown Attorney McFadden, engineer Hodge stated that he was travelling at a speed of about 20 miles an hour when he passed the slow board, also when he shut off steam and took the dip. He had had nothing to drink after he left Markdale on the day of the accident but had had a glass of beer that morning. To Mr. Robinette, he stated that he had been in bed most of the time on Sept. 2, had not been off the company's premises in Owen Sound, and the report that he had been seen drinking was false. He calculated that while the schedule would have allowed him to run 27 miles an hour between Caledon and Mono Road, the 11 minutes spent before the crash showed he was running about 19 miles an hour.

Conductor Grimes agreed that the train had been running about 20 miles an hour when it left the track and could not say how the despatcher's sheet showed the time of the accident to be 9:25, just four minutes after the train had left Caledon.

Robert Preston, master mechanic for the CPR, stated that engine 555, which hauled the train, had been running about 13 years and was in good general condition at the time of the accident. He had examined the running gear and found it in good condition. There were no marks on the ties to show that the engine had run along them after leaving the rails and it therefore must not have taken the curve properly.

James Ferguson said he was standing at his door charging a gun when he heard the train's whistle. By the time he got the powder in the gun the train was passing his house, and when he reached the window the accident had already happened. "I never saw a train go down that would go around the curve as fast as this one."

• The derailment of a number of freight cars on the CPR north of Kleinburg last Friday evening blocked the line for passenger traffic, making it necessary to send the Owen Sound train bound for Toronto around by way of Inglewood and to tranship passengers bound for points between Toronto and Bala. The evening train due in Shelburne at 8:33 did not arrive until 2:30 a.m.

75 YEARS AGO

Thursday, September 22, 1932

• The McGregor Construction Co. have about one-fifth of the pavement completed on their contract on Highway 10 from 240 Sideroad to Melancthon Station. Their record day for laying the concrete was last Friday. The contract for 6.9 miles of concrete paving from Arthur east on Highway 9 has been let to Towland Construction Co. of Guelph.

• A meeting of the Ontario Potato Growers' Association, held at Queen's Park last Friday was told that the Dufferin County crop is expected to be only about half that produced in 1931, although occasional phenomenal yields had been reported.

50 YEARS AGO

Wednesday, September18, 1957

• Shelburne Council has passed a bylaw authorizing the issue of $50,000 in debentures for three additional rooms in Centre Dufferin District High School. Work is already under way for the foundation of the addition. The contractor is Donald McLaren Ltd., Toronto.

25 YEARS AGO

Wednesday, September 22, 1982

• Principal J. J. McFadden says an outbreak of fist fights at Centre Dufferin District High School in the first two weeks of the school year are not drug-related. "That's not to say there are no drug users in our school; we're just like any other high school."

• H. Clark Adams of Orangeville has declared that he will be seeking re-election to the Dufferin County Board of Education in this fall's municipal election. Currently board chairman, he has been a trustee for four years, three of them on the executive committee.