SHOCKING RAILROAD ACCIDENT

The Cortland Democrat, Friday, April 7, 1876.

Shocking Railroad Accident.

   When the 9 P. M. train on the U. I. & E. R. R. arrived at the depot in this place, last Wednesday evening, the night-watchman discovered blood upon the engine, and other evidences of an accident. A. W. Edgcomb, of the firm of J. C. Carrnichael &Co., undertakers, and Dr. Hughes were summoned, and the engine, with several citizens on board, was run back to a point between the Cemetery street crossing and the Pope farm crossing [in the vicinity of today's Pall Trinity Micro plant at Cortlandville--CC editor], where the remains of a man were found. It proved to be the remains of Leonard A. Salisbury, who lived in Lime hollow, some 2 1/2 miles west of this village. The body was mutilated in a shocking manner. His head was entirely severed from the body, and literally crushed in pieces; one arm and one leg were severed from the trunk. The body had evidently been pushed along on the track some 20 rods from the place where he was first struck. The remains were brought to this place, where a Coroner's inquest is to be held. No one seems to know how the accident happened. The engineer was not aware that an accident had occurred until he reached the depot, and we understand no blame is attached to him.

   The deceased was about 40 years of age, and had always—with the exception of short intervals—been a resident of this town. He leaves a widow, to whom he had been married but little over a year.

Ex-President Writes Letter to Editor.

   In [writing] to explain the [position] to which certain malicious persons have tried to [place] me, I will state for the [information] of the [disingenuous] of this village, and the readers of our village papers, some of the duties appertaining to the office of President and also of the Treasurer of our village.

   The Charter provides that the officers of the corporation shall be a Collector, an Assessor, a Treasurer, four Trustees, and a President. The Charter also provides that a quorum to transact business shall consist of a majority of the Board of Trustees, and two Trustees and the President do not constitute such a quorum. There must be three Trustees present or business cannot be transacted. It will be seen by this that the President is an officer almost distinct from the Board of Trustees. The President is only the presiding officer of the meetings of the Board, and has no vote at such meetings whatever, unless there should be a tie to the Board of Trustees, in which case he has the deciding vote, and I will state here that there was no tie vote taken during my term of office while I was present. Bills against the corporation are presented to the Board of Trustees and not to the President, and if the bills are found correct, the Board of Trustees direct the President to draw an order on the Treasurer for their amounts, and the President has no more to say about it than the Assessor of Collector. He simply executes the orders of the Board.

   The Clerk of the Board, who is an appointed officer, makes out the orders as allowed by the Board of Trustees and keeps the stubs from which the orders are cut and the amount of the order thereon. This is the only account of moneys that is kept by the Board, President or Clerk; and from that account was made the President's report last March, together with what I could glean from the Treasurer's books after repeated requests for a full report from him, which was not forthcoming.

   No receipts came into the bands of the President except money for licenses, and for that I have the Treasurer's receipt in full. The money collected by the Collector is paid to the Treasurer and not to the President. The President of the village has no knowledge whatever of the receipts of the village except what he gets from the Treasurer, who for the past three years has never made a report until after the

President for the current year has gone out of office, unless it was this year, and that report was made the day before election, and was not presented to the Board of Trustees, President, or Clerk, as by law it should be.

   The Treasurer is by the Charter of this village is obliged to make a report in full of his accounts and file it with the Clerk two weeks before the annual election in each year. This has not been done in three years.

   'The  fellow who wipes out his manhood and signs away his birthright by hiding under the term "Many Taxpayers," accurately sets forth the exact duties of the Treasurer when he writes section 28 of the Charter as follows: "The money so raised for a special purpose must be applied to such special purpose only, and must be kept a distinct fund in a separate account on the Treasurers’ books.”

   The Board of Trustees have no means of knowing how much they have drawn on any specific account until notified by the Treasurer, and it is his business to notify them the same as the cashier of a bank should notify his depositor if he overdraws his deposit, and this was not done at all; but aside from all of this the President is not the one to account for any such mistakes; he pays no bills, audits no accounts, neither does he give orders for the payment of any money without the order or consent of a majority of the Board of Trustees, and so is not accountable for any overdraft or any appropriation whatever.

   The citizens of Cortland can see now "by whose and what authority the Corporation money has been used.”

   Information is also desired as to "whose account is exactly correct in every particular?”

   I will state again as I have before, that every item of my official report is correct in every particular, with the exception of those items that were furnished me by the Treasurer of the village. As to the items of expenditure which passed through my hands during my term of office they are correct, as can be very easily ascertained by simply examining the proceedings of the Board for the past year. The amount of the receipts &c, furnished me by the Treasurer I supposed to be correct as he had full charge of the books and vouchers. If he made a mistake I had no means to ascertain that fact, as I only got those items from him the day before my report was published. It is the Treasurer's duty as provided in the Charter that he shall keep the several appropriations in a separate account on his books; and as he is to do that it is clearly his duty to inform the Board if they overdraw any account; as no other officer is to keep any such account or knows anything as to the amount used or expended.

   If there is any person who desires to know any further in regard to my duties let them come to me or examine the books of the corporation and not make a cowardly attack under an assumed name with the intention of thus shielding himself from harm.

JAMES M. SMITH,

Ex President.