Where the lives of the public and the property of the public are in peril, you will take a man without knowing whether he ever ran an engine before or not, and put him in charge of an engine? No, sir; Mr. Pearce's education and training justified me in believing that he could handle that train properly. Do you believe any technical education in the shops, without practical experience, fits a man to be placed in charge of an engine to which is attached a passenger train? Properly guided by a pilot and conductor on the engine, I say so, decidedly. You would do so at any time? If there had been no strike, you would select a man of that experience, would you? I would only do that under the circumstances as we were. Only under emergencies? Yes, sir. You would not say generally it is a wise thing for a railroad to do; would you? I would say under circumstances such as we were left in there it was a wise thing for us to do. I ask you generally? If I had time to make a thorough examination of a man I certainly would do it. William H. Pearce, a witness called on behalf of the C., B. & Q. railroad company, being first duly sworn, was examined in chief by Mr. Dawes, and testified as follows: Q. What is your name? A. William H. Pearce. What is your business? Assistant engineer of tests in the C., B. & Q. State under what circumstances you took this engine on the 27th day of February last? Upon learning of the strike, I, with several other young men, signed a letter to Mr. Rhodes offering to go out in any position which they should deem it advisable. I was detailed by the Master Mechanic to go to Mendota and take that train to Fulton, with the understanding that I was to have a pilot; we struck the train; we had as pilot the roadmaster. We left Mendota five minutes late, and we were about six minutes late when I first see the St. Paul train. How far was that out of Mendota, do you remember? It was somewhere about in the neighborhood of sixty miles. You had lost a minute in sixty miles, had you? Lost a minute in running sixty miles. Who were with you on the engine beside the roadmaster? When we started out of Mendota there was only Mr. Chapin, the civil engineer of the Chicago Division, and the roadmaster, Mr. Seegers, and a machinist who came from the Aurora shop. After leaving Garden Plain, which is the last stop before arriving at the crossing, the conductor also came on the engine. Were you familiar with that division, had you ever run over it before? No, I never knew it; I never run over it at all.