The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 5, 1900, Page 1

Call, " VOLUME LXXXIX—NO. e SAN FRANCISCO, WEDN':ESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1900. &3 TV T y Nl PRICE FIVE CENTS. COLLISION DUE TO GROSS CARELESSNESS COSTS THE LIVES OF SEVEN RAILWAY MEN egular Freight Crashes Into a Work Train Running Ahead of Schedule Time Dur- ing a Heavy Fog on the Line of the Southern Pacific Between Elmira and Suisun. Some One Willfully Disobeys the Dispatcher’s Orders and the Result Is a Wreck At- tended by Heavy Loss of Life and the Malmmg of More Than a Score of Persons. 1 fireman ¢ They = > the « jurfes and others pinned shouted for help me of the dead nd the windrow the writhing wreckage, with laborers and ald of the ir labor was fraught with aifficu time onsumed in gett molished cars. verturned stove set fire the promised to consume the u: were entangled in jfes and much to yris ar who th . »‘h E yse who were on the outside not get to the fire, but the buckets of water and passcd in to some of those least injured and ames were put Out. engine and caboose of the work were dispatched to Suisun for as- A special train was made up 4 with the physicians of the town arge number of volunteers it re- ed to the scene of the disaster. Help i from Vacaville The the pumber of nineteen werc rd the special train and with ns and their assistants were to the raflroad hospital in San The dead were taken to Sui- in the day id was arranging last evening for uest, which will be held to-day raine arrived from Sacramento the track was cleared o'clock in the after- ing recking Oakland ar trafic about work train had been stationed at for some time, engaged in making g and improvements along the line setween that place and Davisville. It left morning in charge of ductor Steele and was running under rking orders, it being the conductor's tion to make the siding at Cannon i let freight train No. 201. which three hours date, pass. The work | was running backward and Conduc- y yesterday o n and the | ing the injured clear | and Coroner J. J. | 3 | e SCENES AT THE WRECK ON THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY NEAR SUISUN. THE COLLISION BE- | TWEEN THE REGULAR FREIGHT AND A WORK TRAIN OCCURRED IN A HEAVY FOG, AND WAS D BY DISOBEDIENCE OF ORDERS. 2. = - - % | tor stood on the front platform | @44+ 4444444444444+ 44@ | 0f cach other in the midst of splintered of the car keeping a sharp lookout, boards. Davis has two children’in the old which would indicate that he thought he THE DEAD. | country. Hie wife is dead. He recelved | was taking desperate chances. The | @ bad scalp wound and severe injuries to weather was very foggy and it was im- J. Blummer. | bis right leg. possib see a great distance ahead H. Xerohan. B. M. Mahoney, one of the section men - assing through a shallow cut Ed McGovern. injured in the wreck, died while on the | 3 kt fote cOmIRE 0.5 aiost ept 45 the John Hughes. [ reliet train to San Francisco. His body | ,’ .4\lm\r‘ h\‘“r..,m )Smll"'.n. fnn'dmlt-r‘ J. Ahern. | was removed to the Oaklapd Morgue. e saw the freight train coming at e | His tdentification was had from a memo- | f lown the track. He signaled RADTOY: | rdndum he had made in a notebook short- dowr kes and with several other of the | ». Mnloney. Iy before his death. It read, “My name is working crew jumped from the train. | | B. M. Mahoney, Kiethville, 11, Dec. 4, | The engineer of the freight also saw that THE IN R | in‘wreck.” The name of Robert Thoi | 3 p- here wolid be a coilision and after re- JURED. | son, Kiethville, 1., also appeared ln‘ versing his engine and applying the air PATRICK FERGUS POTTS, frac- the memorandum. - The deceased laborer | he and his fireman jumped to the ground. ture of right leg; also fracture of left was about 5 years old. He had gone to | had those who jumped regained w7 slight burn:of Jade [ work for his first day on the railrond | got out of ‘the way before THOMAS GLENN, contusion of left ¥ | yo, he was caught in the wreck. Ma- | the s crashed ‘together. {3 soroin fad Senechl bedinng honey was badly crushed about ths legs; | y miles an hour and the thirty-five. The force of = terrible. The engine of freight train struck the dining-car of the ters work train and smashed it into splin- The three sleeping-cars of the work were telescoped and piled off to side of the track. The freight en-| finally came to a stop wheén reached the caboose, which was next to the locomotive of the work train. The freight train, in charge of Con-| duetor Plane, was three hours late. It is already evident that neither he nor other members of the freight train crew ig re- sponsible for the collision. The fault, ! railroag officials say, lies with some mem- ber of the other crew, It is dpparent that the work train was trying to reach Can- non station before the Sacramento local, due at Suisun at 8:30, should reach place. The wreck occurred at 7:40 a. m., but news of it did not reach the San Fran- cisco offices until 9 o’ciock. The epecial train bearing the injured ar- Oakland at 1:2 o'clock yesterday Dr. Downing of Suisun and of Port Costa were aboard Dr. the train and rendered invaluable service to those most seriously injured. At the Rickey Oakland mole Drs. D. W. Ogden and H. E. Anderson of the Southern Pacific Hos- pital were lances and as many hacks. Conductor | Steele was in charge of the special. It | was made up of a caboose, a bunkcar and a boxcer, and the tran made the run from the scene of the accident to Oakland, mole in one hour and fifty-five minutes. The men injured were quickly placed in the conveyances and then the ferry- boat Berkeley brought them to this city. Drs, Olmstead and Meggs of Oakland came over with the other physicians. In this city some of the injured were placed in & special car and taken direct to the hospital via Market and Mission streets. Upon arrival at the hospital that Ineti- tution’s full corps of nurses and physi- cians took charge of the injured. ! Thomas Glynn of Wisconsin, who has | been working for the company about a rmomh sald most of the men who were hurt were seated in the two bunkcars, [IHch were third and fourth from the n was running at a speed | it | that | in walting with four ambv- | JOHN DALY, fracture of right ribs and lacerated scalp. JAMES DAVIS, fracture of thigh and left leg. SUN TUCK, Chinese cook, general | % contuston A. SMITH, fractured collarbone. ARTHUR CARR, fractured ribs on right side; face lacerated A. WALKPBR, contueion of back. P. C. QUINLAN, scalp wound and abrasions of face GEORGE BROWN, back. JAMES McDOUGAL. ldceration over eye and contusion of right knee. contusion of F. THOMAS, eevere contusion of fare. F. CAMPBELL, lacerated wound right forehead. AH BING, face cut and general shak- ing up. JOSE REALEN, contusions of face and right shoulder. % J. KELLIHER, thigh and leg; will die FRANK EKART, general bruises. H. LANDERS, fractured ribs and contusions. WILLIAM SALLON, fracture of the left collarbone. JOHN CUFFY, contusion of back. JOMN CALLAHAN, compound frac- ture of the left tibia and fibula. @+r+44444444444444440 end of the train. The very end car was the caboose, while the one next to it was | used by the cook, a Chinese. “I was in the second bunker,” sald Glynn. “There were eight or ten others in the car, The first we knew of any trouble was a terrific crash and then all of us were piled on top of one another at the frent end of the car. Following this came a lot of splintered wood and other debris. Our car had been partially tel- escoped. Nobody was killed in our bunker, but in the next one to us several lost their lives. There were a few men, 1 under- stand, riding on top of the cars and they eseaped by jumping when they saw the freight coming.” Glynn received a bad injury to his hip. Jameg Davis of Hoff aveénue, this city, was also in the fourth car from the rear. He was sitting down at the time of the crash. All the men were thrown on top severe crush left [ 4 + + B * - * + + + . + * +* . . + - - + “ + + - + + + + + + . + + + + . - + o + - + - “ + + + + + s severe scalp wound; + > > + + o + + ++ O S B S R RS T T | could give no further information about the shock and hemorrhage taused death. | Railroad men who visited the Morgue the man. P Some miraculous escapes are reported. B. Roland, the foreman of the work train, was in the dinfng car when he saw the impending danger. He rushed out of the car and jumped to the ground. The stew- ard and the two Chinese cooks were fol- lowing him, but they were caught before they could escape from the car and re- ceived injurles which may prove fatal. ““hree of the men were Iying in a bunk in one of the sleeping cars. The one in the center escaped with a few slight brutses, but his comrides received injur- fes from which they will probably dte. Ed McGovern, one of the killed, was in the recent wreck on the Owl train near Antfoch. He escaped from that uninjured, only to meet a horrible death in the wreck yesterday morning. McGovern and Ahern were from Stock- ton. Kerohan was from Michigan. Noth- ing is known of Hughes and Blummer, the other two of the five men who were killed outright. Several men among the wounded will not recover. J. Kelleher recelved a frac- ture of the skull and his left thigh is crushed, The surgeons say there is no chance for him. John Daly 4s among the most severely injured, being bruised from head to foot. He has a leg and several ribs broken and apparently his spine is injured. SUPERINTENDENT'S STORY. Trusted Enplnyo—'r Dereliction May Have Caused the Disaster. OAKLAND, Dec. 4 —BSuperintendent Agler to-day gave the following account of the wreck: S ‘The accident was occasioned by freight train No. 201, west bound, running into a work train between the stations of Van- den and Cannon. Vanden is about five miles beyond Suisun, The wreck occurred this morning about 7:40 n'c\lock. I do not know what the work trdin was domng where it was at the time. It was not at a siding. It was on the main line. The freight train had a right to be where it was at the time of the accident. A trust- ed man who had worked some time for | to that work train at 7 | this evening. | tively on that subject. | at first supposed and no more trains were | porarily | who is in the | hand indicates very clearly t | or | Steele knew well his business. the company was doing the flagging. He was instructed to pay especial attention | o'clock this morn- ing and to look after it until 7 o'clock | What he did I have no | means yet of knowing. The morning was | | quite foggy and it may be that the en- gineer of the freight train ran past th signals, but of that I cannot speak u 1 | after.an investigation, which will be held to-morrow and which I have now Qercd. “The freight train must havé been mak- | ing about twenty or twenty-five miles an hour. It was drawn y engine No. 1430 | and the engine was In control of Engineer Vuzzo. The train was in charge of Con- | ductor Plane. The work train was behind engine No. 1722. The engine was driven by or- Engineer Tracey and the train was in | ! charge of Conductor Steele. The freight train -had several cars badl broken and | the engine is lying on it e. : Work train had several platform cars destroyed. The engine was not damaged. “I do not know yet who was the man | who was sent out to do the flagging. That information will come later. ‘“The loes to the property of the com- | pany will not be great. The wreck, as nearly as I can understand, took place about 7:40 o'clock this morning. I have not yet learned of any orders which may have been, issued in the case. It would seem as if the work frain was at fault, but I cannot, as I have said, speak posi- I am sorry, sorry, that this accideut nas taken place. * BLAMES OON’DUCNR STEELE. General‘xnnager Kruttschnitt Says His Courss Was Inexcusable. The first news 6f the wreck reached the local offices of the Southern Pacific at 9 o'clock yesterday morning. The tele- gram, which was dated Elmira, stated very | that a work train, with a large force em- ployed in picking up ties, had backed into regulur freight train No. 201 be! n Va den and Cannon, killing five men & juring nineteen. I8 The work train, according to the mes- sage, had orders to go on at 7 a. m. and to protect itself againsvall trains. At El- mira Conductor Steele asked the on of the regular freight, No. 201, which was overdue. He got his information, hut evidently overlooked it, as he was back loca ing up against No. 201 in a fog when the | crash came. Tae telegram further stated | that from ail appearances the blame | rested with Cenductor Steele. Orders were at once issued by General Manager Kruttechnitt to have the injured brought to this city on a special which was made up at Elmira. A wreck crew was also hurriedly sent out. ‘' There was more debris to be cleared than was able to get over the line during The regular train service was tem- interfered with, it being neces- sary to send all trains around by way of Stockton. In the ae day. absence of Manager Fillmore, | East, all the information which the company received about the | wreck went to General Manager Krutt- | schnitt and Mr. Richardson, who gave out such orders as they thought best. Mr. | Kruttschnitt made the following state- ment concerning the cause of the acei- dent: | “The Information which we have at| the acei- dent was the result of pure carelessness | negligence on the part of those in charge of the work train. Conductor That is apparent from the fact that he made in- quiries concerning the regular freight at the station in Elmira. He got the in- | formation he sought, but evidently failed to act properly upon it. “Instead of hoiding his train at a proper point until the regular freight had passed he gave orders to back. His action seems all the more inexcusable since there was a heavy fog at the time and it was impos- sible to see but a few feet ahead. Conse- quently the regular freight had absolutely no warning until it was upon the work train. I cannot account for Steele's ac- tions. He must have known the fearful chances he wes taking. There was noth- ing defective about either of the two trains or the track that could have caused the accident.” Mr, Kruttschnitt added that it was the ‘worst wreck the company had experienced in this vicinity in a long time. Work on clearing away the debris will be pushed with all possible speed, and it is hoped to have the line in shape for regular traffic again to-day. PR STORIES TOLD BY SURVIVORS. Had No Warning of Impending Dan- ger Until the Crash Came. OAKLAND, Dec. 4—Charles Steele, the conductor of the work train which was run into, is a resident of this city. He alded In getting the injured men out of the wreck and in transferring them to the waiting ambulance at the mole, “We were run into by freight train No. 201 shortly after 7 o’clock this morning,’ sald he. “The shock was great, but I was not thrown down or injured. Nome of the train crew were hurt. I can’t tell how the accident occurred. I will not say any- thing about any orders. A man had been sent out to signal approaching trains on the end of the train from which the freight came. Who was the man sent out to do the flagging? I don’'t know his name. It was the first trip he had made with me."” Engineer Harry Tracey of the work train gives the following account of the ‘“We were moving slowly toward Suisun. Continued on Y"‘7 3. | taryas had been permitted by the court | but according to TWICE WEDDED WIFE MRS. DE LA MONTANYA AGAIN SEEKS DIVORCE Charges Her Husband With Drunkenness and Cruelty and Guilty Association With Another Woman He Calls His ldeal. Says Cursss and Abuses Are H>apad by th= Father Upon Their Daughter and the Child in ConQeqUnnCa Is Now it at Hcm - | | | 2L s | MRS. JAMES DE LA MONTANYA, WHO WAS DIVORCED FROM HER | | HUSBAND, REMARRIED HIM AND HAS AGAIN FILED AN ACTION { FOR SEPARATION. Bl o 2 RS. LORRAINE WRIGHT DE | fered through it much more than ¢ LA MONTA o again | child.” warts to be legally Fid of the Mrs. de la Montanya Is all alone n her oonds that bind her to James de Ja Montanya, the father of her | two children and the man whom she| ipen two different occasions obe: in the promised to love and honor . | The complaint aetion for a di- | varce was filed yesterdey afternoon in the office of the County Clerk, and therein the ng wife alle s intemperance, cru- elty and infidelity as the grcunds upon | which she bases her right to once again | be fre Several years ago, after the De la Mon- s they furnished mount of sensa- to go their several w: their friends with any tional gossip. This time the sensation will not be missing, but it be of a totally different order and will come be- fore the twice-forged matrimonfal bonds | are broken. A blonde lady will play the star role In the case. She figures pro- | saicly in the complaint as “Jane Doe,” | De la Montanya, as quoted by his wife, “‘She is the most beau- tiful woman in San Francisco.” Way out cn Point Lobos avenue Mrs. de la Montanya llves with her two children. Her little daughter Lorraine, 12 years old, | the first born of the unhappy marriage, | very ill and her mother is nursing her. “This Is dreadful,” said Mrs. de la Montanya last night, “this awful notor- fety. And I have been through it once before. When I remarried Jim in 155§ I did =o because I though it was the best thing I could do for my children’s sake. Now that I ask for a divorce once more, it is again the love I bear for my chil- dren that prompts me to act as [ do. I bear no hard feelings toward Jim. = I| think he is more to be pitied than | blamed.” Upon no conditions will Mrs. de la Mon- tanya reveal the name of ‘the woman | who, her ‘husbahd told her, was the | most beautiful woman in San Francisco. | “It would not be fair,” sald the suffer- | ing mother. “Jim never told me her name, but, of course, I know it. I shall pever reveal it, however, unless I am forced to do it In court. Jim was the first to speak to me of her. “‘I am in love,’" he said one day to me, ‘with the most beautiful woman in San Francisco. All the men of wealth of this city are groveling in despair at her feet. But it is no use. I have won her.' ‘Tell me her name,’ I cried. ‘No,’ saild my husband, ‘her name is too sacred to men- tion in. this house.’ ™ If Mrs, de la Montanya will not tell the name of the woman that has the million- alres groveling she is not averse to giving a description of her. She is a tall perox- ide blonde and previous to meeting De la Montanya she enjoyed the frlendship of a prominent clubman. She is about twenty-five or tweniy-six and may be a | Frenchwoman; at any rate she has a | French name. Further, this Is not heri first scandal. * Of ail the tales of cruelty the wife tells l pone are more pitiful than the father's habltual abuse of their little daughter. “His abuse of Lorraine was constant,” sald Mrs. de la Montaaya. “He lnbliedl opprobrious names to her and In every way made her suffer. This treatment of | our daughter began Iimmediately after our remarriage. It was the most cruel thing T was forced to endure and I suf- | State. | passion, | eitizen under the French law. Mrs. trouble. Other members of her fam are in Europe and she has mo one near or dear to her to go to for comfort advice. “I am so alone and need sympathy much,” she said. “Treat me kind! The story contained in the divorce com plaint which was filed late yesterday af- ternoon is more prosaic and lkewise mor detailed than that 3 Montanya. “On May 7, 1808 L married my husband (this being the date of their second marriage) at Napa In this Since that time he has been gufli of habitual intemperance to such a degr s 8 | that .longer life with him as his_wife is tmposstble. Tn March of 159, when in a he struck me in the, face, which, in addition to the physical suffering tha blow caused, greatly humiliated and shocked me. “To make my humlitation the more keen he constantly told me that he was in love with a woman--the most beautiful woman in all San Francisco, for wh affections all the wealthy men in were vying but without chance of sue- cess, for he had won her. In Septe of 1880 he told me that he was goi China. He left the city and 1 did n hear from him again for some weeks, then he was in London, England. He wrote me asking if everything was all right and i¢ arrangements had bcen completed. this he referred to the possible institution of divorce proceedings by me, to which hs did not seem opposed. “He promised to allow me 3300 a month during his absence. He sald he would send me $300 on the first of every momth and $200 on the 15th thereof. He did not keep his word, however, and I recetved no financial assistance from him. I belleva that he has been guilty of frequent vio- lation of bis marriage vows and his own statements add evidence to the probabla fact.” In conelusion Mrs. de la Montanya states that her husband is worth $400,000 and hence, if he had the inclination, he was able to keep his agreement to supply her with funds. In addition to a decree of absolute divorce on the grounds named Mrs. de la Montanya demands the cus- tgdy of her inor chiidren—Lorraine S. town | ahd Jacques de la Montanya. She also | prays for judgment agalnst him for ali- mony in the sum of §7% a month, which sum, she says, is none too large for tha maintenance of her home in accordance with her station In life. Mrs. de la Mon- tanya is represented by the law firm of Rodgers, Paterson & Slack. In 1893, immediately after Mr. de Ia Montanya's réturn from a trip to Europe, the couple separated, the husband taking the two children and returning to Paris, where he became domiciled as a French de la Montanya brought suit for diverce and for the custody of the children. The claim _was set up with regard to the chil- dren that the husband had left the State to escape the jurisdiction of .the Califor- nia courts. She also brought a suit sep- arate from the divorce proceedings to re- cover the custody of the children. The case was heard and judgment was ren- | dered by default. Dorn & Dorn then ap- peared for the defendant, and not com- Continued on M - N